Integrations: What are they good for? Absolutely everything.

The workplace has evolved greatly over the past decades. At one point in time, fax machines were considered the future of communications. Now we have a rich system of workplace tools that have changed how we communicate—think Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Plus, even more tools that have streamlined how we get into the office, share Wi-Fi credentials, manage secure documents, and so much more.  While these workplace technology advancements are a great thing, having too many tools—or worse, tools that don’t connect with one another—is not. Enter: workplace integrations. Let's dive deep into what integrations are, and how they can help you streamline your workplace.

What are integrations?

For the purpose of this blog, we’re referring only to integrations for the workplace. These integrations allow specific data points to be shared between two separate systems (ie. two different workplace tools). When workplace tools share their data, it unlocks the potential to automate workflows and boost their current functionality. Let’s break this down. Integrations are a connection between two or more different technologies. For example, you have your own internal system that your company is built on. But your company also relies on software to communicate, store important documents, manage the visitor experience, and so much more. How can you connect your internal infrastructure to all of the external software that you rely on to operate? You do this through integrations.

What do integrations do for your workplace?

Safely connecting your internal systems to the workplace tech you use every day fundamentally changes the way in which your business operates. Ideally, your workplace platform will have out-of-the-box integrations that easily connect to the tools you rely on to manage your office. If not, you should work closely with your IT team and internal developers to build connections through the available APIs or webhooks and customize them to fit your needs.Integrating your workplace technology will save your employees time from manually pulling data or performing mundane tasks between disjointed tools. Now only that, but connected workplace tools enable more secure and productive work. Below are a few examples of how various workplace integrations can benefit your business:

• Streamline employee communication. Get notified when visitors arrive, book conference rooms or hot desks through software like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Webex, or Zoom
• Manage who enters your building. Control who gets into your workplace or specific areas of the office based on who is approved to work on-site that day.
• Store important documents automatically and securely. Upload and save sensitive documents, like visitor NDAs, directly to your document storage provider.
• Share Wi-Fi seamlessly. Share login credentials with visitors when they arrive on-site so they can access the online information they need for a productive visit.

Why are integrations important?

Last year, BetterCloud reported that companies use an average of 80 SaaS apps to run their business. Thinking about the sheer amount of data that you’re gathering between all of these apps is daunting. But integrations make this manageable. Integrations are important because they:

• Save time and automate workflows. Since integrations work automatically and in the background, you can remove menial tasks from your to-do list. Integrations make your workplace work for you.
• Connect tools together. When your systems and tools connect, your business can operate with more agility, focus, and speed.
• Make your workplace more accurate and efficient. Integrations help achieve higher efficiency by eliminating the need for repetitive manual data entry. This also reduces the risk of human error.

In our office lives, we live by the technology that helps us operate, communicate, and execute. While there are workplace platforms that bring the tools you need into one centralized place, there is no one product that does everything. With integrations, you can streamline your tech stack, and take the manual work out of your everyday lives. To learn more about how you can create a more integrated workplace, check out The security leader’s guide to the connected workscape.