<p>Spending on unified communications (UC) solutions by small-to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is expected to increase by 10 percent each year over the next four years, meaning businesses that refuse to adopt the new collaboration technology will certainly be at least a few steps behind their competitors.</p><p>Available as an additional feature with most business VoIP solutions, UC toolswhich include presence, instant messaging, unified messaging, video conferencing, web conferencing, featurescreate a favorable environment in which collaboration amongst employees can take place. Recent research suggests that the addition of UC tools to a business arsenal can show a best-in-class 104% ROI. The tools also help reduce the average length of a phone call by 21 percent while increasing text-based communication between individuals by 320 percent, both of which help increase the speed of productivity and the sharing of information.</p><p>What does it mean for businesses that don't have UC tools? All of their interaction is done either in person or on the phone. Because 73 percent of business calls go to voicemail, and 73 percent of calls that are returned also go to voicemail, communicating by telephone is simply not efficient.</p><p>On the other hand, SMBs with 100 employees can save up to 191 hours each day, on a company-wide basis, by implementing unified communications tools into its business VoIP solution. Over the course of the year, that's 6,207 eight-hour work daysor $920,000which is the equivalent to adding more than 23 employees to a business for the entire year.</p><p><a href="http://www.telecomreseller.com/2013/09/09/why-unified-communications-are-a-must-for-your-smb/">Keep reading...</a></p>