How Augmented Reality Will Be Powered to Revolutionize Communications

While everyone strives to get back to more normal activities, there’s one area for businesses that has seen enormous growth during the COVID-19 pandemic: communications. Video conferencing and shared workspaces have made it possible to collaborate across widespread locations, and IT leaders are now looking at emerging trends in communications. One of the most important is augmented reality, fueled by 5G.

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) offers a range of tools that equip teams for easy collaboration, merging voice, chat, messaging, and video for a comprehensive, collaborative approach to improving productivity and streamlining decision-making. Now there is potential for another leap forward with augmented reality in three areas:

• Authentic Product Experiences: Accustomed to doing extensive independent research before making a purchase, consumers will dive deeper into that experience by accessing informative videos just by pointing their device at a product. Showcasing new features on an updated model or discussing options for an upgrade will help consumers visualize their potential purchase.
• Visual Data: One potential use of augmented reality is the expansion of data into visual components. For instance, a chief financial officer (CFO) might dive deeper into financial statements to see customized graphics and granular details that give better insights into data.
• Communications: Companies have the potential to streamline meetings and conferences that were previously held in person at high costs. A CEO could deliver their annual address right into team members’ living rooms as they utilize a holographic, augmented reality version of their leader.

These opportunities around UCaaS are exciting, and they are made possible by another emerging technology that is being experienced after long anticipation. 5G provides a jump in connectivity, allowing businesses to implement cloud communications tools that rely on a solid internet foundation. There are three ways the rollout of 5G is changing UCaaS:

Collaboration From Anywhere: Teams have grown accustomed to video-based collaboration, but these tools will become even more effective as connectivity improves with 5G. Screens will no longer freeze up as latency and dropped packets become a thing of the past. Collaboration through video will become the favored format over in-person meetings because of the savings related to travel – but also because videoconferencing will be a more seamless experience.

Better Reliability: In the same vein, every aspect of UCaaS – including video conferencing – will be executed with a connection that is 20 times faster than 4G. With 5G, UCaaS will be able to process large amounts of data in a short time.

Immersive Brand Encounters: While it’s impossible to know exactly what form this will take, the above examples of augmented reality may be close to a near-future reality. 5G will equip companies to introduce a connection with potential customers that is much more comprehensive, inviting them to experience a product or service before they invest.COVID-19 and the resulting immediate shift to remote work brought many challenges for IT teams, but a leap forward in collaborative tools through UCaaS is one of the silver linings of the pandemic for many businesses. Whether you would like to learn more about the potential for 5G and augmented reality in your communications, or if you are interested in what UCaaS has to offer, contact us at ITBroker.com.