If you’re considering a communications upgrade, you’ve likely come across some new technologies like UC and UCaaS, which stand for unified communications and unified communications as a service. Each of these options relies on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to transmit voice calls over an internet connection, affording your enterprise benefits such as scalability, reduced costs, and improved agility. To aid in your communications decision, first consider what is UCaaS, and how does it differ from UC?
What is UCaaS?
UCaaS delivers a suite of communications technologies through a single application, hosted by a cloud provider. Enterprises can gain features including video conferencing, telepresence, and collaboration tools, in addition to voice calls and other standard offerings available through a legacy phone system.
UCaaS is different from UC because of the way it is hosted, maintained, and managed. While UC is hosted on-site at the enterprise, UCaaS is hosted in the cloud and is managed and maintained by the cloud provider. There’s little to no installation cost associated with UCaaS, and enterprises moving to this technology from a legacy phone system find that it relieves their IT team of the time for troubleshooting and upgrades that their previous solution required.
Two UCaaS options
When choosing UCaaS, enterprises must determine whether a single tenancy or multitenancy solution better fits their needs. Single tenancy is generally more easily customizable and can be integrated with other critical business platforms. If there are any system problems, single tenancy UCaaS is easy to restore.
Multitenancy, in which the enterprise shares a UCaaS platform with other enterprises, is a more affordable option. It is not as easily customizable, but many organizations favor this option for its low entry cost and frequent upgrades.
Factors driving UCaaS adoption
Mobility support: Enterprises with growing segments of mobile and remote employees find that UCaaS offers anywhere, anytime access to communications. As long as an employee has a valid login and a network connection, they can access the same tools no matter where they are working.
Integration: UCaaS integrates well with other platforms, and enterprises are improving productivity and customer service with the connectivity that comes with integrating customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions into their communications technology.
Reduced costs: UCaaS offers a low monthly invoice, with no surprises for hardware maintenance or upgrades; it’s all included in a subscription. Enterprises pay only for the number of users they need, and there’s no big capital investment required to launch the implementation.
Agility: As businesses need to make decisions that can be implemented quickly, cloud solutions like UCaaS offer that agility. From utilizing machine learning or virtual agents in a contact center to better management of virtual teams, UCaaS supports a faster realization of benefits.
For more information on UCaaS and what it can do for your enterprise, contact usat Diversified Technology Group. We can help you leverage the best communications solutions for your business objectives and your budget.