Future proof

Your Workplace

Simplifying workstreams with flexible communications. Small and mid-sizes business edition SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESS EDITION

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Chapter 1

New world order in workplace
communication

Seeking a replacement for your current communications tool? In need of a phone solution, messaging tool, video conferencing app, or perhaps all three? If your current communications infrastructure has become a thing of the past, you’re not alone.

97.6%

of employees in 2021 would like
to work remotely

The workplace has transitioned into a new world of communications. With more and more organizations shifting to remote and hybrid work models, the tools that once served us well are coming up short.

Whether you’ve got five employees or five hundred, today a connected workplace means total flexibility. Flexibility to work remotely, hybrid, or in-office, and the ability to maintain effective communication channels across all three.

A recent study by Buffer indicates that a staggering 97.6% of employees in 2021 would like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers.1

Whether you’re hoping to improve your internal or external communications—or both for that matter— we’re here to help you overcome your communications conundrums for good. And let’s not forget that the ball is in your court: you have the option and flexibility to choose between best-of-breed tools and pick providers that can integrate with your current tech stack.

In this eBook, we’ll cover the essentials of communication that every business needs to succeed in the future workplace and showcase the power of bringing integrated apps into where you get work done, such as Microsoft Teams and CRM platforms.

Chapter 2

The path to simplifying workstreams
with modern communications

Businesses need to learn how to navigate the new communications landscape the right way. With so many technological advancements and options out there right now, it’s easy to end up frazzled and confused.

A key essential:
Unified communications

We’re here to help you find a communications tool and setup that can help grow your business while empowering you to live your life without compromising work.

To help you find a communications solution that delivers this magic elixir, we’ve put together a go-to list of essential features that every modern communications software solution should deliver.

Gone are the days when people were forced to switch between multiple apps—more apps just means more headaches and higher costs. With unified communications as a service (UCaaS for short), you can eliminate both pain points by having all your communications needs in a single app.

Neat, right? We think so. Unified communications are, hands down, the best route to take, and one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a communications system.

When you can get all of your communication needs from one single vendor, managing flexible working models becomes so much easier. You’ll have an easy-to-navigate app for phone, messaging, video, texts, and faxes that can be set up in minutes.

No wonder 67% of workers believe that a unified platform will improve their workflow. And it doesn’t stop there—65% of workers believe a unified platform will help them be more productive, and 64% believe it will help work feel less chaotic.2

Unified communications providers, like RingCentral, can help you connect your entire workforce seamlessly. With RingCentral MVP™, you’ll improve productivity, increase return on investment (ROI), and reduce the total cost of ownership thanks to bundled phone, messaging, and video.

One app. One bill. One vendor.

Take Theta Lake, for example. The tech startup uses RingCentral to nurture innovation, fuel growth, and unify communications across its business. By finding a communications partner that could scale as their business scaled, Theta Lake set itself up for success.

“The more time we spent working with RingCentral’s unified communications solution as an integration partner, the clearer it became how valuable it could be internally… Find the right communications partner now, even if they offer more than you need while you’re in startup mode. If all goes to plan, you’ll soon be a growing and thriving company, and at that point, you’ll want your business communications environment to support your success, not hinder it.” 3

— Anthony Cresci, VP of Business Development and Operations, Theta Lake

Productivity driver

As you search for the right communications tool, remember to keep productivity front and center. If your communications tool isn’t driving productivity and collaboration, then it’s time to reassess your options. 81% of employees feel that collaboration apps improve the overall productivity of their company.4

81%

of employees feel that collaboration
apps improve the overall productivity
of their company

With a modern communications tool, workflows should become more streamlined, maximizing collaboration between employees, vendors, partners, and other key stakeholders. Employees should be able to switch effortlessly between devices, use their business phone number on their cell phone, and collaborate seamlessly across messages, video meetings, and phone calls.

Mobility is key

Mobility is no longer a want—it’s a need. The days of employees tied down to their office desks are behind us. Future-forward business leaders are putting tools in place that allow them to manage their business from… well… just about anywhere. Cloud communications have transformed businesses across the world, and yours is no exception.

