Unified communications (UC) should help your business succeed and grow in powerful ways, but what you gain from UC depends largely on choosing the right Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider for your business. Here are questions to ask as you speak to provider representatives.
- Does your UC product offer seamless operation?
With people working remotely, in the office or splitting their time across locations, it’s imperative that your staff can collaborate with each other, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders with ease. Ask about how the product works beyond phone calling with messaging, video, text, fax and other communication tools. Are all these operations easy to use, time-saving and reliable even during emergencies or internet outages? Find out how the system can flex and scale based on your evolving needs over time.
- Does your product provide global capabilities?
If you’re looking to present a unified image despite disparate work sites, this feature will be important. Can the product be used by workers in multiple locations in wide-ranging geographical areas at once? Will your company also be able to maintain a local presence when desired?
- Does your UC product offer mobile device, browser and app support?
Your employees are no longer chained to an office phone at a desk. You want a UCaaS provider with a solution that crosses device and application boundaries. Will your staff be able to communicate and collaborate from their cell phone or laptop? Will the solution integrate well with your current productivity apps like Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace?
- Does your solution offer carrier-grade reliability?
You can’t afford to have communications outages. Your staff, customers and clients expect to be able to reach you whenever necessary. Ask each UCaaS provider if they offer “5 nines” (99.999 percent) reliability. Globally redundant service centers and robust service level agreements (SLAs) are critical to ensuring the reliability you require.
- Does your company invest in research and development and stay on top of innovations?
A leading UCaaS provider should always be looking ahead. Will the provider keep pace as new advances impact unified communications?
- Is the solution you offer open platform?
This is important if you want to integrate your unique business-critical applications with your unified communications.
- Will our data be secure?
In our current environment of cyber threats, a reliable UCaaS provider should protect your business communications and collaboration tools with robust security controls.
Choosing a UCaaS Provider
UCaaS is a crucial component of digital transformation because it brings together all the mission-critical aspects of communication, like voice, video, chat, messaging, meetings and virtual collaboration, all onto one unified platform. ATC helps you understand the differences between the leading UCaaS providers. Contact us today to talk about transforming your communications technology.
Why ATC Can Help
Successful digital transformations such as Unified Communications as a Service start with ATC. When you’re faced with a tough decision and there is no margin for error, you can count on ATC’s innovative expertise and proven approach to sourcing and implementing next-gen services. Positive outcomes await.
Contact an experienced ATC technology advisor today and let us help you make a difference. You can also download a free copy of “Unified Communications as a Service for Dummies” to make an informed decision on unified communications for your business.
