UCaaS vs CCaaS
Why take a side in UCaaS vs CCaaS? With RingCentral, you can combine both solutions to synergize internal collaboration and customer communications across your business with maximum benefits.
Unify communication channels
Boost operational efficiency
Reduce ownership costs
Which matters most to your business, streamlining internal communications to boost employee productivity or enhancing customer communications to improve experiences?
Chances are, you’re struggling to answer, as each is as important as the other. It’s why UCaaS and CCaaS are two of the most powerful cloud solutions around, each one targeting two sides of the same communication coin. And, it’s also why RingCentral offers two solutions—RingEX for internal communications and RingCX for external communications—that can work seamlessly together.
What is UCaaS?
UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. It’s cloud-based software that consolidates all your internal communication and collaboration channels— such as calls, video, and instant messaging—into an all-in-one platform.
This lets you create an interconnected ecosystem where all your communications can be accessed from a single app.
Key characteristics of UCaaS solutions
UCaaS solutions have a unique combination of characteristics that differentiate them from other types of business phone systems and communications solutions. So, with the earlier general UCaaS meaning in mind, let’s explore some of the key characteristics that define UCaaS:
Fundamentally, UCaaS solutions unify multiple communication channels on one platform, bringing together voice calls, video calls, instant messaging, and more. Plus, all of these channels are accessible via desktop, laptop, and mobile devices for ultimate flexibility.
UCaaS solutions are hosted in the cloud and are entirely maintained and operated by your service provider. So, there’s no need to purchase expensive hardware or hire experts to maintain your platform. Plus, cloud architecture offers effortless scalability.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a core component of UCaaS solutions. This powerful technology enables you to make audio and video calls over an internet connection, increasing mobility and empowering productive remote and hybrid working.
Typically, UCaaS solutions are offered on a subscription basis, either monthly or annually. And, they offer a tiered range of packages to suit different business sizes and needs, increasing cost-efficiency.
Typical UCaaS features
UCaaS solutions are designed to enrich internal communications with added mobility, ease, and value. As such, they come equipped with a range of powerful features that offer numerous benefits, from streamlined workflows to more effective remote collaboration.
Here are some of the main features you’ll get with a UCaaS solution like RingEX:
Here are some of the main features you’ll get with a UCaaS solution like RingEX:
Voice calling is essential for communications, but UCaaS goes beyond basic telephony with the integration of VoIP and cloud PBX. Along with HD audio quality, businesses can use advanced features like voicemail transcription, call analytics, and call recording.
This feature lets employees start and join video calls from any device, with the ability to elevate phone calls to video calls in a single click. Additional video capabilities include AI-powered meeting transcriptions, seamless device switching, and screen sharing.
UCaaS solutions offer in-built instant messaging across devices to empower convenient real-time communication. Teams can create private and group chats to share collaborative notes, updates, tasks, and more from any location.
This essential feature lets employees share files with colleagues right inside your UCaaS platform, offering security and convenience to collaborations.
Most UCaaS services offer a range of integrations with third-party applications to streamline and automate workflows. For example, you get over 400 integrations with RingEX, ranging from CRMs, calendar tools, project management software, and email platforms.
UCaaS solutions centralize project management into your communication platform. You can effortlessly manage integrated team calendars, track times, and action conversations.
From AI-powered transcriptions to automated note-taking, UCaaS solutions are continually evolving to include state-of-the-art AI capabilities.
UCaaS examples in day-to-day business
Let’s take a quick look at some examples of how you might use UCaaS solutions in your daily business operations:
Teams can jump on video calls, brainstorm via interactive virtual whiteboards, share files, and collaborate on documents simultaneously, all in real-time.
All employees need is an internet connection to access the full range of communication and collaboration features offered by UCaaS, including video calls, file sharing, and voice calling.
Instead of jumping between different apps, teams can switch effortlessly between phone calls, video, instant messages, and more. And with powerful integrations, using third-party applications becomes much more streamlined, too.
Hallmarks of top UCaaS providers
UCaaS is an evolving industry with lots of vendors to choose from. But what sets apart the best UCaaS providers from the rest?
