Rewriting the rules of business: how leaders can transform comms

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Customer experience expectations have arguably never been higher. Indeed, fast responses, consistent service and personalised experiences across multiple channels – including phone, email, SMS, social channels and web chat – are the baseline for success in today’s competitive market.

“It’s not that long ago that you would dial a number and that would be your only way of communicating with a business,” says Chris Wade, chief marketing and product officer at Gamma Communications, a provider of technology-based communication solutions across Europe. “But that has completely gone out of the window now.”

Modern customers expect to be able to communicate with companies at their convenience, not just when the business is open. They’re also likely to feel frustrated when staff don’t have access to a full history of previous conversations, forcing them to repeat ‘old’ information. Intelligent call routing is also a must: being bounced between different agents in pursuit of an answer is an exasperating experience.

“Every business is having to respond to these challenges,” says Wade. “That doesn’t mean everyone needs an all-singing, all-dancing CRM-integrated-into-everything solution. But every business needs some way of managing different types of communication channels, and ideally a way of understanding the conversations they’ve had with customers over time.”

The legacy challenge

When teams can’t see the full picture of customer interactions, or when calls drop between departments or response times lag because agents are juggling multiple platforms, customer experience inevitably suffers. Each disconnected touchpoint represents a potential moment of friction that could drive customers toward competitors.

Despite this fact, many businesses still rely on outdated and fragmented legacy communication systems that leave them stuck in a cycle of slow response times, missed interactions and inconsistent service.

Some are naturally concerned about the cost of upgrading their communications infrastructure, as well as staff retraining and integration challenges. SMEs may also worry about disruption to long-established processes or the impact of losing a phone number they’ve used for years. More open systems and data flows can also create greater cybersecurity vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.

“The more you open up, the more data flows, the more systems you have connected and the more security risk you have,” says Wade. “So you need to work with a provider that can wrap in that security capability as they shift your communications infrastructure from being basic to being highly available, accessible from anywhere, with different modes of communication coming into it.”

Channel partners can also address these concerns by emphasising the hugely beneficial outcomes of communication system transformations, which tend to far outweigh any short-term inconvenience. Indeed, the cost of doing nothing could be far more damaging to the business in the long term.

SMEs may not be aware of the negative impact poor customer communication experiences are having on customer loyalty and growth, for example, or how easy it might be to start fixing the problem. “Many small businesses don’t realise that they can move to a telephone system that will allow them to route calls about sales to the salespeople and calls about service to the service people,” Wade explains.

A unified experience

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) offers a more comprehensive way to eliminate the delays and inefficiencies that plague fragmented legacy systems. Centralising all communications on one platform helps to unlock true visibility across customer interactions, for instance, enabling teams to work together seamlessly rather than in isolation.

There’s no switching between applications, no searching across multiple databases and no time wasted in system handoffs. Customers can also switch between calls, texts and online interactions without having to repeat themselves, and agents are able to ensure a consistent level of service no matter how that customer chooses to engage with the company.

These benefits can drive increased revenue, improved loyalty and the agility needed to meet ever-evolving customer expectations. At the same time, channel partners need to understand the unique needs of every business they work with, as each will require a tailored solution that balances capabilities and costs with long-term needs.

“It’s about being able to describe the value you can deliver and the problems you can solve as vendors and channel partners, but also engaging in a conversation that says ‘we understand what your problem is,’” Wade explains. “So you need that two-way street where the vendors are authoritative about the value that will be delivered, but also have a specific conversation with a particular customer.”

In some cases, that value may include the ability to use AI to improve customer experiences. The technology is already able to handle many routine customer queries like “Where is my order?”, for instance, with humans tackling more complex issues that require more nuance and empathy.

“The people who answer the questions that can’t be automated can interact with those customers faster, because 80% of queries are being handled by an automated system that is infinitely scalable,” says Wade.

The data from all these conversations can unlock more and more value for the organisation, supporting highly tailored offers and promotions that hold unique appeal for their customers. Strong network connectivity in the form of reliable 4G/5G and fast fibre optic broadband is essential for delivering these benefits, however.

