Frost & Sullivan research shows that over the past decade, companies have fully embraced unified communication and collaboration (UCC) technology, including Voice over IP (VoIP), conferencing, instant messaging (IM). unified messaging (UM) and team spaces. But while employees are willing and able to use advanced UCC tools to working with one another across cultural, geographic and physical boundaries, they are increasingly forced to rely on an ad-hoc set of software to do so. It’s the result of a casual approach to deploying UCC tools throughout the enterprise, combined with the impacts of BYOD and consumerization. And it has led to a proliferation of disjointed and disconnected communications applications and services. The often random set of tools may or may not meet all users’ needs, don’t always comply with corporate security and compliance requirements, and are difficult if not impossible to integrate with one another, let alone with back-office applications and processes.

Now, many companies are facing a growing need to consolidate their multiple UCC solutions. Users are looking for a consistent experience regardless of device or location—across mobile endpoints, desktops, executive offices, open spaces, huddle rooms and large conference rooms. That requires a single provider supporting a multifunctional platform that offers audio, video, and web conferencing: marketing and training webinars: on-demand content file sharing and more. The goal: make communications frictionless, effortless, and more productive.

Frost & Sullivan research shows that as companies continue to enable digital transformation, the workplace is becoming increasingly virtual. What does that mean’ Simply put a virtual workplace is one in which the majority of employees don’t regularly work in the same location as their teammates, managers or direct reports. Interestingly, even employees who are based at a headquarters location can be “virtual” if enough of their colleagues work remotely on a consistent basis.

The virtual workplace is popular because it offers companies and employees significant benefits, including better flexibility, productivity, loyalty, and the ability to hire the best people regardless of where they live in relation to the organization. But it also poses challenges, especially when it comes to enabling the kind of deep collaboration that’s required for differentiation and success in the modem marketplace. That’s because in today s business environment multi-tasking, white noise and distractions are inevitable—and yet it’s crucial that employees be able to work together to act on information quickly, from anywhere, at any time and on any device.