Johannesburg, South Africa - 18 January 2018 --Plantronics (NYSE: PLT): Thriving in today’s business environment requires collaboration. The ability for virtual, mobile, or on-premises teams to communicate across devices in real time has become a competitive advantage and a business requirement. A seamless and intuitive Unified Communications solution enables that advantage. The market bears this out. UC deployments are on the rise. According to a 2014 survey on the State of Unified Communications, 57% of respondents have deployed or plan on deploying UC in the next year compared to just 38% in the year before. Those statistics may have changed slightly in the last few years, but the message is clear. And deployment is just step one. The second step is user adoption, and adoption rates are still lagging. If your people think—regardless of the reality—that a UC solution makes it harder to connect and collaborate, they won’t use it.

The way we work is evolving.

Effective collaboration requires clear communication. Today that means allowing people to communicate when and how they choose. As a result, the challenges IT departments face are more significant than ever before. The days of just provisioning equipment are gone. Not only does IT have to accommodate an increasingly mobile and disparate workforce that brings their own technology into the enterprise, IT may be tasked with supporting multiple UC platforms. It is no longer enough to make sure everything in the office works right. IT has to make sure everything for everyone works right everywhere.

User experience matters most. In order to improve user adoption rates and maximize ROI, a collective mindset change is needed. IT can no longer view employees as an active directory listing. Successful adoption comes when IT takes a user-centric approach. IT needs to view employee satisfaction as the first and most important element to a successful UC implementation.

4 steps to improving user adoption.

• Understand how work gets done: People need the ability to utilize the right tool at any time based on their work needs and location —IM, email, or voice; at the desk or around the office, at home or anywhere else.

• Recommend equipment based on employee needs: What are the challenges of different work styles? Equipment should fit the way people work, people shouldn’t have to change the way they work to fit equipment. Employees shouldn’t have to change the way they work best to fit with the equipment IT recommends. 

• Offer diverse training options: Sending a PDF on how to use your new UC application isn’t enough. Just as people have different work styles, they also have different learning styles. The training IT offers should take a variety of learning styles into account. 

• Develop clear policies: Don’t just tell people what you expect from them—explain why. If people don’t understand the reasons why their ingrained ways of doing things need to change, user adoption will suffer.

Multiple devices, one voice.

Making communication seamless across devices is a significant challenge. A Unified Communications solution that can intuitively connect users regardless of their work style is paramount in today’s business environment. Successful adoption depends on IT departments providing people with options that suit them. It’s about changing perspectives. Taking a people-centric approach gives your company the best chance of meeting its UC business goals.

Unified communications enable teams to work and interact with each other from virtually anywhere. We provide organizations with technology that brings clarity and integration to your UC devices and platforms—to simplify deployment, increase adoption, and help provide real ROI on your UC investment. Our goal is to make it easier for teams to connect and collaborate. Visit us online to explore tools, tips and strategies that can help drive UC adoption rates so your people can communicate whenever and wherever they choose.

Plantronics works with authorized distributors across Africa. More information about UC solutions available in your local area are available at www.plantronics.com/africa 

Plantronics is an audio pioneer and a global leader in the communications industry. We create intelligent and adaptive solutions that support our customers’ most important needs: experiencing and facilitating simple and clear communications while enjoying distraction-free environments.  Our solutions are used worldwide by consumers and businesses alike, and are an optimal choice for open office environments. From Unified Communications and customer service ecosystems, to data analytics and Bluetooth headsets, Plantronics delivers high-quality communications solutions that our customers count on today, while relentlessly innovating on behalf of their future. For more information visit www.plantronics.com/africa 

1Michael Finneran, “2014 State of Unified Communications,” Information Week Reports.