Over the past year, businesses have faced evolving challenges, from economic uncertainty and technological advancements to an increasing focus on sustainability. These shifts present both opportunities and uncertainties for organizations looking to stay ahead.

As we begin 2025, we share our insights on the key trends that will shape the year ahead.

Strengthening hybrid work ecosystems

Hybrid work has become a standard expectation for many. In 2025, we foresee businesses continuing to refine their hybrid work models further to maximize productivity and boost collaboration.

Modern, innovative technologies are revolutionizing infrastructure, enabling greater scalability, automation, and flexibility. The iPECS Cloud platform supports innovation, ensuring that businesses can take advantage of new trends and meet the changing demands of the modern work environment.

Tools like iPECS ONE remain instrumental in empowering businesses to unify communication across devices and locations. With advanced features for voice, video, and instant messaging, iPECS ONE enables seamless internal collaboration and efficient customer-facing communication, no matter where employees are located. Hybrid work isn’t just the norm – it’s a key driver of innovation and employee satisfaction.

Generative AI and beyond

AI remains at the forefront of technological evolution, and 2025 will see further integration of advanced AI solutions in daily business operations. Generative AI continues to evolve beyond simple chatbot functions and virtual assistants into sophisticated tools that deliver deeply personalized and context-aware applications resulting in better user experience.

Building on innovations like ENGAGE for iPECS Cloud which utilizes AI through webchat, we expect AI-powered communication tools to continue to grow in demand and functionality. Solutions will not only analyze customer queries but also proactively suggest intelligent responses to agents, significantly improving service quality and resolution times. AI integration with platforms like iPECS ONE will continue to drive smarter, faster, and more meaningful business interactions.

Transforming customer experience

Customer experience (CX) will see a dramatic evolution in 2025, driven by generative AI and hyper-personalized services. Advancements in technology are making personalization ever more achievable. More and more, business are seeking more personalized omnichannel experiences from trusted providers. From tailored solutions to sophisticated device recommendations, businesses will rely on AI to transform CX, anticipating customer behavior and proactively seeking solutions.

The iPECS Cloud platform is already at the forefront of enabling seamless CX through intelligent call routing, omnichannel integration, and real-time analytics. Through iPECS Cloud, businesses can deliver consistent, memorable experiences that build loyalty and enhance customer satisfaction. Through the power of iPECS, the iPECS global community are supporting businesses to deliver exceptional customer experience, helping to build strong relationships and maintain a competitive edge.

Data-driven decision making and advanced analytics

Data continues to shape business strategies, and in 2025, the focus will be on transforming data into actionable insights. Advanced analytics are empowering organizations to predict trends, identify opportunities, and optimize resources in real-time.

iPECS Analytics remains a powerful tool for analyzing call data, offering businesses deeper insights into call patterns, customer behavior, and operational efficiency. By harnessing predictive analytics, organizations can proactively address customer needs, optimize staffing, and refine their strategies for greater success.

In 2025, 5G technology is poised to revolutionize industries, enhance connectivity, and unlock a wave of innovations. One key development is the rise of private 5G networks, which will see widespread adoption. Sustainability will play a significant role in 5G’s growth, with telecom providers prioritizing energy-efficient infrastructure.

On a global scale, the adoption of 5G-enabled devices and network rollouts in emerging markets are projected to support over a billion connections by the end of 2025. This rapid growth will not only strengthen global connectivity but also foster innovation and collaboration across borders, reshaping the digital landscape for businesses worldwide.

Cybersecurity and digital transformation

In a world of increasing cyber threats and unpredictability, resilience is essential. As hybrid work, cloud technologies and services increase, businesses that rely heavily on these solutions need to consider the cybersecurity implications. It’s crucial that businesses with remote and hybrid workers use secure networks and have robust measures in place around security.

As digital transformation drives forward, businesses will increasingly prioritize cybersecurity to ensure networks and customer data is protected. Robust encryption, enhanced privacy protocols will be key areas businesses will be looking for in their modern technology and infrastructure.

At IPECS, security is of upmost importance which is why the iPECS Cloud platform is hosted in the most secure data centers. It is also why we ensure secure communication with encrypted calls and recordings while offering robust backup options for business continuity.

