UC Mobile Client Checklist: How to Identify the Right Solution

UC Mobile Client Checklist: How to Identify the Right Solution

UC Mobile Client Checklist: How to Identify the Right Solution

Whether roaming your facility, the country, or the globe, today’s business waits for no-one: mobile communications drive new efficiency and keep your team connected.

In seeking the productivity promised by an “always-connected, always-collaborating” and increasingly mobile workforce, organizations today are turning to the capabilities of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) offers. As a result, mobility solutions are booming; “Bring Your Own Device” is becoming commonplace; the mind-set of “Is there an app for that?” is prevalent. Just like overnight, all communications providers seem to have a mobile-ready UC&C solution that includes rugged mobile clients to handle communications in always-on retail, healthcare, transportation, and other mobile-centric business environments.

But are these offerings all truly UC&C and mobile capable? Are they sugarcoated with gaudy features? How to make the right decision among a ton of free and paid UC mobile clients & solutions available in the market?

This blog offers a simple 2-step checklist for you to find a truly business-ready mobile UC&C solution and UC mobile client to meet the demand of your modern mobile workforce.


Step 1: Mapping out the Right Mobile UC&C Strategy

Every company has different business needs. And each of its functional teams has unique processes and ways of communicating, requiring businesses, especially small businesses with a limited budget, to consider all of the various components when unifying mobile communications. An evaluation of the roles and workflows of different departments will determine how a UC&C solution and UC mobile client can best serve your road warrior to boost productivity on the go.

Start by determining the answers to the following fundamental questions:

  • How many mobile workers do you have now? ( Whether out in the field or in the office building)
  • Does your organization support BYOD policies?
  • What BYOD devices (iOS/Android Phones, PC, Tablet) do your employees often use? And what is the proportion?
  • What business applications do your mobile employees use daily? (These may include CRM, Contact Center, Hotel PMS, online conferencing tool, etc.)
  • Are you looking to consolidate vendors or applications to reduce costs?
  • What features of a mobile-ready UC&C plan are most important to your business?

Unified Communications Mobile Client Features

UC Mobile Client Features

Businesses do not typically think deep when it comes to communications features. By asking discovery questions to uncover pain points and align functional needs with strategic goals, it’d be easier to narrow down the options.


Step 2: UC Mobile Client: Must-have Features

Today’s business mobile communications are rarely just a point to point voice call. An interaction can start with presence and instant messaging, only to escalate to conferencing or full unified communications and collaboration. Therefore, when you’re considering a UC mobile client for your business, try to include every possible touchpoint, so your mobile worker’s performance won’t suffer due to the lack of essential multimedia support.

Here are some key features you should consider.

  • Rich Client Access Option

An efficient UC mobile client should provide a consistent experience across PC, Mac, iOS, and Android to improve and speed-up processes through all communication functions readily accessible in the devices used by workers, whether it’s a smartphone, laptop, or desktop.

  • One Number Concept and Find Me/Follow Me

In 2019, employees want to have a single number as a point of business contact, whether in their corporate office, home office, or on the go. With a UC mobile client turning your mobile devices into an office extension, the Find Me/Follow Me feature allows you to route business calls to your mobile client or customized destination (voicemail, extension, mobile number, etc.) according to your business preference, ensuring that incoming calls are never missed.

  • Company Directory

Your UC mobile client should have a company directory, which synchronizes all work contacts and provides quick click-to-call, Instant messaging, or email access to all your colleagues. This will save employees the time and effort of remembering or manually entering contact data and facilitates team collaboration, wherever they may be.

  • Presence

Whether you handle customer calls or need to coordinate with colleagues, presence can help your business by relaying an individual’s status in real-time anywhere. It indicates whether your colleague is available, on a call or away with a business trip. Utilizing presence, you’ll know the best time and method to communicate effectively at the first attempt, minimizing back-and-forth between colleagues when people are unavailable.

