Over the last few years, we’ve seen a rapid transformation in the Unified Communications market, driven by trends like the demand for customer experience, and new technology. By the end of 2024, the Unified Communications market is set to reach a value of $143.49 billion, and investments in cohesive comms just continue to grow.
In any workplace, a unified communication platform is a huge benefit, capable of streamlining the conversations that teams have, both with their colleagues and consumers. Here are some of the trends that we expect to see driving UC forward.
1. The Demand for Team Collaboration Increases
“Collaboration” was a significant buzzword in 2018. Remote and mobile working forced companies to rethink the traditional definition of the office environment, and collaboration tools emerged as a way to keep employees connected, wherever they were. Today, Nemertes studies suggest that around half of all companies use team collaboration applications like RingCentral Glip to ensure office productivity.
In the years ahead, we can expect to see more vendors looking for ways to integrate collaborative features into a complicate Unified Communication and Collaboration experience.
The rise of 'as a service' models have prompted an increase in popularity around UCaaS solutions which help to make advanced communications strategies more accessible. Click To Tweet
2. Adoption Moves Up in the Cloud
Cloud has been a transformational talking point for many businesses for a number of years now. Companies know that if they want to tap into the agility and flexibility that they need to stay competitive, they need to take advantage of the scalability of the cloud. Unified Communications solutions delivered via the cloud allow organisations to adjust and adapt their portfolio according to their needs at any time.
Additionally, the rise of “as a service” models have prompted an increase in popularity around UCaaS solutions which help to make advanced communications strategies more accessible.
3. Video Evolves
Last year, video began to capture the attention of workforces around the world, promising an intimate and engaging way for teams to communicate in a face-to-face manner, regardless of where they were. Now, the video landscape in unified communications is continuing to grow, with the addition of new HD and 4K services as standard from many vendors.
Additionally, some communications providers are beginning to explore the opportunity of video streaming as an addition to the UC portfolio. Streaming services allow for easier collaboration in the workforce and may also help with training and one-to-many announcements too.
4. Security Becomes more Refined
Today, choosing the ultimate UC strategy isn’t just about finding the right selection of tools. Modern companies also need a vendor that can deliver the peace of mind that they need when it comes to security, privacy, and data management.
Vendors are putting more investment into giving their customers the comprehensive security that they need through multiple layers of protection. All the while, new solutions are entering the market to protect users from fraud and data abuse.
5. Applications and Integrations Reign Supreme
This year we are noticing more companies from various verticals are searching for vendors that can deliver the open architecture that they need to build on top of their existing UC strategy with new capabilities. Recently, a growing number of vendors have begun to deliver APIs that allow customers to integrate communication strategies into existing apps and create more immersive experiences for employees.
The programmability of platforms like RingCentral Office makes it a more appealing option for companies that are ready to move beyond the one-size-fits-all strategy for UC.
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Originally published Apr 09, 2019, updated Apr 09, 2020
