The advancement of productivity-enhancing technologies, coupled with a growing awareness of the importance of mental health, has created the perfect environment for two major trends that align with this philosophy to take hold: workflow simplification and integrated collaborative environments.

SIMPLIFY TO WIN: LESS IS MORE

Now more than ever, organisations are looking to implement strategies that increase employee productivity. But there’s a reality that’s rarely discussed: as human beings, we are only truly productive for 6 hours and 34 minutes each day.

Far from being discouraging, this insight invites us to consider how we can make the most of this limited time and extend productivity throughout the day with the help of intelligent tools.

When you consider that nearly two hours of our working day is lost switching between applications, searching for scattered documents or dealing with disconnected systems, the conclusion is clear: simplifying workflows and reducing the number of tools we use isn’t just desirable – it’s essential.

In this context, tools with built-in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are becoming increasingly relevant. From simplifying the learning curve of new platforms to automating post-meeting tasks, AI serves as a key ally in maintaining momentum and minimising burnout.

Furthermore, investing in all-in-one tools that meet multiple needs not only boosts individual productivity, but also simplifies the IT infrastructure for the entire company. Less complexity means less wasted time and a more efficient, connected team.

INTEGRATED COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS: ALL UNDER ONE ROOF

In the workplace, collaboration is not optional – it’s at the heart of every successful project. Whether working side-by-side in the same office, remotely from different cities, or with teams spread across multiple countries, one thing is certain: no one works in isolation.

But working together effectively isn’t always easy. Coordinating efforts, keeping everyone on the same page and ensuring the flow of ideas can be challenging, especially when the tools we use aren’t designed to work together.

That’s why integrated collaboration environments are on the rise. These solutions bring everything together: from video calling and instant messaging to task and file management, all within a single platform. Having everything under one roof removes technology barriers, reduces downtime and enables teams to work as if they were in the same room, even if they’re miles apart.

In today’s world, where remote working and multi-national teams are the norm, technology must do more than just enable connectivity – it must enhance it. There’s a growing focus on developing tools that make collaboration smoother, more intuitive and more productive, regardless of where team members are located.

Investing in such environments not only improves communication, but also empowers teams to solve problems faster, innovate together, and achieve their goals with fewer obstacles.

OUR COMMITMENT TO WORKING SMARTER

Over 20 years ago, we started out as a business telecoms provider and developer of intelligent telephony software. Since then, we’ve evolved to become specialists in virtual switchboards and cloud-based contact centre software.

Last year we reached a milestone with the launch of Enreach Contact, a workspace now used by over 80,000 users. The platform enables businesses to communicate internally and externally via chat, voice and video calls. It also integrates with tools such as Google, Microsoft and over 100 CRMs, offering the flexibility to manage calls from any device – landline, mobile or PC – while maintaining full traceability.

Our current portfolio positions us as the leader in all-in-one business communications, offering everything a business needs to communicate effectively. From business numbers to collaboration and customer service software, our portfolio is designed to address every aspect, simplifying processes and removing technology barriers.

Integration is our priority. That’s why, in 2025, we’ll continue to work towards fully connecting our services and equipping them with AI solutions designed to multiply user productivity. We firmly believe that when we’re under pressure and work feels overwhelming, AI and automation become our greatest allies. Not only do these tools help us prioritise and complete tasks faster, but they also help prevent burnout and reduce sick leave.

ENVISIONING A PEOPLE-CENTRIC WORKPLACE FUTURE

We dream of a future where technology isn’t an additional burden, but a bridge that connects people, unleashes their potential and allows them to focus on what really matters: creating, collaborating and innovating.

A human-centred workplace future is one where technological advances, such as artificial intelligence, don’t replace human value, but enhance it. It’s an environment where repetitive or overwhelming tasks are handled by automation, leaving creativity, empathy and strategy in our hands.

