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The Factors that affect the use of Unified Communication Technologies within
an Organisation

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 The Factors that affect the use of Unified Communication
Technologies within an Organisation
Prof Margaret Cullen 1,*, Prof Andre P. Calitz 2, Ms Indu Pramod 3
1,3
Business School, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
2
Department of Computing Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Keywords Abstract
Unified Effective communication is vital component in any organisation. Unified
Communication; Communication (UC) solutions are an important pillar of an organisation’s IT
Collaboration; strategy. UC keeps employees and customers connected, improves services,
Employee performance. enables work collaboratively and allows daily organisational functions to operate
effectively. Ineffective communication within organisations yields negative
outcomes because of unclear goals, inefficiencies, poor productivity and low
morale. Organisations are increasingly implementing UC tools to address
communication challenges. This study was conducted to evaluate and develop
techniques to improve communication efficiency and effectiveness when
implemented using unified communication technology within an organisation.
This study followed a positivistic research philosophy and the approach was
deductive. A quantitative study using a questionnaire was conducted to test the
conceptual model. The survey was conducted amongst employees and
management of a large industrial development zone in South Africa, in order to
establish the factors that contribute to the use of UC and collaboration
technologies in the organisation. The data from this survey were statistically
analysed, including Exploratory Factor Analysis. The most important
determinants for UC technology collaboration were the factors Presence and
Internet Protocol Telephony. The findings of the study indicated that most of the
respondents positively agreed that UC improved productivity, UC increased
employee performance and UC created positive effectiveness among employees.

1. Introduction
Communication entails the transmission and exchange of information from one party to another through a
medium (Fluker & Murray, 2017). The landscape of organisations’ communication has evolved over the
years due to advances in information technology (IT). New concepts and communication models are the
result of the constant evolution of IT (Dziembek & Turek, 2018). Global human interconnectivity is
permanently shifting and information and communication now move freely, driving change (Mygatt, Steele
& Voloshchuk, 2020). Effective communication and collaboration within an organisation contribute to
setting benchmarks for successful and efficient organisational operations. Internal and external
organisational operations and transactions are often conducted through various modes of communication,
in addition to face-to-face (Burg, 2013). These multiple types of communication need to be structured to
form a strategic communication strategy. Strategic communication is seen as strategic when it integrates
all those communications that are associated with organisational goals and strategies and the operations of
the organisation (Van Ruler, 2018).
Unified Communication (UC) is defined as communication with devices integrated to optimise
organisations’ processes within reasonable time frames or to optimise organisations’ processes and enhance
human communications by reducing latency, managing flows and eliminating device and media
dependencies (Singhal & Agarwal, 2016). Exchange of knowledge will allow employees to be more

