Resources from Unified Communications

Sangoma Technologies Releases PBXact UCC

By Casey Houser
Contributing Writer

Sangoma (News - Alert) Technologies has long promoted its PBXact Unified Communications suite of hardware and software for businesses that wish to manage their own on-site private branch exchanges (PBXs). With that option, businesses could purchase their own network switches and compatible Sangoma network management software to gain features like interactive voice response, queuing, voicemail, and call recording for hundreds of users. Now those same clients can gain that functionality from within the cloud.

Sangoma’s latest release builds upon the success of its on-site suite. The new PBXact UCC will address the needs of small and midsize businesses that need the sorts of communications features mentioned above but wish to gain the security and ease of setup that comes with cloud-based software. Businesses can still use their Sangoma IP phones with the new cloud service; now they will need to just connect to the Sangoma data centers and SIP trunking infrastructure instead of connecting to their own hardware.

Tony Lewis (News - Alert), the general manager of U.S. operations at Sangoma, commented on the benefits that a move to the cloud could make for existing and future customers.

“Our customers are constantly looking for integrated solutions that will lower overall communications costs,” Lewis said. “The ubiquity of the internet, combined with SIP and VoIP protocols, mean high end communication solutions can now be delivered from the cloud and benefit from the software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) model that have become so prevalent in the tech industry.”

This announcement does more than address customers. It also references resellers in the communications market that want to make a cloud-based UC service part of their portfolio. Sangoma announced that, in addition to offering PBXact UCC direct, they will also allow resellers to pick up the package through the Sangoma reseller program.

The reason that businesses have moved many of their operations to the cloud is because of its reliability and ease of access. Businesses look for products that will be hosted on redundant servers, like PBXact UCC is, so their company data will not be lost in the event of a server malfunction. Furthermore, they know that a redundant infrastructure makes it possible for UC clients to continue working throughout the day even during active cloud server trouble. A similar problem on a business’s premise could be catastrophic to saved data and user productivity.

Sangoma is also promoting the speed of setup of this new service. Users can reportedly gain access and begin using the new PBXact UCC in as few as 10 minutes. With its simple setup and lower cost of ownership, even the Sangoma dedicated on-site users may want to consider a switch to the cloud-based variant.