“Everyone gets super excited about AI. But none of it works if the cables, fibre optics and the network don’t work,” says Wade. “You’ve got to have that fundamental enabling layer that allows data to pass from one point to another reliably, predictably and quickly.”

Partnering for growth

Gamma Communications provides both the foundational building blocks of communications technology, such as voice enablement, connectivity, mobile and security, as well as the products, platforms and apps that can deliver voice, video and chat across any device.

“We’re very competent in managing our own network, so we can manage telephone calls, traffic and data flows in a way lots of people can’t,” says Wade. “And we do our very best to make sure that we’re delivering that capability in the most consumable way.”

Gamma’s cloud contact centre as a service (CCaaS) solution, Horizon Contact, also empowers agents to deliver the first-class customer service that people expect today. It supports inbound and outbound voice calls, webchat, email and outbound SMS. It is designed to give agents a master view of customer communication across all channels, so they can ensure a seamless experience no matter how the customer chooses to interact.

Gamma supplies these solutions both directly and through an extensive network of trusted channel partners. Their recently launched Gamma Edge initiative is designed to provide these partners with the tools, insight and incentives to scale confidently and profitably in a changing market.

It’s built around what they need most to grow: data-led planning, simplified commercial tools and full-stack solutions that make scaling easier. Alongside rewards and commercial accelerators like inclusive minutes, it also features all the tools and support partners need to transform legacy estates into future-ready platforms.

This support also helps channel partners to quantify the customer retention, acquisition and satisfaction benefits of unified communications, making the investment case more compelling than ever before. Communications transformation today is no longer simply about upgrading technology. It’s about working with partners who understand how the right communications solution can improve customer experience, and, ultimately, the long-term success of the business.

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For more information please visit gammagroup.co

Communications platforms have become central to how businesses operate, connecting teams, customers and systems in real time and improving agility and operational efficiency. However, they must be fully secure too – and that isn’t always the case today.

“In today’s hybrid work environments, communication platforms often face several recurring security vulnerabilities,” says Ian Stretton, head of practice for infrastructure, modern work and security at Infinity Group, a Microsoft partner offering technology services, solutions and managed services. 

“One of the most common is misconfiguration – tools are frequently deployed with default settings, open guest access or insufficient encryption, leaving them exposed to unauthorised access.

Often, issues arise when the speed of deployment trumps stringent security measures. “Many businesses deploy new platforms quickly but overlook establishing encryption, retention policies or external sharing restrictions. 

These oversights create blind spots where sensitive data can leak,” says Kristian Torode, director and co-founder of Crystaline, an independent managed IT services provider offering unified communications support services.

These oversights are also an open invitation to attackers. To address them, “Security must be baked into architecture from day one, not patched on after the fact,” says David Fischer, chief sales officer at Luware, which provides cloud-based contact centre and conversation recording and analytics solutions for Microsoft Teams.

Businesses that remain on legacy systems are particularly exposed to security problems, in part due to a lack of visibility across multiple channels. 

“When calls, messages and file sharing spread across disconnected apps, spotting suspicious behaviour or responding quickly becomes much harder,” Torode explains.

Platforms that lack real-time monitoring and alerting tools pose a particularly acute security risk. As Fischer says, “A lack of monitoring and logging limits visibility across platforms, making it harder to detect breaches.”

For MSPs and resellers, there’s an opportunity here to help clients unify and secure their communication stacks, so that teams can work securely at the speed modern business demands. 

The goal is the deployment of platforms that don’t just connect people, but protect customer and supplier relationships too.

End-to-end encryption

To achieve this, channel partners need to reframe communications security from a compliance checkbox to a business-critical enabler. 

End-to-end encryption, for example, is “no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a baseline expectation for trustworthy, resilient business communication,” says Torode. 

“We have it all the time for our day-to-day communication on platforms such as WhatsApp, so this should absolutely be present across business environments too.”