*Corresponding Author
1
[email protected]
*[email protected]
3
[email protected] IBC Conference, 25-27 Sept 2022, Summerset West, South Africa
effective in their jobs. Today’s users are used to a range of different communication methods, including
instant messaging, voice and video calls, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, emails or social media. The
communication tools involved with UC technology consist of instant messaging, presence technology,
conferencing and Internet Protocol Telephony (IPT). Email, telephony, conferencing, social networking
tools and instant messaging have a presence but as a built-in capability (Elliot, Blood & Fernandez, 2022;
Collins, 2018). Present trends for UCs include UC as a service (UCaaS). UCaaS is a cost-effective model
for on-demand delivery of unified communications services in the cloud (Tesfamicael et al., 2015). The
most important barriers of UCaaS include:
• Security issues;
• Technical barriers;
• Legal barriers;
• Psychological barriers; and
• Market barriers (Dziembek & Turek, 2018).
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to work from home, which has presented a new range of
challenges, which have been attended to with technology solutions for communication (Sanders et al., 2020).
Communication with employees and external stakeholders has always been important pre-COVID-19 and
still is the focus of some organisations post-COVID-19. Organisational communication strategies and
practices play important roles in giving employees information, direction and support (Kartikawangi &
Dahesihsari, 2020). Technology brings numerous benefits, but with the new technologies there are many
challenges to overcome (Oertig & Buergi, 2006). UC technologies are very important and available in the
market. UC becomes a strategic decision for businesses because it can address communication issues in
new ways by delivering an integrated platform where all these applications are in use in a shared or unified
environment (Scopserv, 2021). UC as a service enables an organisation to shrink costs, but it also enables
it to place its emphasis on core competencies and allocate employees efficiently and thus focus on
competitive diversity and advantage (Panetta, 2017).
The aim of this study was to determine the factors that influence the use of UC technologies within an
organisation. The study investigated how management and employees in an Industrial Development Zone
organisation, perceived the use of UC technology. The paper proceeds as follows: the problem investigated
and the research objectives are discussed. A discussion on the background literature with a general overview
of UC including benefits, drivers for adoption as well as components and the proposed UC conceptual
model to improve employee efficiency and employee productivity follow. The remaining sections discusses
the research methodology, the results and conclusions.
2. Problem Investigated
Organisations continue to become more fragmented and employees, at the same time, become more mobile.
UC enables people to work together in real time and provides new ways of being more efficient (Silic &
Back, 2016). With UC, employees are always accessible. This study investigated how employees in an
organisation identify and use UC technology. It further investigated how access to the communications of
organisations has been changed into effective collaborative communication. Due to improvements in
technology and market growth, different studies support that the trend for UC is beneficial. The success,
usability and ease of use of UC systems and technologies are however dependent on the applications being
user-friendly. To improve communication, various communications and collaboration tools have been
developed to enhance the efficiency and productivity of employees. The research problem investigated in
this study is that communication with and between employees within the workspace has been challenging
and the enabling factors have not been identified.
3. Research Objectives
The services offered by the IT (Information Technology) department, as an enabler to achieve corporate
goals, must be strategic, methodical and delivered with unyielding commitment and passion. IT acts as a
strategic enabler, by providing IT solutions that will support the organisation to achieve its strategic goals.
The IT department of an organisation must provide high quality technology-based services, in the most
cost-effective manner in collaboration with organisations, to meet the needs of the organisation.
The main objectives of this study were:
• To determine the factors that influence employees' perception of the use UC technology; and
• To propose a model to improve communication by using UC technology within the organisation.
4. Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were formulated for the study:
• H1: The UC presence has a positive effect on the effective communication within the organisation.
• H2: The UC collaboration has a positive effect on the effective communication within the
organisation.
• H3: The UC Internet protocol telephony has a positive effect on the effective communication
within the organisation.
• H4: The UC video conferencing has a positive effect on the effective communication within the
organisation.
• H5: The UC instant messaging has a positive effect on the effective communication within the
organisation.
• H6: The usage of UC technology has a positive effect on effective communication within the
organisation.
• H7: The efficiency of UC has a positive effect on the effective communication within the
organisation.
• H8: The employee perception of technology has a positive effect on the effective communication
within the organisation.
• H9: The employment benefits using UC technology have a positive effect on effective
communication within the organisation.
• H10: The Organisations benefits using UC technology have a positive effect on the effective
communication within the organisation.

5. Literature Review
UC technology signifies innovations in communication technology that have grown over time into solutions,
which combine various communications channels and collaborative technologies to expedite the
cooperative use of information sharing and multiple communication methods (Elliot et al., 2022). UC offers
a multi-faceted communications infrastructure that enhances communication to drive relationship building
and abolish physical barriers that frequently impede effective communication and consequently
productivity among the employees in an organisation. Fluker and Murray (2017) in Figure 1 show the path
that effective communication leads to improved productivity.

