3 UC Developments That Will Shape 2022

Both of those topics were on the agenda for our CSO, Jonathan Harris, in his interview at the 2022 UC Summit.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of his key points about what happened in 2021, what we can expect from 2022, and how Aura can help.

With so much change coming in such a short space of time, hastily made decisions were a common theme in 2021. Many customers deployed technology, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, as a remote-working solution. What they found was, although it was part of their strategy, they’ve also accelerated that strategy.

The result is that many companies now have two platforms – the old and the new. All the home-workers are on the new platform, but there’s still a legacy world alongside it. Crucially, those two worlds (home and office) aren’t integrated.

Although the initial remote problem was patched, there’s still a lot of work to be done to consolidate technology stacks and get the real value from them. In 2022, organizations are realising that full migrations will take a little bit longer. For the time-being, that means they have two bills to pay.

Last year, we saw a huge increase in our Microsoft Teams adoption programme. Aura Connect was deployed to integrate with Microsoft Teams and deliver more value to the organizations using it.

But alongside that, we saw lots of customers asking us to consolidate their existing infrastructure. In this respect, Aura Insight was the go-to solution. Our portfolio of behaviour analysis and monitoring platforms gave customers a better understanding of what was being used, when it was being used and the quality of experience for the user.

Put simply, organizations were looking to tidy up their infrastructure. In many cases, this move will be preparation for transformation in 2022. By right-sizing the technology they have, they can avoid the common situation we’re seeing, where they have to pay multiple bills while trying to migrate their users.

In 2022, we foresee an overarching focus on creating an integrated experience. After an exciting year, we’ve all had a chance to step back and look at the world around us. Already this year, we’ve noticed more focus on collaborative environments.

How do you create a collaborative culture rather than focusing solely on productivity? How do you get the best experience in the office, when employees could be working from anywhere? How do you create a collaborative ‘space’ that’s truly integrated?

One challenge in particular will be the contact centre. In 2021, a lot of people moved their easy users to the likes of Microsoft Teams. But what about those with complex requirements?

Above all else, organizations are fed up of having multiple platforms – in particular the time and cost implications this brings. The solution is through consolidation and integration. We’re seeing a huge drive around platforms like Anywhere 365 – Microsoft Teams’ native contact centre solution – but there are also ways to integrate solutions within Microsoft Teams for the same or even better results.

Whether it’s Aura Insight to help you better understand the assets you have, Aura Connect to put voice in Teams globally, or our Global Managed Services to consolidate and streamline your infrastructure, we offer a full suite of solutions that can help organizations deal with the consequences of 2021 and the fresh challenges of 2022.

If you would like to talk more about the challenges your business is facing, set up a call with our expert team.