Unified communication is an approach that will generally bring together different areas of communication into one tool. As the name suggests, a unified communication tool will promote collaboration and communication by centralizing the different modes of communication such as chat, videoconferencing, softphony, messaging or conferences with several participants.
It is therefore a Swiss knife that will be of great help in your routine and the sharing of information in your educational structure.
But why is it in your interest to implement unified communication in an educational institution? How important is unified communication in education? What are the benefits and contributions of unified communication for an educational institution?
Flexibility, cost reduction or improved collaboration… Discover all the benefits of unified communication for your educational institution in this article.
Firstly, unified communication promotes collaboration in institutions
The following statement should not come as a surprise: collaboration and communication in the educational environment play a central role. Whether for teachers, students or the administration, the use of tools such as videoconferencing, instant messaging and softphony multiply the possibilities of the institution and make life easier for each of the actors of your school, college, high school or university. Whether it is for students who want to collaborate better for their homework, or even the administration that needs to be more reactive on a thorny subject, unified communication, is a timeless tool!
The Softphony has been even more democratized during the Covid years, allows communicating with its equipment including a system of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) without using personal lines and the risk they represent.
Online conferences and meetings break down barriers between schools by helping teachers and students to continue their courses, even if the distance separates them.
With instant messaging, users can communicate in real time and continue their collaborative thinking beyond the facility.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that any form of communication needs to be secure and data protected. We recommend that you use open source and sovereign software for your institution.
You can read our article: Why choose open source for your educational institution?
Unified communication also reduces costs for institutions
It is no secret that the costs of travel for speakers and the traditional infrastructure of the means of communication represent a significant cost for all different types of educational institutions, regardless of their size.
It is much cheaper to have a remote speaker via videoconferencing than to allocate additional transportation and accommodation expenses to the remote speaker.
In another register, it is also less expensive to use softphone software directly integrated into the administration computers rather than the purchase and maintenance of telephone devices. All the more so if this solution offers an application that can be easily downloaded on the smartphones of the people concerned.
Finally, unified communication solutions promote mobility and accessibility for teams
With unified communication, each member will have unlimited access to a communication tool via desktop, laptop and smartphone. This member will be able to communicate and exchange in real time with all the other members of the institution. This is very useful when a teacher is travelling or a student with reduced mobility is unable to attend a classroom course.
It is therefore a crucial tool in the ease of access to the course for people with disabilities who can participate, but also interact with the teacher in real time.
Unified communication also means more flexibility for distance learning with the possibility of sharing courses/teachers between different sites and institutions.
As said before, unified communication is an essential tool in the development of an educational institution, because it will make it possible to break down the walls of your institution, as well as to facilitate communication and information sharing for your teams.
As mentioned earlier, the security of your data is not a choice, but a necessity.
XiVO is a solution fully adapted to the educational environment with customers like l’Université d’Avignon, l’Université de Lille, l’Université Grenoble Alpes.
XiVO is a unified communication solution, an open-source and sovereign IP telephony software. It offers a range of features adapted to the educational environment.
You can now make an appointment with one of our experts who will be very happy to inform you and guide you in setting up unified communication in your institution.