Figure 1: Path to effective communication and productivity (Fluker & Murray, 2017)
The long-established and efficient way of communicating in organisations were by travel and meetings
(Denstadli et al., 2013). According to Perlow et al. (2017), a survey was conducted with 182 executive
managers, which revealed that 62% stated that meetings had led to lost opportunities. In the survey, 65%
stated that meetings caused them to delay the completion of urgent tasks and 71% stated that meetings are
unproductive and inefficient. Most of the respondents to the survey, however, considered that meetings are
sometimes essential to collate information for organisations efficiency, even though they are viewed as
unproductive and inefficient. Information and technology have advanced to the extent that teams and
service providers distributed over a geographically wide area can collaborate and communicate in real time
by using UC (Aguiléra, 2008). In a global environment, as employees become more mobile and
organisations continue to get further fragmented, UC empowers individuals to collaborate in real time and
enables efficient communication with various clients, suppliers and stake-holders for problem solving
through information sharing via multiple communication methods (Elliot et al., 2022).
Recent advances in IT have propelled innovation in UC technologies into various modes of collaboration
(Arnold, 2018). Most organisations’ communications have moved from face-to-face to communication
media such as email and conference calls (Burg, 2013). Distributed work, telework and virtual work are
not new phenomena, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic period (Henry, Le Roux & Parry, 2021).
Effective communication entails not only the content of the message but also the comprehension of the
content, the acceptance of the message and the delivery channel (Den Hartog, Boon, Verburg & Croon,
2013).
UC provides a platform to integrate collaboration applications into a single interface, with a consistent user
experience across endpoints and network environments. The pillars of UC include voice, video, messaging,
conferencing and mobility (Young, 2017) and can help organisations construct well-rounded collaboration
plans (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Pillars of Unified Communications (Young, 2017)

Recent advances in IT have propelled innovation in UC technologies into various modes of collaboration
considerably (Arnold, 2018). Most organisations’ communications have moved from face-to-face to
communication media such as email and conference calls using technologies such as Zoom and Teams
(Burg, 2013). Figure 3 illustrates the integration of various communication tools in a UC ecosystem, for
example voice, instant messaging (IM), presence, desktop sharing, audio conferencing and video
conferencing interacting in a unified way (AT&T Organisations, 2018).

Figure 3: Unified Communications tools (Computer Station Co., 2014)

5.1 Drivers for adoption of UC
The drivers of UC include improved employee collaboration, improved internal and external
communication and creating a more mobile workforce (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Organisations Drivers for UC (Fairbrother, 2015)
There are three main organisational drivers for the adoption of UC technology as follows:
• Usage: Venkatesh (2000) stated that behavioural intent (usage) has a positive effect on the purpose
to use UC and collaboration technology;
• Efficiency: In order to accomplish speed and efficiency for user requirements, many organisations
have used UC as a replacement or to complement out-dated communication channels to connect with
customers and employees (Fikry & Mukhtar, 2012). UC offers provision for efficiency, speed, multi-
tasking and increasing interpersonal relationships; and
• Technology: UC and collaboration technology offer pathways for the broadcasting of knowledge,
enablement of decision making and UC of employees within the digital world (Vermesan et al., 2011).
An effective technology platform provides access to information, supports plug and play
communication and enables the revolution of knowledge and information (Landoli, 2009).
Furthermore, it provides tools for the quick creation of teams and networks to be flexible and adaptive
based on open standards.
5.2 Employee and organisation benefits of UC
Contemporary UC technologies allow employees to collaborate and effectively share information in real
time. A well-designed and implemented UC system significantly lessens multiple communications
mechanisms in favour of faster, ad-hoc, one-on-one or group meetings expedited by instant messaging,
presence, video, voice and web conferencing capabilities (Kelly, 2010). Online education is another notable
application enabling employees’ participation in training initiatives from various locations in real time
benefitting the organisation by incorporating learning into the workday demands (Heather & Mckeen, 2011).
Furthermore, UC tools empower employees to keep in touch with experts instantaneously when probing
for particular proficiencies.
Productivity is a vital component of sustainable growth and competitiveness in the management process
(Kongkiti et al., 2009). UC and collaboration have proven to enrich customer service, flexibility and
competitiveness and reduced costs (Rash, 2010). According to Jones (2017), various explorations illustrated
that knowledge exchange has a positive impact and leads to organisational growth and success. A vital
component of organisation strategy is the development of a communication system to support effective
sharing of knowledge. This notion is further fuelled by the knowledge economy that has triggered a rise of
decentralised organisational structures resulting in a rapid virtualised working environment, which depends
on virtual teams to achieve organisational objectives (Dušan, Krum & Zorana, 2014).
Collaboration technology perceptively increases the amount of potential expertise and partners accessible
to an organisation and, in recent years, a variety of types of inter-organisational associations have become
common place (Pisano & Verganti, 2008). Integration from supply chain to design coordination to
innovative partnerships have become the norm (Attaran, 2007). In essence, UC improves productivity,
reduces costs, enhances performance and user experience (Scott, 2020). The benefits of UC (Orange
Organisations Services, 2018) are presented in Figure 5 and focuses on employee connectivity.
Figure 5. Benefits of UC (Orange Organisations Services, 2018)

