In addition, an ineffective communications system results in the need for more business travel, setting up expensive face-to-face meetings that waste thousands of corporate dollars.

Customer service is also a hot topic. The Loudhouse survey shows that 87% of organizations see customer strategy as more important than in the past, and almost all of them (95%) see customer service as the next area of competition within the market.

The communications strategy depends on three main factors: the staff, profitability and innovation.

It's easy to see how employees make a difference -- knowledgeable people are better at responding to customer needs and are easier to do business with. Customer retention, in turn, leads to reduced overhead and increased revenue. And with an innovative communications system, employees can be fully connected in the way they want, which allows for efficient communications and data movement throughout the business.