Encrypting messages, calls and shared files at the source and only decrypting them at the recipient’s device prevents anyone, including service providers, from accessing content during transmission.

“Even if the network itself is compromised, end-to-end encryption protects sensitive conversations and minimises data theft,” says Torode. 

“It’s particularly valuable for businesses that handle confidential information or intellectual property, making it much harder for attackers to turn a stolen password or intercepted network traffic into a serious breach.”

While strong encryption once slowed systems or hampered usability, today’s UC solutions integrate it seamlessly. 

“Modern platforms are designed to implement encryption efficiently, with minimal impact on performance,” says Stretton. “This enables secure collaboration without compromising user experience, meaning businesses can move forward in confidence.”

Jonathan Wright, CPO of the network provider GCX Managed Services, also points out that end-to-end encryption has become even more crucial in recent years. 

“It is particularly important for those businesses that deploy a hybrid working model, and/or where there is a BYOD model in place, where sensitive information often travels across various cellular data connections and public Wi-Fi networks.”

The right access

Role-based access controls (RBAC) also play an important role in securing communications platforms by seamlessly limiting insider threats. “Role-based access controls provide a straightforward but powerful defence,” says Torode. 

“By restricting access strictly to what each user needs for their role, organisations reduce the damage potential of misused accounts.”

Indeed, without clear roles and permissions, it’s all too easy for sensitive data to be shared widely or for someone to make changes that expose systems to risk accidentally. 

“RBAC ensures that employees, contractors and partners all operate within defined boundaries, so there is less room for human error or ‘privilege creep’.”

Properly implemented RBAC also makes auditing and compliance far more robust. “Security teams can quickly verify who has access to what, identify inconsistencies and tighten controls where necessary,” says Torode.

Real-time monitoring tools and alerts are also essential today, as they can help to identify and prevent threats before they become serious – including unusual logins, DDoS attacks or fraud attempts.

“Real-time monitoring and alerts are valuable for spotting risks early and stopping problems before they escalate,” says Torode. 

“Communication platforms generate constant logs of logins, message and file transfers. This activity can hide subtle warning signs — unusual logins, sudden data spikes — without ongoing monitoring.”

AI-enabled agility

AI features can help to improve the effectiveness of monitoring and alerting, further safeguarding businesses against security threats. 

“The rising volume and complexity of digital communications on platforms like Teams, Slack, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and iMessage produce vast amounts of data that can overwhelm compliance teams, and legacy monitoring systems often generate irrelevant alerts,” says David Clee, founder and CEO of MirrorWeb, an archiving and communications surveillance platform.

“Fortunately, intelligent compliance solutions are available that have been proven to reduce false positive alerts by as much as 90%. 

They use advanced natural language processing and risk scoring to surface the highest-risk communications, all while slashing meaningless alerts. 

By automatically categorising communications into intent, sentiment and potential impact, the riskiest interactions are quickly surfaced.”

Automated audit trails are also a fundamental feature of modern UC platforms. “It records who accessed what, when and where — creating a tamper-proof log that’s crucial for investigations, compliance audits and early detection of irregularities,” says Torode.

Indeed, without automated supervision, it’s harder for organisations to react to problems quickly and effectively. 

“When systems aren’t linked, collecting and reviewing relevant communications is laborious, risking missed details and potential non-compliance,” says Clee.

Torode adds that: “Beyond regulatory needs, audit trails foster trust internally and externally by demonstrating transparency and control over sensitive communications. 

Alongside real-time monitoring, access controls and encryption, they form the backbone of a practical, robust security framework.”

These frameworks are an integral part of modern UC platforms. By helping to implement them, MSPs and resellers can enable businesses to upgrade their communication strategy without compromising on security, thereby unlocking all the speed, growth and seamless customer service benefits UC platforms provide while reducing the risks associated with legacy systems. 

In short, a good partnership is now about more than just successfully implementing IT solutions.

It’s about leading with a strategy that speeds up and secures communications across the organisation, so that clients have a platform that’s truly fit for the future.