Technology evolves to meet peoples’ needs. Flexibility and fluidity have become much more desirable in today’s working environments, increasing the demand for efficient cloud-based communications. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is the perfect solution.
Old legacy equipment is no longer meeting the needs of businesses—after all, it’s hard to get much done if you’re tied to your desk phone. UCaaS allows for efficient and flexible communication. It can be accessed from any device and anywhere, making it an ideal solution for most businesses, small or large.
Have we piqued your interest? Read on for a complete guide on UCaaS and the benefits it can bring to your business. But first, we’ll define UCaaS and explain how it works.
This guide includes:
- What is UCaaS?
- How does UCaaS work?
- 11 benefits of UCaaS for businesses:
- The future of UCaaS
- 3 Questions to ask while shopping for UCaaS
UCaaS for Dummies — The only in-depth guide you’ll need
What is UCaaS?
We’ve briefly touched upon the appeal of UCaaS, but before we delve further into the topic, let’s answer the question you’re probably asking: “what does UCaaS mean and what does it include?”
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provides users with seamless integration of communication tools, including team messaging, voicemail, video conferencing, web conferencing, and audio conferencing within one single interface.
Easily accessible from all devices, UCaaS solutions are ideal for field employees, remote workers, and branch locations. You can collaborate and connect with your team from anywhere you fancy. The blend of different channels for business communications means you can also provide your team with a sense of connectivity no matter where they’re located.
How does UCaaS work?
Looking at the technical side of things, the integral technology underpinning UCaaS is VoIP, which is used for internet telephony—transmitting calls as data packets rather than via landlines or cellular networks. Phone numbers and phone notifications operate via the universal Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).
As mentioned, UCaaS platforms encompass a number of tools aimed at facilitating communication between members, no matter where they are. This service is cloud-based and therefore fully accessible online through desktop and mobile apps. Additionally, the telephony of many UCaaS platforms can be extended to desk phones, giving users who are in the office and prefer to use a desk phone the flexibility to do so.
A user simply needs to log onto the platform, and they can make full use of the tools and applications at their disposal. The type of UCaaS features available will of course depend on the provider and package that you opt for.
Start your UCaaS journey today with RingCentral, a trusted provider of all-in-one business communications and software. With RingEX, you’ll be able to integrate your favorite channels into a single platform that encompasses messaging, video, and voice calls—along with all the other advanced features that a modern cloud-hosted VoIP system has to offer.
Benefits of UCaaS: 11 ways all-in-one communications can help your business thrive
As the UCaaS definition highlighted, this technology is highly efficient and accessible. It’s therefore no wonder it has taken off among many businesses.
Below, we’ve listed some of the top benefits of unified communications and how UCaaS platforms can meet your business needs:
1. Cost efficiency
Handy for both small businesses and large enterprises, UCaaS is affordable and cost-efficient for a number of reasons To start, it doesn’t require large, upfront capital expenditures to procure the hardware to get your business phone system operational.
Since UCaaS is essentially a “service,” you also won’t need to fork out cash on any IT repairs or support—all of this will be covered by the system provider. By eliminating PBX, expensive on-premises updates and upgrades will become a thing of the past, so you’ll never again have to wait around for software and systems to be dealt with manually.
In fact, if you’re looking to quantify this saving, Forrester’s Total Economical Impact Study found that customers saved $2.68 million by opting for RingCentral rather than continuing with legacy systems.
What’s more, the study found that RingCentral’s integration capabilities with CRMs such as Salesforce increased efficiency and in part led to an estimated saving of $10.8 million.
Companies that replaced their existing systems with RingCentral’s all-inclusive solution with a business phone system, fax, SMS, conferencing services, and the interoperability of all these functions were able to eliminate the need for multiple vendors and simplify their technology solutions.
You can also increase your cost-efficiency using RingEX’s open-source application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable integrations with any of your existing software. Integrate with software such as Microsoft Teams or use Zapier to connect to over 3,000 additional apps instantly.
2. Ideal for global and hybrid teams
Scalability is another of the biggest benefits of UCaaS as it can be implemented for a global or hybrid team, regardless of location.
Phone lines and special features can be added to your existing UCaaS and phone system, helping streamline workflows no matter where your team dons their headset to start work. This provides opportunities for increased global growth and the chance to recruit internationally. With UCaaS, you’ll have all the tools and channels needed to collaborate and build a connected work culture.
3. Reliability
Since UCaaS providers are bound by service level agreements (SLAs), you can rest assured that you’ll be equipped with secure and reliable cloud communications that put your company’s privacy and protection first.
