What is UCaaS?
Unified Communications as a Service is growing at an incredible rate; 29% each year. It’s not a single product or service, but instead it is a combination of technologies and features that create a seamless communications experience for your business. It includes integrating communications services, like instant messaging, voice, hosted PBX, mobility features, audio, desktop sharing, and much more. Unified communications removes the barriers among communications tools, effectively converging your devices so that you can access the same information on your laptop as you would your phone, desk phone, tablet, etc. Cloud service providers, like NewCloud, offer Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) as a cloud-hosted solution, integrating the above features across all of your devices. UCaaS presents businesses with a low cost way of accessing the latest communications tools all at once. Here are 5 reasons your business needs a hosted unified communications strategy:
5. Improve Productivity
A unified communications strategy involves connecting all employees and team members together via the devices they use the most- desk phones, mobile phones, laptops, and computers, among others. Other features that are often difficult to manage and provide for your workforce all at once include video chats, web conferences, and messaging. UCaaS allows your workforce to access all of these features since they’re hosted in the cloud, increasing productivity among employees.
Productivity also improves on your IT team when you implement a unified communications as a service strategy. Setting up new users, updating phones, and applying application patches can take time and resources away from other IT projects that more closely support core competency objectives. With a UCaaS strategy, the service provider manages these aspects of communications, not your IT team.
4. Emergency Planning
Many businesses, for compliance reasons, need some sort of a unified emergency notification system. The idea is that emergency messages get blasted out to all parties impacted and to all of their devices. This system should accommodate 2-way messaging and have the ability to distribute messages to devices in multiple locations. Emergency planning is made easy thanks to UCaaS. See more about what goes into an effective crisis communication plan.
3. Prepare for Mobile Workforces
Mobility and reliability are huge for employers looking to adapt to the modern workforce. With branches in far away locations and mobile works, employees must stay productive while on the go. In a UCaaS scenario, platforms that provides these advanced communications features is located in the cloud and accessible via an internet connection. This provides greater flexibility for a mobile workforce. The idea is that your employees don’t have to be at their desk to answer a work call- instead that call or voicemail can be delivered right to the device they are currently using, wherever they are using it. Your employees can answer phone calls to their desk phone using their mobile device. Likewise, they can outbound call from their mobile device so that it appears to be coming from the work/desk phone.
2. Cost Savings
UCaaS reduces the number of vendors your business has to manage- there’s just one vendor who provides all of these services and features, creating a one-stop-shop. You also remove the upfront capital expenditures of an on-premise communications system, allowing your business to move to an ongoing operating cost model. With the cloud, your business can get started with unified communications immediately. Dealing with one vendor not only helps businesses better budget expenses but also improves support when service issues arise.
1.Customer Experience
Customers that cannot get a hold of you or communicate with you can become disgruntled and potentially switch to a competitor. UCaaS can assure you never miss a call or message. Likewise, the information that your call center receives from a customer needs to be synced with other departments that work with end customers. Long gone are the days of siloed communication within your organization. With UCaaS, you create a constant, positive experience for the customer no matter the department they interact with.
The Bottom Line
Unified Communications as a Service keeps your business in control and equipped with the latest communications technology. Here at Aspen Leaf Networks, we provide the platforms that give your business access to unified communications features. You can find a full list of these features here.