We are committed to building tools that make work easier, more meaningful and, above all, more human. Because at the end of the day, a company’s most important achievements aren’t measured in numbers, but in the positive impact they have on the people within it.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US

La entrada Working smarter, not harder: the 2025 trend se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

While some providers include their own collaboration environment within their virtual PBX, many businesses are already used to working with Microsoft Teams.

Because Microsoft is not a telecom company and does not offer business numbering, many telecom companies have developed integrations that allow users to call any contact (internal or external) from Teams using their business phone.

TYPES OF TELEPHONY INTEGRATIONS FOR MS TEAMS

1. FULL INTEGRATION WITH TEAMS

The provider fully integrates its switchboard into Teams, so when we want to call an external contact, we can do so from the call icon in the app.

In this scenario, the UCaaS manages the voice, so call features such as transfers, recordings and announcements come from the switchboard.

This solution is the most expensive as it requires the purchase of the Microsoft’s Phone System, the PBX license and the Teams phone connector, but requires no programming skills to implement.

2. PBX EMBEDDED IN TEAMS

This alternative allows us to access the external PBX from within Teams, so to make and receive calls, we need to access the switchboard provider’s application from within Teams.

In this scenario, the UCaaS provider also manages the voice and all the advanced calling features, so we don’t need any technical knowledge to implement it neither to purchase the Phone Dystem or the Teams phone connector.

3. OPERATOR CONNECT

Finally, there are solutions known as “Operator Connect”, where the UCaaS provider only supplies the business numbering, while the PBX and functionalities are contracted directly with Microsoft.

This alternative is only viable for companies with an IT department or an expert in Microsoft resources, as it requires advanced programming skills.

To implement it, companies need to have a business numbering with a telecom provider and purchase Microsoft’s Phone System.

ENREACH VIRTUAL SWITCHBOARD FOR MS TEAMS

As a Microsoft partner, Enreach offers the three types of integration described above.

PRICING

REASONS FOR CHOOSING OUR TEAMS INTEGRATION

• Single provider offering an end-to-end solution: business numbering, virtual PBX and MS Teams connector.
• Fixed operators for businesses with national and international.
• Mobile operators with the ability to integrate mobile lines into Teams.
• All packages include advanced virtual PBX features: intelligent routing, announcements, call queues, etc.
• No other UCaaS provider offers all three telephony alternatives for Teams.
• Other virtual switchboards are available from €30 per user per month and the cheapest ones do not include telephony.

DISCOVER ALL OUR TELEPHONY INTEGRATIONS FOR MS TEAMS

La entrada 3 ways to integrate a virtual PBX with Microsoft Teams se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Did you know that 86% of employees and managers consider the lack of effective collaboration to be a key factor in workplace failure? A recent study by Fierce, Inc., a business coaching company, highlights the importance of having a solid collaboration strategy.

86% of employees and managers consider the lack of effective collaboration to be a key factor in workplace failure.

– Fierce, Inc.

In fact, many organisations report that their growth is based on fostering collaboration and implementing agile methodologies.

If we list all the projects currently underway within an organisation, we will find that the vast majority involve the efforts of multiple people, departments and even GTMs.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT USING EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION TOOLS

Since collaboration is the backbone of an organisation’s success, when it fails, the impact is felt at all levels:

1. INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

It affects the productivity of everyone involved. How many times have departments been left waiting for a response from another department, effectively bringing them to a standstill?

2. ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL

The lack of effective collaboration can lead to a dysfunctional work culture: higher levels of frustration, high staff turnover and, externally, difficulty in attracting talent.

3. BRAND LEVEL

Depending on the severity of the problem, it can affect one or thousands of customers, impacting our NPS, customer churn and therefore all growth KPIs such as ROI.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION?

Don’t panic! As we always say, technology is on our side, and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) providers have already developed platforms to ensure collaboration and much more.

1. HAVING A SINGLE COMMUNICATIONS AND COLLABORATION SYSTEM

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses today is technological complexity. Having too many tools not only increases the toggle tax, but also becomes highly inefficient when paying for multiple licences when everything could be consolidated into a single programme.