Our mission for 2025

Whether through advanced AI, enhanced CX tools, or innovative communication solutions, our mission at IPECS remains the same – we empower businesses to connect, collaborate, and thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

With flexible, scalable, and secure iPECS communication solutions, the IPECS community is helping businesses adapt to new challenges and seize new opportunities.

If you’re ready to embrace the power of iPECS in 2025, contact your nearest global partner today. Let’s make this year one of connection, growth, and innovation together.

 

The journey of leading corporations for digital transformation already began a long time ago.

A global consulting group, A.T. Kearney defines digital transformation as a corporate activity that pursues a distinctively enhanced competitiveness on its current business by preemptively adapting to the major momentums from a dramatical shift in entrepreneurship settings, which are  brought by cutting edge technologies as mobile, cloud, big data, AI, IoT and the like, or to newly revolutionize its business model to bring about the new growth model through the similar technological breakthrough. In other words, the core of digital transformation is on the action of a corporate’s autonomous adoption to the technical advantages that its pace and effect can be fully optimized, prolonging the competitiveness of an institution.

With corporations bringing new emerging digital innovation and making numerous new technologies introduced to the market popular by quickly making them a common everyday feature. Nowadays the trend allows companies to apply and deploy digital technologies easier and cheaper. It’s a phenomenon that is seen to be identical in the business communications market as well. As cloud solutions become the new normal, many efforts are made on applying the new technologies, as big data and AI to the conventional communications solution.

 

All means in communications will be unified in a single platform.

Unified Communications (UC) represents all means of communications including phone calls, e-mail, messaging, as well as video conferencing system, unified in a single platform efficiently operated and managed. UC makes network equipment, software, and terminals seamlessly unified, structuring all communication system in a single operating system. Commonly, UC is to support applications of IP phones, Instant Messaging (IM), Real-time presence, E-mail, Voice or Video conference, file or screen sharing and the like. Through these features, various communication and collaboration are made available from one on one to multilateral.  

In addition, UC solutions support PC’s, tablet’s, smartphones and more. Multi device support surely expands the boundaries of personal and professional communications for in and out of office, anywhere anytime and on any device allowing the same user experience. Collaboration and communication among colleagues will be close to the on-line office environment.

 

Why would UC be an important part of your digital transformation strategy?

Through digital transformation strategy, a corporation can adapt to the latest digital technology, reduce operating cost by combining digital technology to the existing physical layer, increase flexibility and agility of the business, and can create value by cultivating a new profit model. The UC deployment can be crucially important to achieve the above objectives.

 

Digital Workplace establishment

Through UC deployment, a corporation can structurally organize and unify their means of communication under one platform and that can establish the fundamental infrastructure of a digital workplace for a radical change and modernization of the business process. From IP phones to IM, e-mail, voice or video conference and more, all are to be operated in a single platform, regardless of the physical location of an employee, the same settings will be provided for the work performance. The workforce in the digitalized working environment can easily establish a workflow of their own to be able to solely concentrate for a greater working performance.

Securing business flexibility and agility

When changes happen in unpredictable ways corporations of today must be able to allocate their available resources rationally and accordingly to the circumstances. By utilizing UC, the initial investment for a communications solution can be optimized and become an agile and flexible way to change one’s working environment by promptly restructuring its business communication infrastructure accordingly to the fickle demands constantly changing by the market or targeted customer segment. Moreover the bill for calling, IT management, business traveling and those of related business costs can be visibly saved with UC solutions which gives new opportunities to invest on other core areas of the business.

Corporate efficiency and collaboration capacity enhancement

By installing and using UC, the work process can be built on a new logical and efficient way which will promote better team project results. All employees in the corporation will be able to benefit from the various collaboration tools for easier, real-time communications. Multi-lateral conference by voice or video, group chatting, file sharing. All the various means of collaboration promotes a faster and clearer information sharing for precise decision making. Especially for virtual organizations where flexible working can now be a viable option in the modern days where mobility is emphasized. These are realistic solutions and are becoming a fashion through the use of UC operation that are directly connected to the corporate performance. 

Incremental Customer Experience improvement

Dramatically increase and improve your customers’ experience, within the organization, from the moment customer requests are received, by allocating the best fit agent for each call through real-time presence and with the relevant past performance and records. The corporate grade infrastructure will be available to fully support the situation on site that can elevate the qualities of the customer service. The viable options can be optimized for your business process. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, for an example, can be integrated to the communications platform for a smoother and greater quality in providing the best services for the customer experience.

