Any organisation that claims to have true visibility of all internal and external communications will be, at best, telling only half of the truth.

Exacerbated by hybrid working, businesses house huge quantities of communication and collaboration data, from voice calls to chat messages and contact centre engagements. Yet despite increasing investment in collaboration platforms and digital transformation, communications usage, quality and cost have become a blind spot at the C-suite level.

A growing tech stack and subsequent web of communication channels, from Microsoft Teams and Zoom to legacy contact centres, has left many enterprises with visibility gaps. Leaving communications data in siloes means leaders can never truly gain a full understanding of how their teams engage with each other and with customers, and how those engagements translate into business value or result in lost opportunities.

Missed data is wasted data

Enterprises typically operate across multiple collaboration platforms, including Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Zoom, legacy PBX systems and contact centres. Data siloes are therefore the biggest barriers to true visibility. The insights gathered from each channel is valuable, but without the ability to unify and consolidate, it still leaves businesses with a disjointed view of their customer engagements and internal operations. The problem is, once extracted, data remains locked in its individual siloes, buried in disorganised, complex systems, or worse, completely overlooked. Business leaders are often then forced to adopt a reactive approach to communications management, one at risk of unnecessary costs, missed opportunities and overall poor strategy.

Each platform also requires its own set of licenses, which are usually distributed across the workforce. Losing track of these licenses can be costly, as team movements, supplier updates and general business changes can leave licenses redundant, incorrectly assigned or overlooked. As a result, businesses aren’t just looking at potential trapped data from these platforms – but wasted spend as well.

Communications data, if unlocked, holds significant untapped potential. Moving beyond simply controlling costs, organisations can turn this data into actionable intelligence that informs broader strategy. By consolidating data across all platforms, businesses can begin to see clear patterns, like which teams are communicating most efficiently, which customer interactions drive the best outcomes, and where support or training might be needed. For leaders looking to drive growth while optimising costs, this level of insight is invaluable.

Take control of UC systems

The first step organisations need to take is reviewing and optimising their data integration capabilities across multiple disparate systems to gain a central view of every interaction, whether internal or external. As a result, teams can log and assess usage patterns, license assignments, customer engagement and service quality, rather than manually collating data from different platforms.

Being able to extract value from data and apply it to genuine business cases is the ultimate objective. A business’ own experience is crucial for doing this successfully. The expertise teams bring to the table should not be overlooked and instead championed. At the same time, external partners come armed with a wealth of insight that can elevate the experience of internal teams, based on years of solving specific customer challenges.

AI is the missing piece

AI-backed analytics helps businesses go beyond basic, manual reporting and replace it with real-time, data-driven intelligence. With tools like intelligent analytics platforms, organisations can gain detailed analytics on voice, video and conferencing channels, and use AI-powered insights to save costs and inform critical business decisions.

Having access to personalised dashboards and informative visualisations also helps make sure stakeholders at every level have access to the right data to drive greater efficiencies, cut costs and improve overall customer service. Instead of relying on manual data extraction or retrospective analysis, AI helps unlock predictive and far more valuable intelligence. As a result, CEOs and their teams can access live data to assess and anticipate demand, review customer satisfaction and identify bottlenecks before they become costly problems.

Keep pace with market expectations

Business and customer communications have changed a lot in the past five years, but the infrastructure and processes are yet to catch up. It’s hard for enterprises to continue to lean on the excuse of hybrid working as a reason for poor communication management, especially as internal and external expectations ramp up.

Investing money in multiple platforms that don’t talk to each other, cause license headaches and trap data in siloes – all without the right tools to bridge the gaps – doesn’t align with the business’ needs. Gaining access to data is only the first step to true visibility. Organisations need a unified approach, supported by robust integration and AI-driven analytics. Only then can business leaders turn overlooked communications data into actionable intelligence and optimise their spend in the most effective way.

Key takeaways

• Data siloes are the biggest barrier to true visibility as data becomes locked in individual sections.
• Unlocked data can tell you which teams are communicating most effectively, which customer interactions drive the best outcomes and areas where support or training could be needed.
• Review and optimise all data integration capabilities across the business.
• Extracting value from data and applying it to genuine business cases is the ultimate goal.
• AI-powered insights can save on costs and inform critical business decisions.

Ian Sparling is CEO of Soft-ex.

Read more

How data management can boost start-up growth – From analytics to security, good data management should be a serious consideration for any start-up chasing high growth