The modern enterprise relies on an array of different tools to boost productivity, automate workflows, provide customer relationship management and support, and manage communications both internally and externally.

A Harmon.ie survey of information workers reports that, on average, 74% of employees have at least five apps open at one time and 16% use more than 15 apps per business day.

Cloud technologies, and cloud telephony specifically, have matured greatly—richer functionalities, stronger security, better uptime, and enhancements to user experiences. The result is a market in transition, with businesses moving from data centers to the cloud at a rapid pace.

It’s clear that the future workforce will be hybrid, with some workers in the office, some working remotely, and some a combination of the two. And with these rapidly changing needs, businesses realized just how vital the cloud is to flexibility and agility.

According to research from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, a third of your customers will leave you after one bad customer experience, and almost all will move on after two or three bad experiences.

However, a positive customer experience builds trust and a lasting relationship between your company and your customer. It extends throughout the buyer’s journey and ensures you build a loyal and long-lasting relationship with your clientele.

In the past, organizations saw customer service as its own separate entity. If contact center agents treated customers well, they reasoned customer satisfaction would go up. But if you looked at the highest-performing businesses in the world today, you’ll notice that customer satisfaction goes beyond frontline contact center agents. Modern-day organizations are starting to realize that in order to be a customercentric organization, you need to focus on employees first.

One of the biggest trends in the enterprise communications area today is the integration of unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS). Businesses are taking this step to improve both the customer and employee experience. Bringing together technologies, including messaging, video, and phone, with customer and CCaaS technologies ensures that the right tools are available to various workers and groups in the organization to provide improved customer and employee experiences.

Wanamaker worked at Field’s store for more than 20 years, and during that time he lived and breathed— and adopted—the ideologies by Marshall Field on customer services.

It doesn’t matter whether you have a traditional or an eCommerce store, the above holds true. What this means in real terms is that no matter what your business model is, you need to adopt a customer-centric approach.

Download The key to building a customer-centric culture: Combining your unified communications and contact center solutions Whitepaper

A modern communications system needs to be much more than phone calls and file sharing. It needs to provide workers with a better way of doing things.

A unified solution offers enterprise-grade features such as phone, faxing, SMS, IVR, call queues, team messaging, video meetings, and voicemail—all on one platform.

When it comes to technology investment, the bottom line is always going to be the return. Here’s a condensed version of our customer success stories: in quantified form. If you’re building a business case for UCaaS and CCaaS adoption, this is a good place to start.