The Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) market is growing at an incredible rate, set to hit a value of around $70 billion by 2028. Though demand for flexible and scalable technology in the communications environment is nothing new, interest in these solutions has undoubtedly grown in recent years. The pandemic, flexible working, and hybrid employment mean UCaaS is no longer an option for most companies – it’s mandatory. 

Only with a flexible, agile environment like UCaaS can business leaders prepare for anything the future might have to offer. UCaaS paves the way for remote working, improved business continuity, and rapid innovation at scale. 

Of course, if you’re planning on investing in joining the revolution and investing in UCaaS technology, you’ll need to begin by comparing some of your options. Here’s a guide to reaching UCaaS tech in 2022 and beyond. 

Step 1: Consider your Cloud Strategy

In today’s fast-paced marketplace, there’s a good chance your UCaaS investment won’t be happening in a vacuum. Many brands are in the midst of a digital transformation process that involves moving a significant amount of their work and processes into a cloud environment. While UCaaS may be the most crucial investment for your brand today, there are other elements of cloud technology you may want to implement long-term. 

If you’re making a complete transition into the cloud, now might be the time to start looking at vendors capable of combining multiple cloud solutions into one ecosystem. Increasingly, we’re seeing the rise of “consolidated cloud” environments, where companies can unlock contact centre technology, unified communications, and other tools delivered “as a service”. 

Brands planning on implementing UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS technology into their ecosystem in the years ahead may benefit from considering vendors capable of supporting all of these tools in the same aligned environment. Alternatively, you can think of vendors with open enough settings that it’s possible to devices in the future. 

Step 2: Address Specific Needs

One of the primary benefits of UCaaS as a tool for collaboration and communication is that it’s inherently flexible. In the last couple of years, many businesses have discovered that “off-the-shelf” solutions for communication aren’t always ideal for their brands or budgets. UCaaS makes it easier to create more customised environments from scratch. 

Depending on your company’s unique needs, you may need a higher degree of flexibility from your provider than most. This could mean you need to prioritise looking for a vendor with low-code or no-code CPaaS technology built into the UCaaS framework or easy access to plugins and APIs. 

At the very least, you’ll need to ensure any UCaaS technology you’re investing in today will work with the tools you already rely on in your business, from desk phones to video conferencing technology. Look for a company capable of integrating with a wide range of critical tools and systems. Speaking to the vendor you’re going to be working with to access UCaaS technology can help you answer any specific questions you have about your toolkit.

Step 3: Don’t Cut Corners on Compliance and Security

Security and compliance are concepts many companies overlooked in the rapid transition to UCaaS and cloud technologies in the last couple of years. Brands put things like user access controls and encryption on the back-burner to maintain business continuity. A long-term approach to innovation reliant on UCaaS requires more careful consideration of security and compliance.

Start by thinking about how you’re going to manage the data moving through your communication ecosystem and where the data you gather will be stored. Check with your UCaaS provider to control data sovereignty elements if possible and stay compliant with GDPR. 

You’ll also need to look into things like access control and how easy it is to add and remove people from your communication ecosystem in a hurry, mainly when working with remote and in-office employees. Today’s leading UCaaS solutions are even beginning to offer a broader range of intelligent tools specifically intended to improve compliance, like AI systems that can minimise the risk of fraud or biometric two-factor authentication.

Step 4: Put User Experience First

More than ever, companies realise just how vital user and employee experience is to the business’s bottom line. If your employees can’t get an excellent experience from the UCaaS tools they’re using, they can’t deliver a fantastic experience for your target audience. UCaaS solutions need to be flexible and easy to use, regardless of which devices, your teams rely on.

This focus on UX is becoming increasingly important in the age of hybrid work. Different team members will need to leverage various tools from all over the world to stay connected to the business ecosystem. A great way to ensure you’re making the proper steps with user experience is to speak to the people who will be using your UCaaS tools.

Find out what kind of features are most important to your employee personas. For instance, some staff members will want to continue using the apps they already demand productivity, like Microsoft Excel and Word, which require integration with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Others will want to quickly join video conferencing sessions from a mobile device on the move.

When prioritising UX, don’t forget to look for simplicity when provisioning and managing UCaaS tools. Your business leaders will need to roll out new features, add new professionals to the business directory and even create new numbers in a convenient, cloud-based portal. 

Step 5: Look for Opportunities to Innovate

UCaaS is increasingly intelligent and advanced as it emerges as the central environment for work and productivity in a hybrid space. Many modern companies moving into the UCaaS environment need to be willing to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. 

If you’re planning on making updates to your UCaaS strategy in the years ahead, start by looking at opportunities you can leverage now. For instance, you might be able to experiment with artificial intelligence in the form of virtual assistants and bots offered by your UCaaS provider. 

If you want to make your teams more efficient, you can look into self-service solutions and automation tools which minimise the demand for technical help from remote workers. As the cloud environment evolves, we’re even seeing the rise of things like 5G connectivity to help with mobility in a transforming workplace. 

Which innovative tools will you need in your UCaaS investment? It’s best to ask this question before you start implementing new functionality. 

 

 



from UC Today https://ift.tt/t19wQdg