Horizon Collaborate UC Solution – what is it?
According to data from the ONS (Office for National Statistics), the number of UK workers who have moved into remote working has increased by almost a quarter of a million over the past decade. Technology can help organisations keep pace with the shift to remote working and flexible working by giving employees the right tools to maximise productivity and feel engaged with their colleagues no matter where they are based. Horizon Collaborate UC features are ideal for companies with dispersed work forces such as home workers, flexible workers and mobile workers.
As part of the Horizon hosted PBX, the new Horizon Collaborate UC service offers a complete Unified Communications solution, providing businesses with an easy-to-use and reliable collaborative experience across multiple devices and sites. Horizon Collaborate UC features include instant messaging and integrated presence, voice and video calling, document sharing, desktop sharing and audio and video conferencing using the ‘My Room’ facility.
“Technology can help organisations keep pace with the shift to remote working and flexible working by giving employees the right tools to maximise productivity and feel engaged with their colleagues no matter where they are based.”
Key Advantages
These days most businesses use a variety of channels for communication including telephone, email, conferencing, chat and video. As businesses have evolved and required new ways to improve customer service and responsiveness, they have acquired more and more tools such as Skype for internal calls, WebEx for conferences and WhatsApp for chat for example. This approach to business communications is not ideal as the tools are not connected and employees waste time by switching between applications and waiting for responses. Businesses also end up paying for apps that are underutilised. The Horizon Collaborate UC solution provides a coherent, integrated approach that links all of these channels into a single, reliable Unified Communications package that is easy to use, anywhere and on any device. Organisations of any size will also benefit from the very latest communications technology to cut down on travel, reduce their carbon footprint, save time and make savings on travel expenses. Other benefits include:
- Cost savings: savings from not having to subscribe to multiple platforms.
- Less wasted time: less travel time for meetings means you get more done and increase productivity.
- Less wasted time: users can move instantly from one communication channel to another, whilst collaborating with colleagues. There’s no switching between apps or time wasted waiting for a response.
- Low and predictable costs: The Horizon Collaborate service and inclusive minutes to UK landlines and mobiles for a simple cost per user per month.
- Reduced IT overhead: simple administration through the Horizon administration portal.
- Simple to use: the user interface for Horizon Collaborate is similar on all supported mobile devices and desktops, which enhances the user experience and encourages adoption.
How does it work?
Horizon Collaborate provides a complete UCaaS solution (Unified Communications as a Service), that works across fixed and mobile and provides a common UC experience across all devices. Users can access the Horizon Collaborate UC service from wherever they are located, whether that’s in the office, on the move, or at home using desktops, tablets or smartphones. The service runs on Windows and Mac desktops, and iOS and Android mobiles. The user interface is intuitive and very similar on all devices and users experience seamless continuity when switching between types of device (e.g. leaving home or the office and transferring to a tablet or smartphone in real time). The guest facility, ‘My Room’ enables non-employees, such as customers and suppliers, to be invited to an online meeting. If they have internet access, they can call directly as an IP call or use call back. If they don’t have internet access, they can dial in using a pin.
Horizon Collaborate is built on a proven platform and is supported by a leading UK business network operator, so customers are fully supported during migration and use. Employees benefit from using the most integrated UC tools, and organisations also benefit from dealing with one supplier and receiving one bill. Visit the Horizon Collaborate UC Service page to find out more. If you have any questions or you would like to arrange a demo please call us on 0333 240 7755 or use the enquiry button below.
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