As-a-service solutions are gaining popularity at record speed right now.
Prompted by trends like flexible working and digital transformation, companies are rapidly turning to software hosted on the cloud. After all, there’s no better way to be prepared for anything than with a scalable cloud environment.
UCaaS, or Unified Communications as a Service, is among the most popular “aaS” services today. Gartner defines UCaaS as a cloud-based solution for combining communication tools. UCaaS is hosted by a provider and requires no infrastructure to get started (unlike traditional UC). This means that provisioning and updating UCaaS is effortless.
The market for UCaaS is set to reach a value of around $24.3 billion by 2026, and offerings are growing more sophisticated by the day. Alongside combined portfolios of messaging, video, audio, and presence features, vendors now offer contact center integrations, advanced collaboration tools, and even artificial intelligence.
Here’s everything you need to know about UCaaS.
What is UCaaS?
UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. Unified Communication solutions align various communication technologies into a single platform, such as chat, telephony, online meeting systems, screensharing, and video. The “as a service” component refers to the way companies access their UC technology.
Unified Communications as a Service are hosted by an external provider who delivers functionality to your business over the cloud. The great thing about this structure is that you can easily adjust your stack to suit your needs. You can add new features as your business grows, tapping into tools like AI and automated routing. Companies can add new numbers to their telephony as they spread into new countries, and experiment with integrations.
All UCaaS solutions are defined by their cloud-based infrastructure, and the ability to combine multiple forms of communication.
Common features of a UCaaS offering may include:
