Improve your Unified Communications ROI through increased User Adoption

Ensure the use of your Unified Communications devices

While the benefits of introducing Unified Communications (UC) are all too apparent to businesses, a growing number of industry commentators have been highlighting the biggest obstacle to maximising return on investment – ensuring user adoption.

It’s a familiar story. As IT decision makers concentrate hard on integrating real-time tools like instant messaging and voice and video conferencing with voicemail, email and text messages, they neglect the emotional and informational needs of the end user.

The result? Your company has made a significant investment on a flawless UC platform and cutting edge devices. Which nobody uses.

The following advice, amassed through years of experience in UC rollouts, will help you to avoid the danger of under-adoption among your workforce.

Introduction

“Getting employees to actually use UC applications is the single largest factor in a successful rollout and in achieving ROI.”

Jeremy Littlejohn, Information Week, UC: Big Promise, Modest Movement

Build buy-in from the beginningYour end users will want to know why you are planning to introduce a new method of communication, and many may be suspicious of the change. You can allay those suspicions by emphasising the potential benefits to them and to the health of the business. Benefits to end users may include the flexibility to work from home, the removal of aggravations like unnecessary emails or background noise (by using a noise cancelling headset), or the ability to more easily collaborate with remote colleagues through voice communications. Business benefits can include increased productivity, improved ideas exchange through collaboration and a more satisfied workforce.

Place yourself in their shoesAt every step of the UC rollout take the time to think about how you would feel if you swapped places with one of your office-based or road warrior colleagues. Are deskphones proving uncomfortable when juggling papers or taking a note? Does the volume of emails received cause confusion or a feeling of being overwhelmed? And are wires limiting freedom of movement? By compiling a checklist of requirements and aggravations, you can demonstrate UC is providing answers, for example, by handing wireless headsets to desk-based operatives who wish to move from sedentary positions throughout the day.

Make sure you have a planA watertight timeline for the rollout of your Unified Communications strategy will reassure workers while enabling you to measure progress against agreed targets. Letting your colleagues know when they will lose their deskphone, or be expected to migrate to new methods of messaging will help them to prepare themselves for the change ahead. Plantronics guidance such as the ebook 10 steps to selecting voice tools your colleagues will use and value provide a framework for specific elements of your rollout planning.

“At every step of the UC rollout take the time to think about

how you would feel if you swapped places

with one of your office-based or road warrior colleagues.”

Ensure the use of your Unified Communications devices

Prove the solutions workPeer-to-peer advocacy is an incredibly effective method of gaining support for a new way of working. By gathering a test team from diverse functions within your company, you’ll be able to gain feedback on how to improve your Unified Communications toolkit while developing a group of early adopters who can convince colleagues of the benefits of the new UC tools. The ebook 10 steps to selecting voice tools your colleagues will use and value provides more guidance on assembling test teams.

Prioritise comfort and styleEnd users are more likely to adopt advanced audio solutions like headsets if they feel comfortable and fashionable wearing them. Plantronics has always made user style a priority and devices such as the Bluetooth® enabled Voyager Edge headset have won awards for their versatility and design1. Stability also plays a large part in headset development. The Plantronics Wall Of Ears video – available on YouTube2 – demonstrates the lengths to which some manufacturers are prepared to go to ensure their devices are wearable and secure.

Ensure ease of useEnd points – that is to say what the end users use for their communication, such as an IP handset, mobile device, headset, deskphone or other device – are more likely to be used if they have an intuitive design. Select these devices based on their usability, and if necessary choose different devices for different types of workers. Provide instructions and FAQs for each device. Lastly, make sure a well-briefed help desk team is easily available to assist end users struggling to adapt.

Ensure the use of your Unified Communications devices

Explain your choicesWorkers who are initially adverse to change may question the need for expenditure on new devices such as smartphones or headsets. Demonstrate that you have performed the necessary research – both on the technology and on the habits of end users. White papers such as Plantronics’ Wireless Voice in the Office Environment3 will help you to explain why, for example, a DECT enabled headset is being provided above a corded device.

Take some adviceUC rollouts can be just as daunting for IT and facilities managers as they can be for the end users themselves. Multiple sites, language considerations, system integration requirements and budget limitations can all make a rollout seem a bigger and more problematic task than it actually is. Partnering with an experienced provider like Plantronics ensures you’ll receive support in developing and implementing a phased deployment plan, while also reassuring you that you won’t be abandoned once you’ve received audio and other communication devices.

Provide a feedback mechanismEnd users are more likely to adopt new tools if they feel they can influence their design or how they are used. By providing a visible reporting mechanism – which may include online surveys, a dedicated email address or focus groups – you will be able to fine-tune your solutions to gain maximum buy-in from your colleagues. Positive anecdotal feedback can also provide proof of project success to senior management and reporting mechanisms can be dovetailed with the monitoring of user take-up for a complete demonstration of adoption rates and attitudes.

Ensure the use of your Unified Communications devices

Plantronics provides a range of support for IT decision makers looking to implement a Unified Communications rollout. Visit plantronics.com/uk/conference-calling/Sources cited:1 On Feb 23rd, 2014, the Mobile World Congress watched as Plantronics was chosen as an Innovation and Design Award honoree by Envisioneering for its new Voyager Edge headset. 2 youtube.com/watch?v=rx-oMIY2xMk 3 The White Paper is available for download at plantronics.com/uk/solutions/unified-communications/toolkit/

Communicate success As workers become more comfortable with the new technology, ensure their feelings are shared with their colleagues. Circulate quotes from employees or customers about their positive experiences. Remind your colleagues of previous times, for example when a lack of noise cancelling technology meant conference calls caused constant misinterpretation or the need for repetition.

Lastly, congratulate those who have embraced your UC tools for their forward thinking and flexibility. Their support has been vital to the project’s success – so let them know it.

©2016 Plantronics, Inc. All rights reserved. 03.16