You’ve probably heard of ‘unified communications’ (UC). It’s one of those impactful business buzzwords that sounds like it promises to vanquish a variety of problems in one fell swoop. However, that’s because it can. Combining every channel of business communication into a single, cloud service platform, UC is an increasingly popular choice for businesses seeking ways to expand, modernise and reduce communications costs.
Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) differs very slightly from UC. A UCaaS solution provides many of the same benefits of UC, but these are instead accessed through a single hosted environment. This means that all of the applications, services and communication tools a business needs are available via one platform, usually hosted by a UCaaS service provider and high-speed Ethernet service.
How does UCaaS work?
Giving employers and employees alike instant access to either a preselected or specifically tailored set of tools, UCaaS is all about connection and communication. All staff receive the same, real time, ideal user experience for the type of work they perform – and can do so from any connected device. This means that remote and mobile workers have the same access and are never out of the loop, while internal communications are no longer limited to one workspace.
TechTarget’s experience of UCaaS is that it provides flexibility and scalability of core business tasks, making it an ideal solution for small businesses and start-ups that hope to expand. Once you have a UcaaS provider in place, it’s usually a case of using the service in a ‘pay as you go’ format.
This means increased manageability of your planning and budgeting, and is one of the reasons why many other media outlets, including Inc., report that UC products can “improve productivity and save you valuable time and money.”
Access to instant messaging communications platforms also gives staff the ideal tool for simultaneously communicating with their colleagues and dealing with important or difficult calls. This is due to all staff being part of the same converged voice and data network, with each team member able to access the same tools, regardless of where they happen to be working.
However, you don’t need a multitude of mobile staff to take advantage of UCaaS (or, at least you don’t need any yet). When all of your workplace staff use the same applications through the same channel, you immediately stand a better chance of delivering more consistent work. Plus, you’ll have fully-qualified employees on hand to show any ‘newbies’ how you work and what you work with.
As well as setting you up positively for any future expansion of your business, cloud-based services come with increased security and cloud backup as standard. Also, the longer these communication technologies are around, the more businesses will be signing up to their services. Finding out how UCaaS services will benefit your business now is ensuring that it remains competitive in the future.