This is where workspaces come in, such as the Enreach Contact virtual PBX, which combines telephony with the chat and video calling found in all collaboration programmes.

This setup allows us, for example, to call an external supplier while coordinating an emergency meeting with the team via video call and sharing important documents via chat, all without switching applications.

2. BREAK DOWN INFORMATION SILOS

Another major problem in organisations is that information is scattered across different tools.

For example, if a customer calls their account manager’s personal mobile phone to complain about an error on their last bill and the manager is unaware of the problem, integrations with other programmes such as CRMs allow them to instantly check the customer’s previous interactions with customer service or accounting.

While it’s usually the case that these departments will inform the account manager of such issues, there can be a breakdown in communication.

Therefore, the ability to integrate the communication history into the customer’s profile allows almost anyone in the company to quickly address an issue, preventing the customer from having to deal with multiple reps.

3. USE ANY DEVICE

In the past, work was associated with an office, a landline phone and a desktop computer. Today, work can be done in a coworking space with a laptop and a smartphone.

The rise of remote working, hybrid setups and business travel means we need to maintain the same level of productivity we had in traditional offices, but from anywhere.

By and large, this means having the same functionality and security levels across all devices. Imagine you’ve finished your day’s work and receive an emergency call from a supplier. Instead of losing or interrupting the call, you can seamlessly transfer it to your mobile device without any interruption or loss of quality.

ENREACH CONTACT: THE WORKSPACE THAT GOES WITH YOU

We want to show you how much your business could gain by unifying all your communication tools.

Enreach Contact is much more than a virtual PBX; we like to call it a workspace because it combines chat, video conferencing, telephony, integrations with Teams, Google and over 100 CRMs. It also lets you work from any device with native mobile integration, a mobile app, a desktop app and a desk phone.

Take your work with you wherever you go without sacrificing productivity.

La entrada 3 essential virtual PBX features to keep you productive at all times se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Did you know that 90% of technology leaders have stopped buying physical equipment for their business communications? The “always on” habit and the hybrid working trend have changed the way we work.

As a result, we are seeing more and more virtual PBX providers, and well-known companies in the IT world are diversifying into the telecommunications sector.

Every organisation has its own requirements, but there are some features that make life so much easier that we can’t ignore them. Here are three of them:

1. MAKE CALLS FROM YOUR COMPUTER

A virtual PBX allows us to turn any device with an internet connection into a phone. Whether it’s a Windows, Mac or Linux system, we can manage all our calls through a local installed program or a website page.

If users have other devices in addition to their computer (an IP phone, a mobile phone or a tablet), they can always choose which device to use to answer an incoming call.

2. INTERNAL CHAT & VIDEO CALLS

PBX systems are no longer just about voice; they now include other channels such as video & chat.

Rather than incur the cost of a collaboration programme licence and a PBX subscription, the most advanced solutions allow us to unify all services under one software.

As well as reducing costs, we can also benefit from synchronising offline and online timelines. For example, if an employee is on a call from a fixed line, they will appear as ‘busy’.

3. INTEGRATING THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS

Departments that have the most contact with suppliers and customers (sales, accounting, technical support, etc.) can benefit from receiving a pop-up with information about the caller, viewing the previous interaction history and making notes about the call without leaving the CRM or ERP.

For the rest of the areas, there are also integrations that allow us to edit documents online without changing applications and extract data for reporting on switchboard performance.

WHAT FEATURES DOES YOUR BUSINESS NEED?

The PBX should adapt to the business, not the other way around. We have to stick to our list of features and find a supplier that can deliver them all. In the meantime, our direct line to our experts is always open.

La entrada 3 features of virtual PBX that leading businesses are taking full advantage of se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Count the number of collaborative tools you use every day. Whether it’s an application for chatting with colleagues, sharing files, video conferencing, managing projects or calendars, the list goes on.

