CallTower, one of the leading providers of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) has announced that they will be offering Cisco Webex Calling and UCM services, expanding on their already robust Cisco offerings. 

Long regarded as the primary player in the voice market, Cisco has been pushing to expand its cloud-based offerings. Many are already likely familiar with their Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) that has been available directly from Cisco or through partners like CallTower, which has hosted Cisco CallManager for the past 18-years. 

Cisco Webex Calling solution is designed to enhance the user experience (UX) of customers with fewer than 1000 seats. For customers that have more than 1000 seats, CallTower’s Cisco UCM solution is probably going to be the right solution.  

While neither solution is considered to be new to the market, it is CallTower’s capacity to offer these services with the necessary support and additional services that make this announcement an important marker for customers. In particular, how CallTower is able to work with their customers to fill in the gaps between tiers of Cisco’s services.  

Different Segments Require Different Solutions 

Across the board, we are seeing more diversification of options for different market segments. The enterprise has always received a sizable focus for obvious reasons, but there is a new push to make many of the same services available for the smaller organisations that may have not needed these types of solutions in the past.  

The availability of cloud-based services makes these offerings a much more viable option for these smaller organisations. This push works to meet these customers where they are, but there are still gaps.  

Speaking with CallTower’s CRO William Rubio, he tells UC Today that as a solution provider, CallTower is able to fill in the gaps between tiers of services. “We’re able to help blur the vendor-defined lines to offer the choice that organisations need to cut inefficiencies from their spending while increasing productivity and manageability,” he says, adding that, “CallTower helps organisations avoid the barriers, giving them access to many of the services that Cisco only provides for larger organisations.”  

One of CallTower’s biggest differentiators is that they are a solutions provider, not just a vendor of products.  

Rubio says that they often get customers who buy directly from Cisco turning to CallTower for many of the additional services like Contact Centre and CRM Integration solutions that they need for their business.    

Some organisations look to CallTower to integrate their Cisco services like WebEx with their Microsoft Office 365 or Google environments. A common request says Rubio is for CallTower to ensure that their Office calendars are integrated with their Cisco solution. 

“You can join your meetings and it’s all working as one seamless platform” says Rubio, “No matter where you find yourself around the world.”    

Continuous Cisco Continuity in the Cloud 

A big advantage of moving to the cloud is that even if service goes down on the servers back in the main office or at one data centre, the service is being supported across multiple locations.  

This means that if the power goes out at one data centre, the rest of the organization can keep making calls without interruption. 

Moving to the cloud is also good for providing the same feature set for the organization’s users across the globe. Rubio says that this makes it easy to manage services for users in the hybrid working environment who need increased flexibility.  

“Work isn’t centred around specific locations anymore,” he tells UC Today. “Employees need the same level of features, speed, and call quality at a cafe while on the road that they’d receive at the company HQ in California.  

Where is Cisco Going Next? 

Rubio has big expectations for Cisco’s cloud expansion, stating that, “Cisco’s biggest path to watch is not just what they are doing domestically but on a global level.” 

He believes that Cisco is ready to invest heavily in their WebEx Calling and UCM products, explaining that, “They’re putting all these core platforms in together while at the same time giving you the flexibility to integrate with some of those other core platforms they’re using, while still give you the stability, reliability, and security of a traditional telephony solution.” 

My Thoughts 

CallTower is well-positioned to guide organisations, both big and small, through their digital transformation.  

As longtime providers of multiple vendor solutions from Cisco, Microsoft, and others, CallTower is able to supply their customers with the mix of products and services that they need to move forward — all with the flexibility for licensing and features that make it an easier decision for organisations to move forward with their adoption of new technologies. 

 

 



from UC Today https://ift.tt/30aMpz5