5.3 Factors that drive adoption and use of unified communication

Most organisations aim to attain cost reduction and cost efficiency through economies of scale. Through
UC a cost savings opportunity is achieved by having platform consolidation with Internet Protocol
telephony (IPT), which can lead to the replacement of desk phones with mobiles (Bai, 2020). Another core
area of UC, conferences, presents cost savings opportunities by replacing travel with telepresence. Instant
messaging introduces additional cost savings which are achieved with the reduced number of phone calls
and the ability to keep in touch with employees and clients.
UC enables organisations to improve organisations agility and increase flexible and dynamic working
practices (Forrester, 2008). According to Almeida and Lourenço (2011), organisations identify the
importance of UC technologies for increasing customer satisfaction, improving productivity and reducing
communications costs. These benefits however, come with Internet risks, which should be mitigated with
firewall mechanisms, virtual private network (VPN) technologies and admission control security endpoints
within the organisations.
The following factors, which were operationalised from the literature, influence employees’ perceptions of
the use of UC.
Presence
One of the greatest strengths of UC technologies is the features that include circumstantial presence tracking,
which provides details about individual communication method preference and individual availability,
intelligent notification services and on-demand switching between communications channels (Gartner,
2008). Presence is defined as someone who is available or present but not necessarily seen (Oxford
Dictionary). Furthermore, presence information assists employees to perceive the availability of others and
notify of their availability so that others know how to reach them easily (Fikry & Mukhtar, 2012). UC has
accomplished empowering complex forms of presence signalling. The user’s presence can be inferred from
technical devices which indicate user presence statuses and can be combined to signal the status of a group
(Riemer & Taing, 2009).
Collaboration
Globalising organisations, mobile work, outsourcing, inter-organisational teams, innovation and fulfilling
customer and supplier’s desires are motivating today’s pre-requisite to enhance collaboration within
organisations. IT is at centre of these trends (Heather & Mckeen, 2001). IT provides information integrity
and connectivity, without which most collaboration energies would not be effective. A key enabler of
collaboration is well-designed IT architecture (Johansen, 2007). Collaboration technologies include
hardware, software and applications that support the achievement of collaboration (Camarinha-Matos et al.,
2009). Collaboration forms part of the internal communication strategy and enables actively working
together to achieve mutual goals (Scott, 2020).
Virtual interaction is being enhanced progressively every day with the proportion of time employees’ work
virtually increasing. Collaboration technologies show a critical role in enhancing knowledge generating
and sharing practices and also in developing new products, processes and services (Fink, 2007).
Additionally, Pisano and Verganti (2008), stated great ideas can come from anywhere and IT has
dramatically reduced the cost of accessing them.
Internet Protocol Telephony (IPT)
The progress of UC was determined by advancement in Internet Protocol infrastructures along with
revolutions in software-based communication media, such as instant messaging. In this regard, several
voice communications will deliver a smooth and extensive communication experience to employees and
clients. The growth of VoIP and other digital tools available on the market has directed organisations
communications to enter into a new golden age by enabling the teams to be more productive and effective,
where VoIP delivers strong telephony functionality, with texting, messaging and video conferencing added
on (Grech, 2008). According to various investigations, the average savings that organisations receive after
switching to VoIP range from 30% to 75% savings over traditional phone systems and this saving is likely
to be higher than the average if the organisations require rich communications features, international calling
or long distance calling (Collins, 2018).
Video Conferencing (VC)
Fikry and Mukhtar (2012) urge that the real-time conferencing (web and video conferencing) condenses
the time for decision making for the organisation as it provides easy setup, point-and-click conference
launches and links to present management. The use of video-communication is not new and has
considerable benefits for connecting individuals in diverse locations, reducing travel time and expense
(Oeppen, Shaw & Brennan, 2020). In a face-to-face work setting, teams often have impromptu meetings as
they pass each other in the passage or over tea, which is possible on most video conferencing platforms,
such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. The concern with video conferencing is how to instil corporate culture
and build trust and cohesion within groups (Alexander, De Smet & Mysore, 2020). Gartner (2008) predicts
that only 25% of organisations meetings will take place in person by 2024 (Karl, Peluchette & Aghakhani,
2021). Limited bandwidth, however, can result in major shortcomings, frustration, reduced performance
and less effective action planning when compared to standard face to face meetings (Oeppen et al., 2020).
Instant Messaging (IM)
IM is widely accepted in society, however it is relatively under used in the work environment (Ou &
Davison, 2010). IM permits team members to chat using text-based messages. If a team member needs
clarity or quick answers, a simple “Instant Message” to each other may be a powerful tool that works in
partnership for maximum communication clarity (Quan-Haase, Cothrel & Wellman, 2017). IM has become
a valuable tool to support informal communication (Isaacs et al., 2004). The IM feature in UC is vital for
effective communication between employees, as it can save time and improve instant communication
among employees despite the belief that it can be disruptive (Ou & Davison, 2010). The IM functionality,
if it is managed correctly, lets the employees send text messages to one another or to a group, which enables
clarification or quick discussions removing the need for lengthy email communication (Aldea et al., 2012).
Conceptual Model
The literature revealed certain factors, which are illustrated in Figure 6, the conceptual model, which was
tested in this study. The factors that affect employee perceptions include Usage, Efficiency, Technology
and Employee and Business benefits. UC technologies include the factors Presence, Collaboration, IPT,
VC and IM.
 Figure 6: Conceptual model

