Three Statements to Add to Your Corporate New Year's Resolutions List

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As a consumer, there are undoubtedly a few personal items making your 2014 New Year's Resolution wish list (get on a diet, spend more time with the kids, have better work/home balance... anyone?). But as a business owner, 2014 needs to be all about conquering the bottom line and making the right turns to drive profitability, augment customer retention and enhance productivity. All of that can start by repeating the following statements:

1. I Will Bring UC to My Business

There's a reason why research firm Dimension Data forecasts that enterprise IT decision makers will spend a total of $53 million on unified communications and collaboration (UCC) technology over the next two years. What's more, 78 percent of IT decision makers currently have a strategic plan and budget to implement "select components" of UCC. It's because it works.

"Of those IT decision-makers who had made major UCC investments in the past two years, a high 61 percent cited measurable cost savings, employee uptake and employee productivity," explains Craig Levieux, Dimension Data's Group General Manager for Converged Communications. "This sends a strong message to organizations that don't recognize unified communications as a strategic productivity and cost-saving weapon."

The fact is that UC brings a wealth of benefits, aside from just cost savings. Namely, it levels the playing field, especially for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB). Because UC integrates real-time with non-real time communications, SMBs can take advantage of a variety of communication and collaboration solutions from auto-attendants to call forwarding to voicemail and email notification in order to make their companies appear more robust. Moreover, companies can rely on UC to unify disparate communication systems to that administrative tasks become less cumbersome and so that the focus can remain on employee productivity and stellar customer service.

2. I Will Embrace the Work at Home Movement

While it may have made you wary this year to hire that quality candidate who lives in New York when your office is based out of California, in 2014 it's imperative to cast an eye toward the work at home movement. The truth is that studies demonstrate that remote workers can actually be more productive than on-site employees. Specifically, Gallup's 2013 "State of the American Workplace" study found that a mobile workforce generally logs 46 hours a week, in stark contrast to the 42 hours typically worked by on-site team members.

Supporting the work at home movement is largely possible thanks to the rise of bleeding-edge collaboration technologies such as desktop sharing, presence technology, audio and video conferencing and instant messaging-all of which make remote workers feel as though they are only a cubicle away. Moreover, with the right platform, remote workers can enjoy the same communication and work experience no matter where they are located as the desktop environment can be simulated at another location.

3. I Will Upgrade My Business Phone System

If you find yourself on the phone with customers who repeatedly say, "I'm sorry I didn't catch that," then it is time to give your existing office phone system a makeover. Companies are increasingly eying business VoIP solutions that allow them to escape from the limitations surrounding the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The right offering, for example, allows companies to enjoy visual voicemails and transcription capabilities, Find Me/Follow Me, virtual receptionists and mobile phone extensions, among other features.

In addition to allowing your company to sound more professional and solve customer queries in real-time, the right business phone system will also save your company substantially when it comes to the long distance, international calling and tech support costs associated with legacy technology.

Did we miss anything? What else is on your New Year's Resolution list?