Here are some things to look out for when considering UCaaS options:
Here are some things to look out for when considering UCaaS options:
Security and compliance
The top UCaaS providers have hardened security measures in place to protect your business’s data. This includes end-to-end encryptions, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and compliance with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.
Regular updates should also be performed to defend against evolving cyber threats and comply with changing regulations.
Regular updates should also be performed to defend against evolving cyber threats and comply with changing regulations.
Reliability
The best UCaaS providers will offer 99.999% uptime SLA. In other words, they promise to deliver 5.26 minutes or less of downtime per year.
99.999% is considered peak uptime. It near-ensures business continuity, which is why RingEX has a 99.999% SLA guarantee. Many providers can only guarantee 99.9% uptime, which is 8.77 hours of downtime per year. Some offer as low as 95%—that’s almost three weeks of downtime per year.
Customer support
In the event of a technical issue, your UCaaS provider should offer highly available support. The best providers will be available around the clock across multiple channels.
What is CCaaS?
Contact Center as a Service, or CCaaS, is a cloud-hosted solution that’s specifically designed for inbound and outbound contact centers, call centers, and customer-facing teams.
CCaaS integrates communication tools and contact center tools into one unified platform. This enables customer-facing teams to manage inbound and outbound interactions across multiple touchpoints, such as voice, email, chat, and social media.
CCaaS integrates communication tools and contact center tools into one unified platform. This enables customer-facing teams to manage inbound and outbound interactions across multiple touchpoints, such as voice, email, chat, and social media.
Key characteristics of CCaaS solutions
To understand the CCaaS definition above, it’s helpful to look at the key characteristics of CCaaS solutions:
CCaaS platforms are fully maintained by the provider in the cloud, which lowers costs and enables remote working. The cloud architecture also facilitates rapid scalability, allowing companies to scale agents and channels up and down in response to demand.
The main characteristic of CCaaS is its ability to manage multiple channels—voice, email, chat, social media, video, and more. With RingCX, for example, you can access over 20 digital channels within one immersive workspace.
CCaaS solutions don’t just offer a range of channels, they unify these channels into a consolidated platform to deliver omnichannel customer service. This means that customers can enjoy seamless, consistent experiences across channels.
Most CCaaS solutions offer a subscription-based model with tiered packages to suit different business needs, goals, and sizes.
Typical CCaaS features
CCaaS solutions deliver all the basic call-handling features you’d expect from a platform built for call centers, such as call queues, call barging, and call whispering.
But what other features can you expect to see in a CCaaS solution? Let’s take a look at some key CCaaS features (all of which you can find in RingCX):
Automatic call distribution (ACD) systems are powerful skills-based routing engines that direct incoming calls to the agent with the most relevant skills or experience needed to handle the call. They can also route calls based on business hours, workload, priority, and more.
Almost all CCaaS solutions will come with an in-built system. The IVR presents incoming callers with an automated, interactive menu. The caller can guide themselves to the right agent or resolve their issue via self-service.
Call monitoring features let you monitor calls in real-time, providing immediate insight into agent performance and on-call coaching opportunities. Call recording features let you record calls for post-call review, where you can evaluate conversations for compliance, training, and quality assurance.
You can integrate some of the best CCaaS solutions with WFM tools that give managers a birds-eye view of contact center performance. You can see details like real-time traffic volumes and agent workloads, allowing you to optimize agent schedules.
View contact center performance metrics and KPIs across all of your channels. CCaaS solutions provide online dashboards with data visualizations so you can monitor and evaluate performance in real-time. And, reporting features give you access to in-depth metrics for analysis.
Like UCaaS tools, CCaaS solutions offer a wide range of integrations with key business tools, such as CRMs, email platforms, helpdesk platforms, and knowledge bases.
The best CCaaS solutions are tightly integrated with AI to deliver a range of capabilities. Along with chatbot integrations, an AI-powered CCaaS offers conversational analytics, automated post-call summaries, and AI-powered live assistance to agents.
