In today’s age of flexible work arrangements and mobile workforces, the ability to connect employees with colleagues, customers, and partners wherever they are physically located is more important than ever.  It’s one of the reasons unified communications services continue see increased adoption.

But, often, that is not in a quiet office setting, but in a public setting or job site where background noise can be a significant distraction.  If you’ve ever been on a call with someone who is outdoors or on a busy warehouse floor, you know well how difficult it can be to clearly hear them.

Much of the UC conversation focuses on the ability to offer users choice of channels and other productivity features – those features that can eliminate a big portion of redundant communications and wasted time each day.  Call quality is also a big part of the conversation.  Businesses need to know their communications services are not only reliable, but the voice quality is superior.

What is often missing, though, is how to handle all the background noise during conversations that take place in non-traditional settings, short of using the mute feature.  But, that doesn’t work when employees who are actively engaged in conversation are in those noisy settings.

The problem of background noise extends beyond the two-way conversation, though.  With so much of customer service being directed towards AI-driven automated communication, which relies on voice recognition, background noise can render AI largely useless, creating a very negative customer experience.  If you’ve ever had a speech-enabled experience where the voice recognition engine doesn’t accurately understand what you’re saying, you’re well aware of the frustration it can cause.

Whether you’re running a sales team, customer service organization, developing or using voice-driven AI solutions, or simply using UC to deliver a better communications experience for your employees and customers, it’s likely background noise is a factor in many of your voice engagements.