The Growing Demand for Unified Communications
In our post-pandemic business world, communication and connectivity are more important than ever. As businesses scramble to organize a remote workforce, many are finding that plain old telephone service, or POTS, just doesn’t cut it anymore. Now, organizations require unified communication solutions that span multiple sites—whether building to building on a campus or across multiple states.
Of course, the global market for UCaaS was already growing, but now more than ever before, cloud-enabled technologies are necessary to power our everyday business needs. In this blog, we’ll discuss important information you need to know about UCaaS, such as:
- What is UCaaS?
- Features of UCaaS
- Why are more businesses migrating to UCaaS?
What is UCaaS?
Unified Communication as a Service is a cloud-based solution model that streamlines enterprise communications by unifying the vast number of channels and services we use to exchange information, such as:
- VoIP
- Video conferencing
- Collaboration tools
- File sharing
- Instant messaging
However, UCaaS is more than just the exchange of information. It’s a unique software that eliminates the need for complex IT infrastructure—or even a full IT staff—by giving multi-site businesses the ability to communicate from anywhere in the world. It’s also a great way to increase efficiency by enhancing your ability to use instant communication in your business operations. UCaaS improves mobility across departments and locations by providing smooth integration of external software. The exact tools that comprise UCaaS can depend on the organization; however, UCaaS can be defined by two components:
It’s a Service
UCaaS applications are hosted and delivered “as a service” by a cloud communication vendor.
It’s All About User Experience
Having the ability to streamline communication tools provides an optimized experience that offers a single-user interface and consistent functionality across all devices, including sending and receiving messages in multiple ways (voice, text, instant message, email, etc.) through a single application on multiple platforms and across different devices.
Features of UCaaS
With the vast array of collaboration services available, UCaaS provides multi-site companies with many options to enhance business communications. These include:
- VoIP for telephony
- Video conferencing to connect remote workers and off-site teams
- Enterprise mobility
- Instant messaging for real-time communication
- Communications platform as a service (CPaaS) for real-time cloud-based communications
- Customer relationship management (CRM) to analyze data and improve customer interactions
- Contact center features that allow users to request assistance through chat, messaging, email, etc.
As organizations migrate away from long-standing legacy systems, these features help to provide business agility and real-time functionality across multiple sites.
Why are more businesses migrating to UCaaS?
As companies try to quickly adapt to the rapidly shifting workplace, more traditional office spaces are seeing an increase in both mobile and remote workers. This trend, combined with the growing interest in bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, requires that an enterprise be able to function across a wide variety of platforms in a safe and secure way. Shifting to a unified communications platform increases mobility for businesses of all sizes—allowing employees to move seamlessly between the office and home without losing functionality or security.
UCaaS also offers businesses the opportunity to achieve a high level of cost savings. As an advanced technology, UCaaS systems operate more efficiently—and cost-effectively—than more traditional communications models, saving money and increasing productivity. This increase in productivity means employees can do more in less time, which can also lead to significant increases in revenue.
Lastly, but maybe most importantly, streamlined communications can offer a better customer experience. This benefit alone can often give an organization the competitive advantage it needs. Having the ability to meet or exceed customer demands in real-time is an immeasurable benefit that can produce significant results. UCaaS offers a level of business continuity that ensures customers receive the highest level of service—from any location or device.
Partnering with Optus
Migrating to an enterprise cloud communications solution can be a complex and tedious process. With the right partner, you don’t need to jump headfirst into unknown territory. Our team at Optus can help you install the features and systems you need today while helping you as you grow in the future. Our best-in-class enterprise communications solutions offer you the ability to facilitate a remote or multi-site workforce while keeping your employees and customers connected. Learn more about Optus’ Cloud IT Services.