CCaaS examples in day-to-day business
CCaaS plays a pivotal role in the day-to-day operations of a typical inbound or outbound contact center. For example, a contact center team might use CCaaS to:
Agents can manage multiple channels from one platform. So, if a customer raises a complaint via chat and then escalates it to a phone call, the responding agent has immediate access to all of the customer’s previous interactions.
Let’s say that your call queues are filling up or your agents are spending too long in after-call work. Your online dashboard will give you the real-time insights you need to address any issues before they do serious damage.
See RingCX in action
Hallmarks of top CCaaS providers
What should you expect from the best CCaaS providers?
Scalability
CCaaS solutions need to scale when customer demand grows. The best providers offer flexible packages and international phone numbers to facilitate on-demand scaling and global expansion.
Security
Protecting sensitive customer data should be a number one priority for you and your CCaaS provider. The most reputable services will have strict security measures in place, such as end-to-end data encryption, rigid role-based access controls, and continuous security audits.
Reliability
Opt for providers that offer 99.999% uptime—also known as the five 9s—to minimize downtime and the losses that come with it.
Customer support
Just like UCaaS, the best CCaaS providers provide highly available customer support across multiple channels should you need to get in touch.
What is the difference between UCaaS and CCaaS: At-a-glance
Here’s a consolidated look at unified communications vs contact center as a service:
| UCaaS | CCaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Consolidating internal business communication channels on one platform. | Consolidating contact center technologies and communication channels on one platform. |
| Primary goals | To streamline and optimize communication and collaboration between employees, departments, and stakeholders to boost productivity. | To unify and optimize customer interactions across platforms to enhance customer service and sales experiences. |
| Communication channels | Voice, video, instant messaging. | Phone calls, live chat, email, social media. |
| Key features | Unified VoIP calling, video conferencing, instant messaging, screen sharing, interactive whiteboards, and file sharing. | ACD, IVR, call monitoring and recording, contact center analytics, and AI-powered features. |
| Main integrations | Productivity tools, project management software, calendar tools, and email platforms. | CRM systems, email automation platforms, and helpdesk platforms. |
| Best for | All employees and departments that communicate internally, including remote workers. | Inbound and outbound contact centers, including customer support, customer services, and sales teams. |
| UCaaS | CCaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Consolidating internal business communication channels on one platform. | Consolidating contact center technologies and communication channels on one platform. |
| Primary goals | To streamline and optimize communication and collaboration between employees, departments, and stakeholders to boost productivity. | To unify and optimize customer interactions across platforms to enhance customer service and sales experiences. |
| Communication channels | Voice, video, instant messaging. | Phone calls, live chat, email, social media. |
| Key features | Unified VoIP calling, video conferencing, instant messaging, screen sharing, interactive whiteboards, and file sharing. | ACD, IVR, call monitoring and recording, contact center analytics, and AI-powered features. |
| Main integrations | Productivity tools, project management software, calendar tools, and email platforms. | CRM systems, email automation platforms, and helpdesk platforms. |
| Best for | All employees and departments that communicate internally, including remote workers. | Inbound and outbound contact centers, including customer support, customer services, and sales teams. |
Advantages of UCaaS solutions
Now you know what UCaaS solutions are, let’s explore how they can improve your business.
Increased team productivity and efficiency
Before UCaaS, employees would have to jump between platforms to communicate in different ways. Key information would get lost in long email chains and documents would have to be sent tiresomely back and forth.
However, UCaaS solutions offer numerous features that speed up and streamline collaboration workflows.
However, UCaaS solutions offer numerous features that speed up and streamline collaboration workflows.
Employees can switch communication channels in a single click. Colleagues can collaborate on the same documents simultaneously. Managers and teams can send real-time communications via instant messages. And, routine tasks can be automated to save time.
Better collaboration for distributed teams
UCaaS solutions have paved the way for productive, streamlined remote working. With multiple communication channels consolidated into a cloud system and powered by VoIP, employees can collaborate with colleagues as efficiently as if they were in the same room.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, 87% of people who can work from home, do. Infact, it’s the third-highest motivator for employees looking for new roles.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, 87% of people who can work from home, do. Infact, it’s the third-highest motivator for employees looking for new roles.