  • Instant Messaging

Instant messaging is the cornerstone of unified communications. The ability to text or initiate a group chat anytime on any devices let mobile workers spontaneously collaborate with others through a secure chat window, facilitating team discussion when a call is less convenient. You can also leave messages to colleagues who are on a call or off-line, so they can get the message once they are available.

  • Conferencing

Audio and video conferencing is critical for many businesses to allow multiple parties, both internal and external, to connect simultaneously. A UC mobile client capable of such an advanced feature can bring substantial savings on 3rd-party conferencing services.

  • CRM Integration

Do your business highly rely on salespeople or customer contact? If yes, CRM Integration might be a must to enhance your sales, marketing, and support efficiency. It’s suggested to consider a UC mobile client that provides easy integration with CRM solutions such as Salesforce CRM. This will enable your teams to seamlessly and spontaneously access key customer information anywhere without having to switch applications or to search endlessly in databases.

Related:  5 Key Advantages to VoIP CRM Integration

  • Easy Access to Call journal, Call Recording, and Voicemail

Provide your road warrior with easy access to call journals, recordings, and voicemails via intuitive UC mobile client interfaces. Incoming and outgoing calls are logged in a personal call journal. And call recordings and voicemails are time-tagged with caller information. The ability to click to play any voicemails and recordings right straight from UC mobile client enable your employees to respond on time.


The Bottom Line

Keeping mobile teams in step with each other is a significant challenge for every business. Using the cutting-edge tools offered by UC mobile clients, the mobile workforce can better collaborate in different communication formats, allowing extra flexibility, consistency, and productivity. But not all mobile communications solutions are created equal. Performing an in-depth business need analysis beforehand helps you make the right decision and choosing an all-inclusive solution saves you troubles.

Yeastar Linkus: All-in-one UC Mobile Client Crafted for SMBs

Yeastar Unified Communications App is a desktop and mobile capable application that integrates and manages all your communications functions. It turns your mobile devices into a fully-featured office extension, let you see the presence status of others in your company, send instant messaging, share files, listen to voicemail/recording and control all your phone calls – all with a single click. Seamless CRM integration with Zoho CRM, Microsoft Dynamic 365 and Google Contact is also possible with the desktop version. And the application is free with Yeastar Business Phone System! Learn more about Yeastar Linkus App here.

If you’d like to try out Yeastar Linkus and Yeastar Unified Communications, make full use of Yeastar Cloud PBX 14-day free trial. No credit card required. No long-term commitment. Get full access to it in minutes now.

Free Download: Linkus Uc Mobile Client

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User Login

Instantaneously receive user login credentials via email once the extension has been deployed by the adminstrator.

Log in conveniently via any web browser for access to the user portal.

Integrations

Integrate various CRM software for better customer service and satisfaction.

Enable transcription of audio messages into text with integration of third-party transcription service.

Enable API for integration with various third-party integrations for advanced performance such as call center and hotel reception services.

System

Provision email SMTP and template settings for event notifications to be sent out.

Manage storage allocation and duration of various types of data being stored on the PBX.

Determine the types of event notifications to be sent out, and the parties receiving them.

IVR

Add various audio voice prompts to be played according to different call scenarios.

Add voice prompts on multiple levels for more effecient and precise inbound call routing.

Voicemail

Customize default voicemail settings for each user extension.

Add various voicemail messages for allocation to different call scenarios and users.

Provision specific rules to how voicemail messages are played over the PBX system for better caller experience.

Reports and CDR

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Use intuitive visual call reports, to check various call statistics over extensions, trunks, queues, ring groups, and more.

Call reports can be viewed and downloaded directly from the PBX, or scheduled to be sent via email to respective parties.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Limit the number of otbound calls users are allowed to make within a time period to protect against toll fraud.

Restrict certain country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

User Login

Determine extension ranges for different functions.

Define use of different voice prompts depending on call scenarios or intended function.

Provision basic and advanced SIP settings to be used on the PBX.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified trunks, including inbound and outbound calls.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified extensions, conferences, or call queues.

