How to find the right UCaaS platform for your business

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) represents some of the latest technologies to improve business efficiency and mobilise a more distributed workforce. UCaaS provides crucial tools for companies that want to maintain a high level of productivity and need to support a hybrid workforce.

Modern business requires seamless collaboration and communication between employees, and Unified Communications (UC) combine all the functions that facilitate this on an enhanced level. Workers are connected in real-time, from anywhere in the world, with all the data at their fingertips.

Understanding UCaaS platforms

UCaaS is a cloud-based delivery model that provides businesses with a comprehensive set of integrated applications and tools to manage communication and collaboration. This technology offers essential functions, like voice calling, messaging, conference calling and file sharing – all together in a single place, eliminating the need for multiple applications.

Upgrading to UCaaS would eliminate running multiple separate communication functions in your business. As a cloud-based communications model, UC is a collection of technologies that are combined into a compatible application for synchronous collaboration.

Included in such a service package you would typically find: messaging, telephony, meetings with audio or video conferencing, and could extend to file sharing, email and task management.

Why should your business implement UCaaS?

The advantages are many and compelling. Aside from negating technological boundaries in businesses where employees work remotely, it also allows people to work from various devices. The vendor supplies apps and interfaces that operate cohesively across anything from tablets and desk phones to computers.

UCaaS reduces IT costs in a couple of ways; because it is hosted in the cloud by the service provider, it reduces the need for on-premises equipment. The service provider is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the technology infrastructure. Companies are also liable for far fewer licensing fees.

UCaaS allows businesses to scale the technology to their evolving needs. The service is flexible, and companies can add and remove users, locations or features as they need. Collaboration between workers and teams is greatly enhanced when all the communication happens in one place, all the information can easily be accessed in that one place and people can cooperate from anywhere.

What are the needs of your business?

When deciding which UCaaS to implement, identify the most pressing communications challenges and pain points. For instance, are employees wasting a lot of time going between different communication channels and applications? Or are you using a traditional in-office phone service that excludes remote workers and doesn't allow for messaging?

UCaaS is not only beneficial for big organisations – smaller businesses often have a very small IT staff and budget. UCaaS gives you the opportunity to offload a lot of your IT infrastructure to experts with skills that your team might not have.

Asking the right questions about what your business’s goals and objectives are will reveal what is required in terms of your UCaaS functionality. What IT resources do you already have in place? What is your IT budget?

Key considerations in choosing the right UCaaS platform for your business

• Does the vendor offer reliability and quality of service (QoS)?
• Is the technology capable of integrating with your existing systems?
• Does the UCaaS offer a user-friendly interface?
• Would it be easy to implement?
• Does the service encompass security and data privacy measures?
• Does the provider offer good customer support and service level agreements (SLAs)?
• Does the technology offer native integration? Can it integrate with your line-of-business applications?

Make sure you choose the right UCaaS platform for your business

UCaaS is designed to help data flow seamlessly across an organisation. It improves employee mobility, saves on IT costs, enhances collaboration and simplifies management and maintenance. Find a UCaaS that can be scaled to suit your company’s unique needs and be integrated smoothly with your existing infrastructure.

The core services of any UCaaS should include as many of these as possible: telephony, SMS messaging, instant messaging, video meetings, email integration, collaboration tools, cloud file storage, mobile apps, call analytics, workflow automation and artificial intelligence.

Since they are on-demand, UCaaS solutions are offered as a monthly subscription. When comparing UCaaS solutions, see what is included in the basic service and how much additional services cost.

SEACOM Business can provide large companies with a full suite of Microsoft applications for various business operations. Our Microsoft 365 solutions deliver compatibility, efficiency and reliability to enterprises. For more information or to get a quote for our unified communications services, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

SEACOM operates Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including multiple subsea cables and secure internet connections tracing both sides of the continent. This is partnered with broad terrestrial fibre networks in Southern and East Africa, extending services to these regions.

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