For employees, it offers increased productivity, job satisfaction, and work/life balance benefits. And for companies, it creates a happier (and by default, more productive) workforce, lowering turnover and absenteeism.
Plus, you‘re not bound by geographical limitations. So you can access a much larger talent pool.
Lower costs
Purchasing individual subscriptions for different voice, video, and messaging platforms can get expensive. All-in-one UCaaS solutions are typically cheaper than purchasing separate tools, leading to serious cost savings.
Plus, there’s no need to purchase, install, and maintain expensive hardware. All employees need is an internet connection and a VoIP-enabled device.
Employees can even use their own devices to maximize cost-efficiency.
Plus, there’s no need to purchase, install, and maintain expensive hardware. All employees need is an internet connection and a VoIP-enabled device.
Employees can even use their own devices to maximize cost-efficiency.
Limitations of UCaaS solutions
Like all business software, there are some potential drawbacks to UCaaS solutions:
- High network dependency: A stable, high-speed internet connection is vital to UCaaS performance. Network disruptions, poor connectivity, and internet outages can degrade call and video quality, and even lead to downtime.
- Potential security risks: Generally, UCaaS solutions are just as secure as on-premises systems. That said, you’re putting full control of your data security into your provider’s hands. Plus, remote working comes with its own security risks, most notably when employees use public Wi-Fi networks.
- User adoption challenges: Adopting new technologies can be difficult for employees who have grown accustomed to your current systems. Without comprehensive training and user buy-in, you risk frustrating and de-motivating teams.
- Interoperability and integration challenges: While many vendors offer plenty of integrations, there’s always the risk that your chosen UCaaS solution lacks interoperability with your current infrastructure and/or tech stack.
Advantages of CCaaS solutions
CCaaS also has its pros and cons. Let’s start by taking a look at the benefits of using CCaaS solutions:
Limitless scalability and customer satisfaction
The cloud architecture of CCaaS empowers rapid, effortless scalability. You can add and remove users in response to real-time business needs and customer demand in just a few clicks, facilitating growth.
And, there’s no need to purchase additional hardware or write off the cost of hardware you no longer need if you scale down. So, you can scale confidently and cost-effectively.
And, there’s no need to purchase additional hardware or write off the cost of hardware you no longer need if you scale down. So, you can scale confidently and cost-effectively.
CCaaS solutions are integrated with a bunch of features that help create exceptional customer experiences: AI technologies, skills-based routing, IVR, and more. This empowers agents to meet customer expectations, boosting satisfaction and loyalty.
Better omnichannel customer service experiences
Salesforce reports that 79% of customers expect consistency in their customer service interactions, regardless of the channel they’re using. They don’t want to have to repeat or re-explain information to different agents—it’s tedious, frustrating, and slows down resolutions. And yet, 56% of customers have had to deal with this in a recent customer service interaction.
With a singular, unified platform to host all your customer communications, agents can deliver fast, consistent service across channels. Not only can they effortlessly engage with customers on their preferred platform, but they can leverage in-platform data and CRM integrations to get the full context of past interactions.
With a singular, unified platform to host all your customer communications, agents can deliver fast, consistent service across channels. Not only can they effortlessly engage with customers on their preferred platform, but they can leverage in-platform data and CRM integrations to get the full context of past interactions.
Enhanced contact center performance
CCaaS solutions provide in-depth insights into your contact center performance via real-time analytics and reporting. This data can be used to devise pivotal strategies, quickly address issues, and optimize performance to meet daily and long-term goals.
Improved productivity and customer satisfaction
CCaaS automates and streamlines many of the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that eat into productivity. For example, IVR and ACD systems eliminate manual call routing from agents’ workflows, granting them more time to spend addressing customer issues. Plus, agents can handle multiple customer inquiries across different channels simultaneously, boosting efficiency.
Limitations of CCaaS solutions
The potential limitations of CCaaS solutions are similar to UCaaS. They include:
- High network dependency: CCaaS platforms are hosted on the cloud, which means they’re heavily dependent on a strong internet connection. You risk hurting the customer experience if you have poor connectivity.