Paging and Intercom

Create different types of paging and intercom broadcast groups for selected extensions.

Set a time schedule to automatically start your broadcast.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Conference

Pre-set conference settings and dial-in passwords for security, and allow internal users to send conference invites to external parties.

Speed Dial

Create multiple speed dial numbers to respective external numbers frequently used for outgoing calls.

Speed dial is activated when the set prefix (default or customized) is dialed.

Ring Group

Create multiple ring groups and determine custom ring strategies and failover settings for each.

Call Queue

Create different call queues with specific ring strategies and failover settings.

Static agents permanently answer calls in queue, while dynamic agents can log in and out. Allocate different extensions to each group.

Determine what actions are to be allowed for Mangers or Agents to manage on the Queue Panel.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions or destinations within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Organize company contacts into dedicated phonebooks and determine accessibility rights to extension groups for each.

Bulk import a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

Role and Client Permission

Pre-defined user roles within the PBX are conveniently available for allocation, or create your own set of permissions.

Restrict users from viewing specific extensions, departments, or extension groups with Extension Visibility.

Allow or resrict specific users from managing or viewing certain company contacts

Auto Provision

Pre-defined setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models are conveniently available for easy set-up.

IP Phones can be quickly provisioned to your Yeastar PBX with just the pre-defined template and device MAC address.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Different types of trunks can be created, Caller ID can be customized.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Configure default call and user settings for individual extensions.

Customize allocation of user extensions to specific ring groups.

Portal Login Page

Receive your administrator log-in credentials and set-up guide via email.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Installation Wizard will guide you through basic configurations.

User Login

Access all company contacts made available to you by the administrator.

Create your own personal contacts list for easy reference and dialing.

Bulk import contact details for convenient data entry.

User Login

Access and manage user settings for softphone application and voicemail.

Manage call routing and presence status for your individual extension.

Retrieve or download your personal call logs and recordings.

User Login

Receive your log-in credentials and set-up guide via email, sent by your admin.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Configure contacts and personal settings from the web portal.

Auto Provision

Add, remove, or modify IP phone settings from your web interface.

Upgrade IP phone firmware conveniently from your PBX.

Upload various default setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models for greater convenience during set-up.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Have detailed contact information for your vendors and clients conveniently stored .

Bulk add a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

PBX Monitor

Monitor the status extensions, whether they aren idle, in use, or unavailable.

Know whether your SIP Trunk running properly, or experiencing problems.

Monitor the number of call conferences currently running on your PBX, and their individual durations.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Call Detailed Report

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Filter by date, time, or extension number to retrieve specific call logs or recordings

Playback call recordings directly from the PBX or download to store externally.

Event Center

Determine what events and logs are to be recorded and/or have notifications sent.

Specify particular notifications to be sent to respective authorized personnel.

User Permission

Set up vaious groups of users for allocation to certain sets of access rules.

Determine what features a certain group of extensions can or cannot access.

Determine if users can access, play-back, or download call logs and recordings from the pbx.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Determine specific the range of SIP ports for connection between your PBX and endpoints.

Restrict country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

Voice Prompt

Upload and designate customised audio recordings at multiple levels of a call journey.

Upload recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by callers on hold.

Upload customised voice prompts to create a professional call experience.

General

Customize general call preferences either company-wide or for individual extensions.

Set-up feature dial codes for convenient user navigation to specific call features.

Determine how voicemails are retrieved, and also upload custom voicemail recordings.

Call Features

Add multiple automated responses to be played at different phases of a call journey.

Designate specific extensions to ring concurrently based on an external caller's dial pattern.

Customize messages and waiting times to keep external callers engaged when put on hold.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Provision SIP trunk settings and dedicate them to particular extensions.

Bulk add DDIs on each SIP trunk, for allocation to an individual or groups of extensions.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Allocate and deploy specific extension numbers to respective users via email.

Set-up default ring and presence status settings for individual users.

Deal One View

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

Deal One View

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

Deal One View

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.