 

Ericsson-LG Enterprise will be your trusted partner for your digital transformation journey. Click here for more detail on iPECS communications solution.

The 2 most popular phrases at the moment appear to be “self-isolation” and “social distancing” – so it is clear that virtual/remote working is key to limiting the spread of the virus.

These measures may well ensure your customers’ businesses remain open, and importantly assist them to show a duty of care to protect their staff in these times.

 

Guiding customers with solutions

No doubt your customers realize they have a problem – but that doesn’t mean they have all the answers. With the national roll out of the NBN and the fast speed experienced on mobile data networks, an Ericsson-LG Enterprise iPECS system guarantees your customers a superior fix to the problem.

 

Ericsson-LG Enterprise providing out of the box solutions

Here is a list of features/benefits that I think you should be highlighting with your customers and prospects:

1. Mobile Extension (no internet required)

This is a great feature that presents an incoming office call to your handset/DID directly on your mobile number. No further applications are required.

Your customer’s tele-worker doesn’t even need to be at home to take calls (unless of course they’re self-isolated!)

This feature is similar to call forwarding however you can dial on your mobile during a call to:

• Transfer the call to another extension
• Park the call
• Dial a paging zone
• Transfer the call to a conference room

What else might your customers like to know?

• These features are available with all Ericsson-LG Enterprise extensions, including iPECS Cloud
• Tele-workers can log in or out of a queue
• Tele-workers can be notified of voicemail messages remotely
• Tele-workers can call their DID to make an external call. The system will recognize their mobile’s CLI and will provide a dial tone ready to make a call.
• These mobile extension features can be turned on or off at the end of the day or shift. 

2. iPECS UCS

Ericsson-LG Enterprise has iPECS UCS application for mobile, tablet or PC – for your customers with this requirement.

iPECS UCS allows staff that are working remotely to easily make and receive a work call on any device. Calls can be handled as if the tele-worker was at their office handset.

What else might your customers like to know?

The key highlights of iPECS UCS include:

• Integrated presence
• Instant messaging, SMS and Note
• Voice and video calling
• Voice and video conferencing
• Single and multi-log-in by user license
• Click-to-call
• Call control
• Visual voicemail with intuitive UI
• MS Outlook synchronization
• MS Exchange Server integration
• Organization chart
• Supports multiple call servers
• Client virtualization
• Active Directory based single sign-on
• CRM integration

3. IP handsets and Cordless Phones

Remote tele-workers desiring a handset to work from home have the option of a cordless phone or IP handset. They simply take the device home and connect it to their home network to enjoy the same features as if they were working in the office.

 

Click here for more detail on iPECS communications solution.

Contingency plan refers to a prepared emergency response plan.

Corporations and entities sometimes get confronted with unexpected outbreaks that could grow to an extent of a disaster. In such cases, they may have seen a leader or CEO of an organization proclaim that he declares the current status as ‘emergency’ and the ‘contingency plan’ is now to be put into effect.

But what exactly is the ‘contingency plan’ referring to?

An effective contingency plan means to implement the prepared protocol for future outbreaks of an emergency. In other words, it’s a plan made from hypothetically events that may be a series of uncontrollable situations and making a responsive plans for each so that in times of such situations, we can be systematically prepared of the predicted events for example, international wars, serious conflicts, upheavals in the business management environment or unexpected natural disasters.

Iconic events that can describe such situation can be pointed to the 2008 global financial crisis, 2011 European dept crisis, economical panic, regional military conflicts, natural disasters like Fukushima nuclear radiation tragedy in 2000s can all be examples. Natural disaster like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunami’s bring times of crisis more frequently than we think. And now we are witnessing and suffering an epidemic of the Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, which can be categorized as a crisis that calls for public and private organizations collective response.

 

Seamless communications are the crux of a contingency plan.

The utmost purpose of a contingency plan is to normalize an organizations operation despite an emergency. A corporation when faced with such circumstances will activate a contingency plan that first protects the company’s resources and minimizes the customer impact by promptly implementing the protocols according to the scenario prepared beforehand that has already been assigned and delegated to the resources for the necessary measures to be carried out.

