Mark Herbert, President and co-founder of Qunifi, is predicting a year of change in the unified communications channel this year. Below, he talks through what he expects to see over the next 12 months. Qunifi’s flagship services are Call2Teams and Carrier Automate.
How do you think Microsoft will affect the telecoms market in 2022?
We will see some big changes in the market over 2022, primarily driven by Microsoft, which has ambitions in voice, UCaaS and CCaaS. It is reasonable to expect that Teams may in the future become the number one UC provider.
Microsoft’s plans for the UC space have yet to take full effect.
Operator Connect for Teams will further disrupt and disintermediate the voice channel in 2022. Customers can now buy direct from operators, through the Teams interface; they don’t need a partner to support them with the purchasing process. This brings greater competition at the operator level, as customers can purchase from multiple vendors.
This will have a knock-on effect on SBC and basic Direct Routing providers. With customers using an Operator’s central connection to Microsoft Teams, the need for customer-dedicated SBCs will reduce. SBC manufacturers will have to think carefully about how to secure their position. Direct Routing is here to stay though, as any level of customisation ‘in the call path’ or value-add (such as CCaaS) sits firmly outside of Operator Connect – for now.
Whether businesses take Operator Connect or a large UC platform to deliver the telephony via a Teams endpoint, depends on the channel moving its mindset towards the cloud.
From Microsoft, I think we will see a consolidation of Teams in 2022. I think we will see them joining their other products into their Teams solution beyond the Office 365 suite, such as AI and Dynamics, making Teams less siloed.
How will market dynamics be affected?
In 2022 we will see all UC providers gain, probably at the expense of on-prem. The move to hybrid working is further driving the decline of the on-premise PBX. Channel providers that are anchored to delivering on-premise equipment need to consider how they respond. And in the UC space, we could see some consolidation, through acquisitions and mergers, so reducing the number of players in the market (we have already seen a few in the last couple of months).
For on-prem PBX providers, they will need to work hard to find the niches for their high-value offers. UC providers have the advantage, delivering the functionality that Microsoft can’t come close to, but when they add the ability to deliver their solution onto a Microsoft Teams endpoint, it means they can provide a hybrid offer. It is a compelling proposition, to have trusted UC call control with a Teams end-user experience.
What else should channel providers consider?
Looking ahead there are questions around: What would happen if Microsoft Teams were more embedded with mobile telephony? Is Microsoft looking to move into running mobile infrastructure, building on their new Azure for Operators division, and their recent purchase of Metaswitch?
In 2022, we’ll have to see where the market goes in terms of macroeconomics and inflation. Are we going to see a return to a focus on cost?
Last year was an interesting year for those working in the channel, and I don’t see market change and disruption slowing down any time soon. In 2022 it is likely we will see the line between voice and IT continue to blur, as Microsoft continues its drive and hybrid working, together with macroeconomics impacts business decisions.
Here at Qunifi, we are excited about continuing to collaborate with our channel partners, bring new products and services, help differentiate and drive growth, and help channel providers to stay ahead in changing markets.
Further information can be found here The future of Microsoft Teams in the UCaaS channel – Call2Teams
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