77%

of businesses agree that cloud
communications enables them
to support a mobile workforce.

77% of businesses agree that cloud communications enables them to support a mobile workforce.5 Desk phones are now completely optional—you can easily handle your business communications from mobile and desktop apps. With the right cloud telephony partner, you’ll be able to access your business communications from any device, anywhere. You can even choose to either keep your existing phone number or get new local, global, or toll-free numbers.

Bulletproof reliability

Reliability has never been more important. Reliability and security are two of the biggest concerns for today’s companies using UCaaS.6 Our fast-paced workflows require communications to be bulletproof and dependable.

We don’t have time for downtime. When searching for unified communications solutions it’s important to prioritize reliability. Don’t settle for anything less than 24/7 multichannel support, 99.999% uptime that keeps you connected during outages and disasters, and a #1 rating by industry experts (for example, RingCentral is a Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant Leader six years in a row).7 Checking off all these boxes will save you a lot of time, money, and frustration down the road.

World-class compliance
and security

Make sure that you’re putting security first. RingCentral uses seven layers of security on all architectural processes. That way we can protect your data and communications channels against fraud and abuse. In the new age of communications, security issues are on the rise, yet on average only 5% of companies’ folders are properly protected.8

Many companies are still struggling with security issues. We highly recommend choosing a vendor whose compliance and security provisions can be tailored to your unique business needs. RingCentral’s global certifications include SOC 2, SOC 3, HITRUST, FINRA, HIPAA, C5, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and GDPR compliance. In addition, RingCentral provides seven layers of enterprise-grade security.

Crystal-clear ROI

At the end of the day, you want to make sure that the tool you’re using is going to deliver that allimportant return on investment. Ask yourself, “Will it increase mobility, customer satisfaction, agility, and productivity?”

Then, ask yourself, “Will it decrease IT expenditure?” Look for a UCaaS tool like RingCentral that lets you answer yes, yes, and yes to all of these questions.

Chapter 3

Armor yourself with integrations

Varied and powerful integrations are the crowning glory of flexible communications. Thanks to integrations, you can not only get an advanced unified communications tool covering phone, messaging, and video, but you can also easily integrate your communications tool into business applications you already use—instantly improving your flow of work.

We’re here to help you find a communications tool and setup that can help grow your business while empowering you to live your life without compromising work.

Top benefits of an
integrated approach

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Don’t miss out on the power of integrations. There are hundreds of integrations and open APIs at our disposal today. These apps make it easier than ever before to customize your workflows and help your team work with the tools they already know and love.

If you don’t want to give up your Salesforce, Zendesk, or ServiceNow capabilities when you adopt UCaaS in your business, don’t worry. You don’t have to! With RingCentral, you can leverage 250+ integrations in the RingCentral App Gallery and open APIs through the RingCentral developer portal to customize all your workflows.

We get it—you want flexibility and options to deploy your UCaaS suite the way that best meets your needs. Whether you’re looking to take a multi-vendor approach to your UCaaS stack or use a single vendor, RingCentral provides you with the flexibility and options you need to be successful using whichever tools you choose.

Chapter 4

Top integrations your business needs

With so many integrations out there, it’s important to focus on the ones that are going to be most important to your business. Sifting through hundreds of potential integrations can be tiresome. So, that’s where we come in. We’ve narrowed down some of the strongest business integrations out there to help you get off on the right foot.of flexible communications. Thanks to integrations, you can not only get an advanced unified communications tool covering phone, messaging, and video, but you can also easily integrate your communications tool into business applications you already use—instantly improving your flow of work.

RingCentral Cloud PBX
for Microsoft Teams

If your business is already using Microsoft Teams for team collaboration, then the RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams integration could be a real asset to you. Whilst Microsoft Teams offers some great collaboration features, it does not come with telephony included.