However, the contingency plan alone can be fragile and often malfunctions due to numerous variables from panic which is why seamless internal and external communications between employees and customers are the crux of a contingency plan. Seamless communications can steer and navigate the situation increasing the probability of a contingency plan to succeed but without it in place it would be extremely difficult to achieve the normalization.

 

In times of crisis, the value of communications becomes ever greater.

In the past, it was the physical aspects of an investment in preparing for seamless communications. There were investments for server redundancy, back-up power and service redundancy all installed and still having value in the current times. Now we see multiple innovations to support more software applications that ensure redundancy and back-up with such features as standalone survivability, or active-active standby functionality,

However, to procure a complete communications infrastructure for a contingency plan, the above-mentioned hardware and software support are both needed together with the deployment of a unified communications platform.

Generally, a unified communications platform supports multi-technologies and multi-devices. Including Phone calls, e-mail, chatting and more, on the unified communications platform, various technologies are supported to enable emergency back-up that allow you to choose an infrastructure to maximize your communications’ effectiveness through multiple devices like a PC, smart phone or tablet for seamless communication. In addition, in times of a disastrous situation when your office is closed down and you are to work from home or elsewhere, various collaboration tools including voice and video conferencing, group chatting , file sharing, remote monitoring can empower your collaboration with your colleagues for constant discussion for rational decision making. You can experience work efficiency just as if it’s done in the office. 

Unified communications shines in times of a crisis. And likewise, the tools provided can smoothly operate a contingency plan which acts as the crux of the emergency response protocol.

 

If you wish to get more information on the unified communications from Ericsson-LG Enterprise, please click here.

The time has come. After much consideration you and your company have decided to transition your communications to the cloud. Congratulations! To make your transition a success, you still have some work to do. While your future cloud provider will do a lot of the work, there are three “must-do” steps that you need to make sure your cloud provider takes. These steps will help you navigate the transition, providing a look into the nuances that will guarantee the success of your transition to the cloud.

 

1. Assess the Quality of Your Network

To determine the quality of your network, your potential service provider must provide a network assessment. The network assessment will review your network to ensure that it can sustain your cloud communications. If there are problems that appear during the network assessment, your service provider can offer solutions, so that you can successfully move forward with your transition to the cloud.  A network assessment looks at a few things:

 

The Configuration of your Network

Reviewing your network configuration will provide a look into any settings that can impact that quality of your calls. Your firewall settings will be reviewed, as well as your network router settings. This will help make sure that all of your settings can support Voice Over IP (VOIP).

Available Bandwidth

The amount of bandwidth you have directly correlates to your download and upload speeds, which impacts the quality of your calls. During the network assessment, your provider will review the total bandwidth you have available, and how much you need for VOIP.  Inadequate bandwidth often results in packet loss, where parts of words or sentences aren’t delivered to the receiver. While it is normal for occasional packet loss to occur, it should be a rarity- not the norm. Compare this to receiving mail. If a piece of mail is occasionally lost, you don’t worry. However, if 50% of your mail never shows up, occurring on a regular basis, you know you’re having a problem. Reviewing bandwidth ensures that you almost always experience quality phone calls, and all your voice packets are delivered.

Jitter Inconsistency

Jitter also has to do with speed of a connection, but instead impacts the order of the words or sentences between callers. Jitter occurs when packets are moving inconsistently, and then arriving out of order. So, if the conversation were the alphabet, the letters would arrive out of order, making it difficult or impossible to decipher. A network assessment can determine why Jitter is occurring, making sure that this problem doesn’t occur in your new system.

Should Your Network Assessment Cost Money?

If your vendor is charging for the Network Assessment, consider it a red flag. Why? Because without a Network Assessment, your transition to the cloud can’t be a success. The Network Assessment allows both you and your vendor to understand the viability of a cloud communications system, and any roadblocks you may encounter when trying to implement the system. A good comparison is to imagine you’re having your home painted. For your painting company to know how the job will be completed, they need to see how many rooms are in your house, how big they are, and how high your ceilings are. What if they charged you $200 just to come and assess the home and see if they can accept the project? What if they charge you for the assessment and then don’t have the capability to complete the project?  The same is true for the Network Assessment. As an integral piece of your transition to the cloud, the Network Assessment shouldn’t be one more fee for you to pay. It should be a step made by you and your vendor, helping you both find success in your transition to the cloud.

