Resources from Unified Communications

UCaaS at Helm of Collaboration

By Michelle Amodio
TMCnet Contributor

Where there was once VoIP, there is now a host of Internet-based solutions that power the communications needs of business owners both big and small.  We’ve seen unified communications become commonplace for those businesses whose needs focused on collaboration and applications. Now the enterprise is realizing what UC tools mean for productive teamwork, and we have UCaaS to thank for that.

UCaaS is a delivery model in which a diversity of communication and collaboration applications and services are outsourced to a third-party vendor and delivered over an IP network, the one we commonly know as the Internet.

The influx of millenials into the workforce means that UCaaS is on the up and up simply because this demographic is made up of users of this technology; messaging, video, and voice.

West Unified Communications (News - Alert) sought out some answers through it survey, “How Companies are Using Collaboration Solutions.” According to survey responses, 68 percent use UC solutions beyond the typical email and voice in their organization.

"Millennials are driving this in the sense that they demand the availability of certain technologies. Our survey showed that more than half of respondents believe best-of-breed technology wins out over vendor loyalty -- so now there's a lot of point solutions from different vendors,” said Rob Bellmar, executive vice president of conferencing and communications at West Unified Communications.

The growing adoption of VoIP and other IP solutions like UC makes it easier for companies to employ more features in their phone systems. The increasing recognition of a need for efficiency with lower costs within an organization is an influence that's helping to drive the acceptance of these solutions globally.

Wainhouse (News - Alert) Research has put UCaas on a steady and strong market path, with a forecast to hit $5.3B by 2018.

"There's a growing preference for cloud-based services, particularly in mid-to-large enterprises, and UCaaS is riding that demand," said Bill Haskins, Wainhouse Research Senior Analyst & Partner in a statement at the time of its report. "Putting unified communications in the cloud makes great economic sense: the infrastructure is there, the support mechanisms are in the place, the training program is ready. Plus, fewer IT and purchasing resources are required to manage it."

We have the current workforce to thank for UCaaS’ success. More people are joining the mobile workforce, which increases their dependence on smartphones and tablets. The need for more efficient technologies to communicate and collaborate means businesses, particularly the enterprise, are relying on UCaaS to reel it in.

UCaaS is the platform for next generation telecommunication providers looking for scale and flexibility, so it only makes sense for the enterprise to make the switch.