- Integration challenges: Just like UCaaS, the wrong CCaaS solutions may have trouble seamlessly integrating with your current solutions and network infrastructure, leading to decreased performance.
- Potential security risks: CCaaS security is built into the technology and managed by the provider, so you have no control over its quality. This is why it’s so important to choose a reputable provider with enterprise-grade security.
- User adoption challenges: Onboarding employees onto your new technology may take time and effort, reducing time-to-value. The best CCaaS solutions, however, are designed to be intuitive, with a shallow learning curve.
Why choose between UCaaS and CCaaS when you can have both?
CCaaS and UCaaS target two sides of the same coin: external and internal communications. But there’s no need to prioritize one over the other.
By combining RingEX and RingCX, you can achieve a synergistic communication ecosystem in which internal collaboration and customer communications are harmonized within one platform. This maximizes value on both ends of the spectrum by optimizing, enhancing, and streamlining communications.
How? Here are the main benefits of unifying UCaaS and CCaaS solutions:
By combining RingEX and RingCX, you can achieve a synergistic communication ecosystem in which internal collaboration and customer communications are harmonized within one platform. This maximizes value on both ends of the spectrum by optimizing, enhancing, and streamlining communications.
How? Here are the main benefits of unifying UCaaS and CCaaS solutions:
With one shared platform for internal and customer communications, agents can connect with specialists and internal departments to rapidly access information while on customer calls.
This eliminates silos, minimizes disruptions to customer experiences, and promotes faster resolutions to customer issues.
This eliminates silos, minimizes disruptions to customer experiences, and promotes faster resolutions to customer issues.
Better collaboration between teams and departments benefits your customers. With quicker access to data and a comprehensive view of customer journeys, agents and sales teams can reduce , accelerate resolutions, and provide customers with the most up-to-date information.
When you use the same vendor for UCaaS and CCaaS, you get access to synchronized innovations that allow you to enhance internal and external communications simultaneously.
Integrated UCaaS and CCaaS combine business collaboration and customer journey data stacks. With intricate, unified insights delivered to your shared platform, you can identify hidden relationships, patterns, and areas for improvement. This leads to more impactful decision-making and holistic strategies.
UCaaS and CCaaS solutions both empower employees to work remotely, so it makes sense to centralize the platforms to maximize flexibility for both back-office and customer-facing teams.
One of the best things about combining UCaaS and CCaaS with RingCentral is that you don’t have to manage two siloed platforms. RingEX natively integrates with RingCX to centralize and synergize communications. This allows for easy implementation, intuitive use, reduced costs, and access to neatly integrated internal communication and contact center features.
One of the best things about combining UCaaS and CCaaS with RingCentral is that you don’t have to manage two siloed platforms. RingEX natively integrates with RingCX to centralize and synergize communications. This allows for easy implementation, intuitive use, reduced costs, and access to neatly integrated internal communication and contact center features.
UCaaS vs CCaaS FAQs
CCaaS stands for Contact Center as a Service. It’s a type of cloud-hosted customer experience solution that provides advanced contact center and customer communication functionalities.
UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. It’s a cloud-hosted service that integrates voice, video, instant messaging, and other communication channels on one platform.
UCaaS solutions are designed to optimize and streamline internal communication and collaboration between business teams, departments, and stakeholders. CCaaS, on the other hand, concentrates on external communications, with a goal to enhance customer service and sales interactions.
Yes. Not only can UCaaS and CCaaS solutions be unified with one another, but they can both be integrated with a wide variety of business tools. This includes CRM systems, project management tools, productivity tools, email platforms, and many more.
UCaaS and CCaaS solutions vary in price depending on the provider. There are also lots of factors that influence the cost, such as your business’s size, which features you need, and whether you pay for your subscription monthly or annually.
RingCentral’s solutions are competitively priced, with RingCX priced at $65 per agent/month. RingEX plans start at just $30/user/month—and you get a discount if you pay annually.
RingCentral’s solutions are competitively priced, with RingCX priced at $65 per agent/month. RingEX plans start at just $30/user/month—and you get a discount if you pay annually.
Get started with UCaaS, CCaaS, or both with RingCentral’s help |