Luckily, you can still enjoy all the features of Microsoft Teams that you already know and love, without having to compromise on strong telephony. Organizations can add telephony to their Microsoft Teams account in two ways:

Microsoft Calling Plans

Businesses can connect Teams to a thirdparty telephony carrier, providing users with a phone number and minutes. The connection is enabled by using a Microsoftcertified session border controller (SBC). Direct Routing allows businesses to bring their existing carrier relationships and services into Teams—this means being able to take advantage of cheaper call rates, greater flexibility, and better support compared to working directly with Microsoft.

Direct Routing

Businesses can connect Teams to a thirdparty telephony carrier, providing users with a phone number and minutes. The connection is enabled by using a Microsoftcertified session border controller (SBC). Direct Routing allows businesses to bring their existing carrier relationships and services into Teams—this means being able to take advantage of cheaper call rates, greater flexibility, and better support compared to working directly with Microsoft.

85%

of Microsoft Teams users with the telephony capability
enabled use third-party Direct Routing over Microsoft’s
own calling plans.

Direct Routing is a popular choice. In fact, upwards of 85% of Microsoft Teams users with the telephony capability enabled use third-party Direct Routing over Microsoft’s own calling plans.10 Not all Direct Routing is created equal though—RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams is one step above the rest. By Direct Routing to RingCentral, you’ll be able to attach our best-of-breed RingCentral phone system and global reach to your Microsoft Teams setup across desktop, mobile, and web.

With RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams, your business can tap into enterprise-grade telephony (no matter your business size) and reap the following benefits:

RingCentral’s uptime SLA

99.999%

which equates to less than six
minutes of downtime a year.

Microsoft’s uptime SLA

99.9%

uptime equates to more than
a business day of downtime a year.

Intuitive Teams experience

Direct Routing is a popular choice. In fact, upwards of 85% of Microsoft Teams users with the telephony capability enabled use third-party Direct Routing over Microsoft’s own calling plans.10 Not all Direct Routing is created equal though—RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams is one step above the rest. By Direct Routing to RingCentral, you’ll be able to attach our best-of-breed RingCentral phone system and global reach to your Microsoft Teams setup across desktop, mobile, and web.

Rich in PBX features

RingCentral’s advanced PBX features, plus added telco functionality, will boost your productivity. Tap into several advanced PBX features, including call controls, IVR and call handling, automatic call recording, reports and analytics, call queues, SMS, and fax to name a few.

Reliability

For all its advantages, Microsoft Teams is notorious for frequent outages. That’s no good. In fact, according to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is a staggering $5,600 per minute.11 Yes, per minute.

But when you integrate with RingCentral, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of our 99.999% uptime SLA and seven layers of robust security and protection.

Any mode, any device, anywhere

With RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams, users can communicate and collaborate using any device on mobile, desktop, or the web. Whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the go, you’re always connected.

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RingCentral’s analytics portal

Flexibility

RingCentral’s platform is built to be flexible. As your team grows, you can quickly add new users within a few seconds. On top of this, you can customize your workflows with 250+ business apps in the RingCentral App Gallery and use open APIs in the RingCentral developer portal. Love an app already? Keep using it alongside RingCentral.

Ready to deploy

Forget long-drawn-out implementations and SBC management. RingCentral can help maintain and operate your complete high-availability Teams Direct Routing infrastructure using Microsoft-certified SBCs so you can focus on what matters most: your business.

In-depth analytics

Access a suite of analytics for complete visibility into your voice communications in Microsoft Teams—quickly identify key trends, set automated alerts, access quality of service, and more.

Global calling

Upgrade your capabilities from 26 countries that Microsoft Calling Plans offer to 40+ countries with RingCentral. RingCentral also offers local and toll-free numbers in 110+ countries.

Success story: Howard Kennedy

Here’s a sneak peek at a RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams success story. Howard Kennedy is a top UK law firm (with 400 employees) that uses RingCentral and Direct Routing in Microsoft Teams to consolidate business communications and serve their global network of clients around the world.