6. Research Methodology
The study followed a positivistic research paradigm, which is deductive in nature. An empirical evaluation
was conducted on the developed UC model containing factors (Figure 6) that influence effective
communication and productivity of organisations. The questionnaire was divided into the following
sections:
• Section 1 collected demographic information of the employees, who responded to the survey.
Demographic information in this section included: age, gender, time period within the organisation,
level of qualification, level of job position (operational staff, senior staff and management), preferred
method of communication in personal life and preferred method of communication in the working
environment;
• Section 2 incorporated a 5 point Likert scale with the statements aimed at gathering respondents’
perception with regard to the influence of different factors of (UC) technology like the presence,
collaboration, voice internet protocol (VoIP), video conferencing and instant messaging within
organisations. Furthermore, section two gathered respondents’ perception (EP) with respect to usage,
efficiency, technology, employee benefits and organisations benefits on the adoption of this new
technology, unified communication, within an organisation; and
• Section 3 asked respondents which functions under UC technology were used most often. A
comprehensive list of commonly known UC technologies was outlined for selection by the respondents.
A pilot study was conducted with a convenience sample to examine if there were any impending issues.
The pilot study required that the questionnaire be amended before being sent to the respondents. The sample
included employees within the organisation who use UC technology for operational purposes. The sample
size for this study was 300 respondents throughout the organisation who are currently using UC technology.
One hundred and ninety five participants successfully completed the questionnaire representing a 65%
response rate.
A 5-point Likert scale was used, ranging from (1) Strongly disagree to (5) Strongly agree. The online survey
platform, QuestionPro was used to collect the responses and the university statistical consultant performed
the statistical analysis using the Statistica software. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Exploratory Factor
Analysis (EFA) were conducted using Statistica. Ethics approval was obtained from the university Ethics
Committee.
7. Results and Findings
The respondents (n=195) in this study included 47% (n=91) males and 53% (n=104) females (Table 1).
The age distribution of respondents for this study ranged from 18 years to older than 56 years. The working
experience with the current employer depicted that the majority 51% (n=100) worked in the organisation
for 5 years and more. Twenty-three percent (n=44) of the respondents had a diploma qualification, 26%
(n=50) a degree qualification and 36% (n=71) a post-graduate degree qualifications. The respondents were
46% (n=90) operational staff, 28% (n=54) senior staff and 26% (n=51) were management level.
Table 1: Demographics (n=195)

