Page 4 - Cisco Tribune Q1 2015

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December/January 2017
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If employees don’t use the UC tools e ectively, then organizations will not bene t from the technology.”
is seems rather obvious, but IT sta are o en challenged in understanding the user experience. One out of every four IT departments measure the success of their collaboration projects by how well they’ve implemented the technology. is means that they are ignoring the value of the user experience; and doing so at their peril.
What qualities makes up an optimal user experience with UC? Research shows that workers expect:
● Ease of use
● Seamless transitions between di erent types of communication
● Reliability
● Adaptation to mobile phones, workers’ preferred devices
● Support for mobility.
‘IT JUST WORKS’
Ease of use should certainly be the top priority for the UC user experience - ideally, the UC client should be intuitive and ‘just work.’ Nothing discourages workers more than having to learn complex routines. Access to chat and messaging, for example, should be clearly visible on the UC client.
Audio and video conferencing need to be intuitive and user-friendly as well. For example, a worker should be able to elevate a call to a colleague via an audio or video conference with just a click or two. Yet, although it’s well- known that conferencing is key to boosting productivity, only a small percentage of employees routinely use conferencing apps due
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to poor user experience.
One area where some workers may need
more support is the click-to-call feature of UC systems. While copying numbers from the web and pasting them into a client is easier than dialing, it’s important for workers to understand the time-saving capability of transferring calls with a simple click of the mouse or via drag and drop.
‘IT JUST RUNS’
Achieving this ease of use depends largely
on the ability to make seamless transitions from one form of communication to another. Workers don’t want to have to negotiate a series of steps in order to leave a conference and to make a call; they want a single format for all communications. In other words, it should ‘just run.’
Moreover, an e ective UC solution should also be available on a smartphone with the ability to work remotely. At least three-quarters of today’s o ce workers prefer using their mobile phone for work, communicating with co-workers and customers from anywhere.
With this approach to the user experience, training can be kept to a minimum, saving time and reducing complaints. It is critical, however, that IT sta plan for a solid level of support, because hand-holding is always necessary for
a number of users. Creating a series of online materials, like webinars or video tutorials, will help to get users on track.
Maintaining an up-to-date, intuitive UC system is essential to avoiding user frustration. And in the long run, a laser focus on user experience can pay dividends in terms of productivity. ●
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