This article is the first in a six-part series on optimizing banking and credit union innovation and productivity through AI and cloud communications. Over the next six weeks, we’ll explore key challenges and opportunities as financial institutions aim to boost productivity and drive innovation.
Banks and credit unions face economic uncertainty, market share erosion, cultural shifts, and change driven by technological advances. To adapt, they’re accelerating digital transformation and moving processes to the cloud. McKinsey estimates this could yield an EBITDA impact of up to $80 billion by 2030. However, they must balance this transformation with compliance, managing change with their workforce, and customer service excellence.
Financial institutions need to do more with less, bring new products to market quickly, and retain current customers by improving service and offering hybrid work options.
This series will cover how cloud communications can help banks and credit unions:
- Enable hybrid workforce mobility
- Increase business agility
- Enhance security and compliance
- Improve productivity with an all-in-one platform
- Drive innovation through collaboration
- Empower professionals to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs
As the modern workplace continues to evolve, the hybrid workforce model has become increasingly prevalent. More and more companies are blending remote work with in-office work, offering greater flexibility and efficiency than ever before. This trend was well underway ten years ago. But the COVID pandemic propelled it into overdrive, giving millions of employees a glimpse into the benefits of hybrid work.
Having experienced unprecedented flexibility and efficiency, the vast majority of employees clearly prefer to continue with at least some level of home-based work. According to PwC research, only 20 percent of financial services employees want to spend more than two days per week in the office. As banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies compete for top talent and strive to retain good workers, it’s essential that they respond to this need by supporting effective, efficient hybrid operations.
Foundational tools for hybrid work
To stay competitive and build a strategic platform for growth, financial services companies are increasingly turning to cloud-based communication solutions. Essential collaboration tools include voice, video meetings, messaging, file sharing, and more. Naturally, these tools must be inherently secure and capable of adapting to an evolving body of regulations and compliance standards. As a highly regulated industry, financial services organizations know that privacy and security are non-negotiable, and all of these channels must meet the specific regulatory guidelines for capturing and retaining communications internally and with customers.
So, too, is the ability of a cloud-based communications platform to adapt to the unique needs of each organization, like Altura Credit Union. Hybrid work is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and what works for a large bank may not be appropriate for a regional credit union. Company leaders must carefully consider what the future of work in the organization should look like, and how hybrid work might be embedded into their business processes. With that vision in mind, they will be better positioned to select the best-fit technologies to deliver their desired outcomes.
RingCentral gives us so much flexibility and functionality that we’re able to think about growth-oriented processes we hadn’t before—like adding contact center agents at our branches, setting up hybrid office space, and creating a more data-oriented coaching program for agents. Our old phone system kept us reactive. With RingCentral, we’re now able to make proactive moves that will help us grow.
– Turhan Hunt, Vice President of Member Services, Altura Credit Union
Finally, financial services organizations should look for solutions that can integrate with their current core systems and CRM platforms so that they can eliminate the need to build and maintain custom code. Technology, external interfaces, and use cases are changing rapidly. By selecting a holistic cloud-based communications platform, financial services companies can reap the benefits of rapid innovation, without the need to constantly rewire their integration code.
The value of AI-powered communications
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) delivers a holistic, one-stop solution for companies seeking to bring together voice, video meetings, messaging, file sharing, and other communication channels. This level of integration enables businesses to streamline communication processes, enhance productivity, and reduce costs by moving away from traditional on-premises communication systems.
Naturally, one of the primary benefits of UCaaS is its inherent suitability for remote and hybrid work environments, where anytime/anywhere access is essential. A powerful UCaaS platform like RingCentral’s RingEx ensures that every team member, regardless of location, has the tools they need to collaborate seamlessly. For banks and credit unions, RingEx effortlessly connects branch employees with remote workers or back-office personnel.
RingCentral‘s UCaaS platform also offers significant cost savings. By moving communications systems to the cloud, businesses eliminate the need for expensive hardware, maintenance, and upgrades. The subscription-based model allows for predictable budgeting and scalability, enabling companies to easily adjust their usage and costs as their needs change. In this respect, RingEx is also a powerful growth enabler.
RingCentral handles all updates and maintenance automatically, ensuring that you always have access to the latest features and security enhancements, without any additional investment. Robust security measures, including end-to-end encryption, multifactor authentication, and regular security audits ensure compliance with the most stringent data privacy and security standards.
Seamless operations, unmatched efficiency, and AI
RingEx dramatically improves efficiency with an enhanced user experience that brings together all your communications under one roof. This reduces the time employees spend switching between different applications:
- Business phone systems: A reliable cloud-based phone system with advanced call management features, augmented by the latest AI technology.
- Video meetings: AI-enabled meetings with whiteboard, breakout rooms, collaboration tools, and automated note taking. Benefit from HD video meetings, team messaging, and integrations with popular productivity tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
- Messaging: Team collaboration including chat and file-sharing tools.
- Enhanced Business SMS: Business texting that’s optimized for deliverability.
- Cloud faxing: Easy, highly secure digital faxing from any device.
A distinguishing feature of the RingCentral platform, including RingEx, is its advanced application of AI to enhance employee productivity. The RingEx AI Personal Assistant can take notes during video meetings or phone calls, summarizing action items or bringing team members up to speed on anything they missed. The AI Personal Assistant offers personalized insights, crafts messages, and more.
Other RingEx features such as presence indicators, unified messaging, and seamless call transferring help streamline workflows and enhance collaboration. The result is a more efficient, connected, and agile workforce, regardless of your employees’ physical location.
Work from anywhere, on any device
The RingCentral mobile app extends the RingEx platform’s capabilities to smartphones and tablets, enabling true mobility for hybrid workers. Employees can make and receive calls, join video meetings, and send messages from anywhere. RingCentral users get a consistent user experience across all devices, ensuring that they can transition smoothly whether they’re working on a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile phone.
Using the mobile app, users can access advanced call options like Call Park and Call Flip or even route incoming calls with a multi-level auto attendant. They can also host or attend video meetings using a range of collaboration tools. Users can utilize the Messaging feature on the mobile app to create project teams, share links and files with no size limits, and even invite guests from outside the organization.
With RingCentral, financial services companies can reduce costs, increase operational efficiency, enhance customer service, and ensure full compliance with GDPR, GLBA, and other data protection regulations.
By meeting the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce, they can also stay ahead of the curve in today’s competitive hiring environment. Mobility and flexibility are essential for maintaining productivity and employee satisfaction today. RingCentral’s suite of products offers a comprehensive solution that enables seamless communication, collaboration, and mobility for hybrid teams. By leveraging RingCentral’s innovative tools, businesses can ensure that their workforce remains connected, productive, and secure, regardless of where they are working.
Originally published Aug 02, 2024, updated Aug 22, 2024