The reliability of the measuring instrument is illustrated in Table 2. The Cronbach alpha coefficients
reliability was ‘excellent’ for all the independent factors.
Table 2: Cronbach Alpha Coefficients (reliability) and correlations
Factors µ S.D. Cronbach Reliability p-value Correlation Hypotheses
Alpha
IF1: Presence 3,95 0,70 0,90 Excellent <.0005 0,455 H1 Accepted
IF2: Collaboration 3,89 0,61 0,94 Excellent <.0005 0,522 H2 Accepted
IF3: Internet Protocol 3,89 0,72 0,92 Excellent <.0000 0,562 H3 Accepted
Technology
IF4: Video Conference 3,90 0,59 0,83 Excellent <.0005 0,668 H4 Accepted
IF5: Instant messaging 3,84 0,62 0,90 Excellent <.0005 0,665 H5 Accepted
IF6: Usage 2,52 1,10 0,85 Excellent <.0005 0,266 H6 Accepted
IF7: Efficiency 3,75 0,68 0,91 Excellent <.0005 0,610 H7 Accepted
IF8: Technology 3,71 0,66 0,88 Excellent <.0005 0,673 H8 Accepted
IF9: Employment 3,91 0,64 0,90 Excellent <.0005 0,702 H9 Accepted
Benefit
IF10: Organisation’s 4,06 0,62 0,92 Excellent <.0005 0,619 H10 Accepted
Benefits
DF: Effective 3,50 0,76 0,97 Excellent 0.093
Communication

A correlation coefficient is statistically significant at 0.05 level for a sample size n ranging from 150 to 200
if |r| >= rcrit ranging from 0.159 to 0.138. A correlation coefficient with an absolute value greater than
0.300 can be considered as almost significant and of reasonable scale and those more than 0.50 represents
a strong statistical correlation. The results of the analysis show that the most important determinants for
UC technology collaboration are Presence (r = 0.455, p < 0.005) and Internet Protocol Telephony (IPT) (r
= 0.562, p < 0.005). These UC technology factors are more critical and significant for collaboration of
technology within the organisation and explain 88% of the variance in UC technology collaboration.
Factors such as presence and IPT are more likely to improve the collaboration of technology that can
influence effective communication within organisations. The independent factor Usage did not correlate
(r=0,222) with Effective Communication and was not included in the final model.
Results further indicate that the most important determinants for employee perception factors are
Technology (r = 0,673, p < 0.005) and Employee Benefits (r = 0.702, p < 0.005). These employee
perceptions factors along with collaboration factors are more critical and significant for effective
communication within the organisation. Factors such as technology and employee benefits are more likely
to improve the employees’ perception that can impact effective communication within organisations.
According to the multiple regression r2, two (2) independent variables for employee perception along with
collaboration explain 54% of the variance in effective communication within an organisation, which is an
indication that the selected variables are important factors influencing effective communication within an
organisation. Technology and employee benefits and collaboration are more important in employee
perceptions and can influence effective communication within an organisation. The employee perceptions
along with collaboration have influence on effective communication within an organisation. Henceforth, it
is significant that UC technology collaboration along with employee perception can influence
communication in the organisation.
The final model illustrated in Figure 7 proved to be a satisfactory model for evaluating the effective
communication within an organisation with unified technology. In this model, the factor Usage was
removed. The results from the study shows that UC Presence and Internet protocol telephony (IPT) are
factors that are most likely capable of influencing Collaboration of UC technology. The employees’
perception UC technology and Employee Benefits along with Collaboration are most likely to influence
effective communication within an organisation.

