Unified Communications Featured Article

Hosted UC Adoption on the Rise for SMBs

By Alisen Downey
TMCnet Web Editor

Business communications today are rapidly expanding and diversifying, and for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), it may seem like a challenge to take them all on at once. Thankfully, there is a type of solution out there that can handle much of the footwork: unified communications. These software platforms make it easy for SMBs to tie all their existing communication channels together, no matter how dated or disparate, to create a more streamlined overall system.

While for a time it seemed as though only larger businesses and enterprises were adopting UC technology, hosted UC solutions have changed the game. By hosting parts or all of a UC solution in the cloud, the same advanced technologies once only cost-effective for large companies have become accessible for businesses of any size. Hosting providers already have the equipment, hardware and infrastructure to support such systems, making them scalable and more affordable with a wide range of price options. Businesses no longer have to buy everything at once—with hosted UC, they can add communication channels and features as they go to meet their specific needs.

The demand for hosted UC solutions has proven itself to be quite a force in the marketplace, too. TechNavio recently conducted a study, published by Infiniti Research Limited, titled “Global (UC) Unified Communication Market 2015-2019,” which found that rapidly increasing adoption rates for hosted UC are a huge driver for the overall global UC market now, and will continue to be through 2019. TechNavio’s analysts forecast that the global UC market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.08 percent over the period 2014-2019, showing healthy growth for UC and all its related markets.

The mobile era has enabled enterprises to establish connections with businesses, external workplaces, customers and more without the time and location constraints of the past. UC brings all those methods of mobile communication together, making it an essential for any business that wants to have professional, modern, streamlined operations. For the SMBs out there trying to make their way, hosted UC is a game changer, as it gives them the ability to appear just as well-established and polished as their larger competitors—without breaking the budget.