 

2. Review Your Current Communications System

Understanding how your current communications system is set up will help your vendor determine how your new system should be architected. Not only will they learn what “must-haves” that your company has, but also what can be improved to support your business strategy.

During the review of your system, all aspects of your communications will be reviewed. This may require input from team members company-wide. First you will review your communications as a whole, considering questions like:

• What’s your call flow?
• How are calls handled?
• What phone numbers do calls come in on, and where do they go?
• Do you have an auto-attendant?
• Do you ring groups of people?
• Do you have a dedicated call operator?
• How are all of your calls being handled?
• Do you have applications, like call recording, or a contact center?

These questions will be answered for every phone /phone number at your company. You will review every way that communications come into your company.

Next, you will consider other communications features that you may already have, or should consider. For instance, do you have an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system? This system may be used to take customer responses, to communicate hours of operation, or for bill paying.  What features can support your IVR system to support your business strategy?

You should also review your company’s turnover, or attrition. Understanding how frequently your employees are leaving, will help you understand what variety of system you will need. Do you have people coming and going all the time? It may be important to get an ease-of-use system, which includes on-going training. Is your workforce very stable? You may be able to move forward with a more in depth system, but doesn’t require ongoing training.

 

Considering Service and Support

Understanding the value of communications to your company will help you determine what level of service and support you will require once you transition to the cloud. This is important to understand from the get go, to avoid surprises. The truth of the matter is, all cloud solutions require support at some time or another. And when your communications system has a problem and you need service, quality and timely support is critical to your business. After all, without your communications system you can’t talk to your customers or prospects, which means you’ll lose money.

The type of support that you need is dependent upon how critical your communications are to your business. For instance, if people can’t call you, is this an inconvenience? Or a catastrophe? Assessing the importance of your communications will help you determine how much service and support you require for your communications.  Understanding which type of user will help you determine what kind of support will be necessary for your communications usage. 

Many cloud providers operate on a cookie cutter support methodology, with the goal of turning over as many customer help desk tickets as possible. However, every system is different, and your communications system is a valuable investment. You need custom help to support your unique needs. While you’re reviewing providers, consider their support methodology, focusing on support team size and location, emergency support, on-site vs. remote support, and the service request and escalation process.

 

3. Craft Your Implementation Plan

Your final step will be to work with your provider to clearly outline your implementation plan. Crafting an implementation plan can be broken into two important parts: Project Management and Project Planning. Trustworthy companies will have a well-documented process for these steps. 

 

Project Management

Proper project management includes a project plan and a specified project manager. The project plan guarantees that both you and the phone provider have a clear-cut understanding of the scope of your project. The project manager will help to create a realistic implementation schedule. They also have deep experience in the nitty gritty details of an implementation that may not be obvious to you and the technicians on your project. They will have the knowledge to plan for unexpected minutia, such as building access, background checks, and more.

Project Planning

In order for any implementation to be successful it is pivotal that your provider not only craft but also adhere to a project plan. A project plan will take you through the necessary steps to guarantee the implementation is completed to the exact specifications of your business needs. Project planning includes a discovery period, during which overall design and configuration is reviewed. It then takes into account Network Topology, physical installation, training planning, and takes time to consider what could go wrong. Once all of this is completed, a scope of work document and timeline should be created, followed by scheduling and a kickoff meeting. Before your company transitions to the cloud, make sure to select a provider who can meet your expectations of Project Management and Planning. Without this, your transition is at risk for failure.

 

Understanding the value of project management and planning is essential to the success of your cloud installation. So, when you’re selecting your phone system provider, take the time to discuss and review the planning, project management, and implementation process. If they’re skipping steps or unwilling to provide transparency in their processes, it’s a bad sign- they may not be a good provider for your new phone system. 

 

What’s Next?

Making sure that you work though these three steps before moving forward with a transition to the cloud will help guarantee your success. Before selecting your cloud vendor, make sure to review how they handle assessing the quality of your network, reviewing your current communications, and crafting an implementation plan. Make certain that they have clearly outlined processes for each of these items, and that they are completely transparent in their approach. If your provider brushes off your questions, or doesn’t treat these items seriously, you should be wary. Completing these steps and doing the work upfront, will help protect your investment and make your transition to the cloud a success.

 

Find out more about the transition to Cloud here.