Figure 7: Final tested model after EFA

8. Managerial Implications
Unified Communications will play an increasingly important role as people adapt to the evolving digital
world through which they communicate and collaborate to improve the productivity within the organisation.
Presence, which is defined as being available or present but not necessarily seen, attributes to growing
employee flexibility, availability and accessibility and the sharing of knowledge which makes it easier to
make decisions and respond quickly. Presence allows employees to work flexibly, which is in keeping with
the new world of work and working from anywhere. This functionality depends on the IPT to be in place,
structured properly and functioning well within an organisation to manage what is demanded in business
in real time. This improves the competitive edge and makes service to customers more proactive and
efficient in response time. The findings of this study highlight the importance of an organisation’s
communications strategy. Table 3 highlights management interventions recommended by this study.
Table 3: Proposed managerial interventions (Author’ construction)
Business outcome Description Outputs to achieve outcomes
Cost efficiency Reduction in national and Less dead time travelling.
international travel. Reduce direct travel costs and
Reduction in telephony costs. carbon footprint.
Growth Collaborate more effectively Open new geographic areas for
with distributed customers and opportunities.
partners. Productive collaborative
Effective collaboration with interaction.
internal stakeholders
Time to Market Team across geo-diverse Faster decision making through
regions. real time collaboration.
Credibility Robust secure platforms. High quality communication
through infrastructure and
networks.
Sustainability and talent Enable employees to collaborate Work from anywhere.
attraction in the workspace of tomorrow. Flexibility.
Increased agility.
Improved collaboration-
internally and externally.

9. Conclusions, limitations and future research

Previous studies have shown that efficient organisational processes coupled with the use of unified
collaboration improves knowledge transfer and employee productivity (Riemer & Taing, 2009). Ferris et
al. (2009) state that a good working relationship between team members, irrespective of physical nearness,
is the basis of how most of the work is accomplished and objectives are reached within an organisation.
The findings of this empirical study on effective communication, indicated that most of the respondents
positively agreed that UC improved communication, UC increased employee performance and UC created
positive effectiveness among employees. Further analysis of the results for this study indicated that the
majority of the respondents agree that UC technology, along with Collaboration, have an effect on
communication within an organisation.
Comparing Effective Communication within the organisation and various demographics, it was determined
that a significant relationship existed between age and effective communication, between length of service
and effective communication and between level at work and effective communication. The findings imply
that younger people are familiar and see all the advanced UC technologies available in the market, adapt
them and change the means of communication to accommodate their daily routines much more easily.
Furthermore, it was also evident that junior staff and management agreed and accepted that UC technologies
can make communication more effective within the organisation, which is different to the view of middle
management. It implies that the communication amongst and between junior staff and management is more
efficient and effective than that of other levels of staff. This supported the statement by Reeves et al. (2008)
that more collaborative and networked structures create conducive leadership and work environments with
transparent information and competences, which enables decision making in accordance with the
organisation’s values, beliefs and responsibilities.
This study indicated that Effective Communication is essential for an organisation to function more
efficiently by developing a strong working relationship amongst employees. Communication tools are
essential as they make employees more efficient. The use of the correct UC technologies and collaboration,
creating awareness of the UC technologies and providing training on the UC technologies for the employees
within an organisation can create efficient communication and improve the productivity within
organisations. The significant findings from this study are that UC improves collaboration between
employees and this collaboration could increase employee productivity through effective communications
within organisations. It was also evident that UC provides an improved communication flow encouraging
stronger relationships among employees contributing to enhanced collaboration and a better quality of work.
Management should create awareness on how the use of UC technology benefits the employees.
Furthermore, management must also create awareness among the employees how UC technology will assist
the organisation to be competitive in the market with cost reductions and effective strategy. Creating
awareness only, will not improve effective communication, it should also be accompanied by training on
UC technology features given to the employees. Strategic Communication is essential in a digitally
transforming and globally distributed workforce. For this to happen, communication must be clear and
accessible across a number of touchpoints (Scott, 2020). Effective Communication is essential for an
organisation to function more efficiently by having productivity enhancement and a strong working
relationship among employees.
The limitations of the study is that it was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic which limited the
response rate. Future research will focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has forced
people to work from home, thus future research should focus on UC post-COVID-19.
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