RingCentral gave Howard Kennedy everything they needed in one place and helped elevate their Microsoft Teams setup with top-tier telephony.

“RingCentral took us from having to support seven communication platforms—none integrated with the others—to one unified communications platform for everything… RingCentral Cloud PBX for Teams integrated effortlessly into our Microsoft Teams environment. On top of this, RingCentral had 99.999% availability and a solid reputation for business telephony.” 12

— Jonathan Freedman, Chief Information Security & Technology Officer, Howard Kennedy

Looking for something more? In addition to RingCentral Cloud PBX for Microsoft Teams (Direct Routing), there’s also RingCentral for Microsoft Teams, an integration that embeds the RingCentral dialer in Microsoft Teams. This integration allows users to access the RingCentral dialer within the Microsoft Teams user interface, minimizing the time spent switching between windows. It allows users to make external calls to specific phone numbers, RingCentral contacts, and extensions. Top of calling features, it also allows you to quickly start or schedule a meeting directly from your Teams chat textbox or with quick bot commands. Simply @mention RingCentral to start a meeting on the fly

Let’s not forget the best part about all of this. Since RingCentral for Microsoft Teams is not a Direct Routing integration, there are no additional Microsoft license requirements and it comes at no extra cost for RingCentral MVP customers.

Salesforce

Another popular integration users love is RingCentral for Salesforce. With this integration, users can enhance their CRM and Service Management experience by automating workflows, increasing call efficiency, and improving the quality of customer interactions. Seattle-based comparison company, Porch, greatly benefitted from adding RingCentral telephony to their Salesforce platform.

The company uses Salesforce to track and manage its customer interactions. RingCentral saved the company time and financial savings.

“It made sense to go with RingCentral because the administrative capabilities are there and no development is required.” 13

— Ankur Pradhan, Senior Salesforce Developer, Porch

Jira

Jira users can also benefit from RingCentral integrations. The popular project planning and management tool works alongside RingCentral so that users can receive post notifications with Jira updates and tag coworkers directly from within the RingCentral app, consolidating your work environment into a single view.

For example, the Australian software company, Task, made major improvements to their support desk with RingCentral’s IVR functionality.

“If a customer leaves a voicemail for the service desk, it [RingCentral] creates a Jira ticket with the voicemail attached.” 14

— Matthew Whitaker, Operations Manager, Task Retail Technology

Chapter 5

The future is flexible

The new world of communications is full of options, and once you’ve got your head around those options, that’s the true beauty of it. The future is flexible, and today’s communications solutions are molded to your unique business needs.

As an innovative leader in the communications space, RingCentral can help you navigate this brave new world of communications. We’re here to help businesses adapt to the future workplace—a future that continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

RingCentral is trusted by more than 350,000 small businesses and is recognized as an industry leader. Perhaps that’s because of our robust seven layers of security, our 250+ integrations in our App Gallery, and access to open APIs on our developer page, or the fact that we focus on empowering and enabling businesses to grow.

Whether you’re looking to improve your internal or external communications, RingCentral can help you enhance communications between employees and customers alike with an award-winning UCaaS solution and advanced customer engagement features. The future’s looking bright with RingCentral by your side.

About RingCentral

RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a leading provider of business cloud communications and contact center solutions based on its powerful Message Video Phone™ (MVP™) global platform. More flexible and cost effective than legacy on-premises PBX and video conferencing systems that it replaces, RingCentral empowers modern mobile and distributed workforces to communicate, collaborate, and connect via any mode, any device, and any location. RingCentral offers three key products in its portfolio including RingCentral MVP™, a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform including team messaging, video meetings, and a cloud phone system; RingCentral Video®, the company’s video meetings solution with team messaging that enables Smart Video Meetings™; and RingCentral cloud Contact Center solutions. RingCentral’s open platform integrates with leading third-party business applications and enables customers to easily customize business workflows. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, California, and has offices around the world.

For more information, please contact RingCentral Partner Support at partners@ringcentral.com or 800-595-8110.