While the lyrics to The Who’s song “Going Mobile” refers to going home, going mobile has increasingly become a way of life for the hybrid worker regardless of location. Until recently, going mobile meant either using a unified communications (UC) client on a personal or company-provided mobile device or using the native dialer associated with either a personal or company mobile plan. Thanks to several rapid advances, that paradigm is changing.
Mobile calling has been the last frontier of unified communications. A Metrigy global study published in late 2020 of 528 companies found that while almost 70% of participating companies had adopted mobile UC clients, just under 6% were using them for calling. Participants cited several reasons for not using UC apps, but overwhelmingly it came down to user preference. People are used to using their native dialers on their iPhones and Android devices, and they don’t want to change.
Over the last few years, UC vendors have tried to address some of the limitations of having to switch to a UC app to make a business call. They’ve integrated their apps with capabilities such as Apple CallKit to enable directory integration and to support features like do-not-disturb, answering when phones are locked, and the ability to maintain calls through a UC app when the phone receives a call via the cellular carrier. But these improvements haven’t gone far enough.
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