3 Ways Businesses Can Increase Productivity With Cloud Integration

Do more with less.

Those four words may seem small, but they're big as can be in the business world. They can underpin the driving philosophy for everyone in an organization's hierarchy, from customer-facing frontliners to decision-making executives — and that's why cloud integration tools are some of the most important a business can implement.

That's not baseless hype, either. Forrester reported that nearly 60% of North American enterprise organizations rely on cloud. And Gartner claimed that strategic cloud adoption will impact over half of all IT outsourcing deals through 2020, making the drive to increase productivity with cloud integration a common concern across industries.

Here are three categories showcasing the transformative potential cloud technology holds — and a look at several ways businesses can leverage it.

1. Time Is Money

When utilizing cloud integration tools, businesses save in direct and indirect ways. The business that chooses to increase productivity with cloud adoption doesn't just save money — they can save significant time, too.

Consider an employee in a pre-cloud integration call center, for example. While this agent relies on technology and even has some limited interaction with cloud-based systems, they're still expected to do most of the heavy lifting during a call's opening minutes. To perform even the most basic task, the agent will need to ask the caller's name, their identifying account information, the reason for their call, and numerous other tidbits of information, wasting several seconds that add up to major needless expenditure. Multiplied across every desk in the call center, those pain points become costly fast.

Knowing Information in Advance

The modern cloud contact center remedies this problem. Here, calls automatically route to the appropriate personnel, and critical information about repeat customers is given to the agent in real time. It's a benefit that starts from the very opening of a call — "I see you're calling about problems with your purchase" always sounds better than "how can I help you" — and continues to pay dividends: The company/rep projects confidence and competence, while customers develop positive associations with the brand.

This is only one take on the immense potential automation offers. In another organization, automated, personalized marketing emails based on data housed in a cloud-based CRM system may be used to shorten cycles and close sales. Another may increase productivity with cloud integration by utilizing automated SMS appointment reminders. In all these cases and countless others, automated productivity tools that use cloud-based data solve problems and optimize processes.

With everything integrated in a single cloud-based solution, workflows go uninterrupted, allowing greater efficiency across — and within — teams.

2. Mobility: Any Device, Anywhere

Imagine the video conferences of a decade ago. Finding a solution that supported every device and connection method, all while displaying all the necessary visual information, was often a nightmare. Solutions like Amazon Chime change that.

With Chime, the exec using her tablet to dial in over 4G gets the same features as the home-based claims employee and the desktop-using location manager. Even those without a dedicated app get an easier experience, as worthwhile cloud solutions also include browser-based support. Every invitee everywhere gets equal communicative footing, regardless of role, location, or device.

Take the insurance industry's claims department, for example. These departments are comprised of several human assets with distinct roles and locations. Adjusters may bounce from home to home and vehicle to vehicle, capturing images or video of damages with cloud-connected smart devices. Service reps — such as those in the modernized, automated contact center — may spend an entire day at the same cubicle; investigators, processors, and other roles may embody a blend of the previous two.

Real-Time Communication

Roles that require out-of-office work frequently intersect. When insurance companies increase productivity with cloud integration tools, processing claims becomes easier for everyone involved. Using a secure cloud-based environment, an on-site adjuster could instantly share visual data containing a customer's sensitive personal information with an investigator in a different state.

A service rep utilizing a unified communications-as-a-service platform on the same cloud, meanwhile, can use the same tools to quickly reach relevant personnel for a highly technical question — and easily flip the call to a video conference with screen and document sharing, if needed — all while holding a customer on the other line. With a cloud-based platform, teams can effectively collaborate from afar, ultimately saving team members time and the company money. Even better, this high-level idea applies anywhere: The insurance company mentioned above could also be a legal organization, a retailer, or any other entity where people across locations need to share a visual space.

3. Innovation That Nurtures Collaboration

There's a reason companies across the business landscape have prioritized teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving above all else over the last decade: We now have the technology to enable businesses to support cross-functional teams.

For example, ticketing platforms such as Zendesk and JIRA allow teams to audit and prioritize a variety of internal issues and tasks across departments, ensuring problems can be fixed faster and projects run more smoothly. Visibility into historical data on certain issues can help predict which problems may recur or justify proactive measures to ensure everyone across teams is doing their jobs on an active campaign.

JIRA's use as a project management tool, for instance, can permit a project manager to delegate tasks to any number of team members. Managers can attach documents to inform direction, tag certain team members included in specific updates, and use email integrations to keep anyone assigned to a certain project or task up to date.

Driving Productivity With Cloud

With everything integrated in a single cloud-based solution, workflows go uninterrupted, allowing greater efficiency across — and within — teams.

Providing a shared space is only part of a cloud-focused company's total effort. Making sure hardware concerns don't get in the way must also be top of mind. That's especially true today, in a time when employees increasingly expect a consumer-like user experience from work systems. The company that meets this need while providing a strong shared workspace and automating tasks that add up to major bottom-line savings is one that sets itself up for success with its cloud-based initiatives — wherever their employees work, whatever they do, and however their tasks may be optimized.