Not much research has been done on this topic, but in late 2022, three Harvard Business Review analysts spent 21 days immersed in three Fortune 500 companies. The resulting report included startling data, such as employees switch between applications 1200 times a day.

“Employees switch between applications 1200 times a day.”

Harvard Business Review

As alarming as this figure is, we know exactly why this is happening. Of course, organisations evolve and adopt new tools that better suit their needs, but abandoning old tools proves challenging.

The result? Employees in large organisations find themselves with millions of active applications, and SMEs repeat the scenario, albeit on a smaller scale. Regardless of the size of the organisation, employees in this situation end up wasting some of their time.

Despite the tools and technologies designed to make our work easier, the lack of effective connectivity between them is having the opposite effect.

While there’s no magic application that will integrate all the programmes in the world, simply reducing the number of tools from nine to three is a significant change.

Until recently, application developers didn’t consider compatibility with third-party systems. Fortunately, this situation has changed, and through integrations, applications can now work together.

In this changing landscape, it’s much more efficient to rely on a technology partner that develops solutions with an integration philosophy, rather than buying a solution from each vendor. Choose a partner that offers a portfolio of products that work together seamlessly and integrate with the systems you use most.

UNIFYING PLATFORMS IS ESSENTIAL

Under the premise of “making life easier” for employees, the leaders in Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) are developing connected work environments with the key tools an employee needs in their daily routine.

These powerful solutions are called workspaces and have come to bring together functionalities such as:

• Internal chat tools for instant messaging.
• Integrations with Microsoft and Google for online document sharing and collaboration.
• Video calling tools for internal meetings with colleagues and even clients.
• Phone features for making and receiving internal and external calls.
• CRM integrations to manage chats and calls without losing sight of customer profiles.

These platforms, which converges everything you need to communicate and collaborate, are the key:

SAVE TIME

The phrase “time is money” gives us some context. If you’re familiar with time optimisation and productivity techniques, you’ve probably heard of the ‘toggle tax’, which refers to the price of switching between applications.

This tax is the cost of having your entire workforce switch from one application to another. Using the figure from the Harvard Business Review study and estimating that it takes about five seconds to switch between applications, this means that we are losing a total of one hour and forty minutes every day.

It may seem trivial, but multiply this time by the number of employees and the figure rises significantly. The more programmes used to do a simple task, and the more people in that situation, the more expensive it is for the business.

That’s why it’s important for business leaders to focus on the technologies they use and be aware of the cost of having too many communication and collaboration applications.

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

Saving time undoubtedly goes hand in hand with increased productivity. When we have a workspace where we can manage four applications at once, we can focus more on the tasks at hand.

Through integration, these workspaces not only eliminate the time we spend switching between applications, but also centralise documents, messages and customer data.

Imagine being able to chat, video call, call suppliers, edit documents and send emails from your laptop or mobile phone without ever changing your environment.

ENHANCING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

We all want to feel motivated and valued in all aspects of our lives, and the workplace is no exception. At first glance, technology may not seem to affect these aspects, but it does.

If we turn on our computer day after day and face the same limitations in doing our job, our motivation diminishes, and so does our productivity.

The technology we use to do our jobs can completely change our attitude, our mood and ultimately our health.

The employee experience is a factor that should not be overlooked, as employee productivity is also linked to happiness. As shown in Gitnux‘s latest productivity report, employees are +13% more productive when they are happy.

“Workers are +13% more productive when they are happy.”

Gitnux

If you want to take your team’s productivity to the next level, technology is the first thing you should review. Encouraging teams to reduce the number of applications they navigate through involves hiring a unified solution from a provider that integrates the highest number of programs under one environment.

As all-in-one solutions provider, we aim to bring together all the necessary tools for companies to communicate and collaborate within a single application.

If you want to experience the power of our workspace, get in touch with our team of experts by calling at +34 900 670 750 or writing in the chat below.

Sales Consultant at Enreach Spain

Tony Esturrica

La entrada How to survive in a world plagued by collaborative tools se publicó primero en Enreach ES.