Guarantee both the safety of your data as well as your peace of mind with RingCentral. We’re fully regulated, HIPAA-compliant, and adhere to strict file protection. Oh, and we’ve delivered more than five consecutive years of 99.999% uptime.
4. Employee flexibility and mobility
One of the many perks of adopting UCaaS solutions is the added flexibility it allows your team, regardless of location.
As end users of the system, employees will be able to access a wide range of communication channels from any device they want (desktop or phone), so they’ll be able to work in a way that suits them best.
This flexibility makes for an overall better employee experience, leading to a happier and more productive team—it is also something needed by employees to keep customers happy and a crucial element of successful customer experience.
The fact that UCaaS can be operated from a single platform is also handy for employees, as they won’t need to keep multiple tabs open to perform different tasks or switch between applications.
5. Better team collaboration
Implementing UCaaS will not only streamline workflows and increase efficiency among your employees, it will also unify communications and bring your team together. This makes it ideal for businesses dealing with remote work or hybrid operations, since a sense of office culture and community can often get lost behind a screen.
With a UCaaS provider like RingCentral, your business will have access to a wide range of communication channels—including team messaging, live collaboration functions that facilitate team chats, video meetings, screen and file sharing, and webinars—so your workforce can stay connected.
6. Enhanced customer experience
Effective business communication isn’t only crucial to your team and internal operations; it’s just as vital to your consumers and external operations.
Cloud-based communications systems can provide an array of channels to communicate with customers. Customer service reps can reach out and respond to inquires from all platforms (including social media) via a phone call, audio call, or even video—features like SMS and instant messaging add even more options to the mix.
The ability for customers to reach out to you via a range of channels makes for a better customer experience, as they can select the option most convenient for them. Not all customers will want to jump on a call; some might want to write a quick message or speak to a live chat agent.
You can also use RingCentral to identify and analyze all the data amassed from these interactions to discover which channels are most popular for customers to communicate through, making the most of these in future conversations.
7. Greater team productivity
Not just a tool to enhance the customer service experience, UCaaS can also increase productivity among your team, as all its features function from one platform.
Your team will have access to different communication channels such as video and audio, and other features such as messaging and web conferencing, in one place.
Here’s how it looks on RingCentral:
This means they won’t have to jump between different tabs to get things done and risk distraction and burnout. UCaaS essentially acts as the main communications hub for your team, so employees can easily interact and work collaboratively. RingCentral even offers a task management feature built right into the app to boost productivity.
8. All your data in one place
Many organizations have collected a wide range of apps and data storage tools over years,, making the problem of data silos a common one.
With UCaaS, you’ll be able to break down these silos effortlessly, as all team members will have one central hub of communications. With all information and communications in one place, your team will feel more connected and aligned.
9. Ripple effect on revenue growth
We’ve already discussed the positive impact UCaaS can have on your customer service team, but did you know that this can have a ripple effect on your revenue and reputation as a business?
In the Forrester survey we mentioned earlier, a service user explained that once their business began using RingCentral, their average call handle time went from 7.5 minutes to 4.5 minutes [per call]. Imagine the impact this had on the quality of their customer service, not to mention the time (and therefore money) they saved.
Since UCaaS provides employees with the tools to work collaboratively and answer customer queries efficiently (from a range of different communication channels), they’ll be able to come up with strategic decisions and solutions to increase organizational growth more easily.
The more often your team produces results with customers, the more likely your business is to build a reputation as a company that puts the customer at the heart of its strategy—and, thereby, increase sales.
10. Secure communications
With UCaaS platforms accelerating innovation and sharing in productivity resources like chat, voice, and video collaboration, it’s crucial for organizations to scrutinize how their UCaaS vendor-of-choice handles security, data privacy, and compliance to mitigate the rise of serious financial and brand threats.
These threats are growing at a record pace, so ensuring your UCaaS platform provides a leading approach to mitigating these risks should play a primary role in your buying considerations
RingCentral offers enterprise-grade security, protecting your business and its data all along the way.
11. Ease of installation and use
The final great thing about UCaaS is that you don’t have to be a tech wizard to install the system for your business.
Since most of the groundwork is already done by your UCaaS platform provider, you’ll be able to migrate your system over to the cloud quickly and efficiently. You’ll also have access to easy-to-read user guides and manuals, as well as customer service reps to help solve any issues you face.
The future of UCaaS
AI is here, and with it, the demand for smarter and more efficient communications systems is only going to keep growing. Companies no longer want to have to deal with cumbersome enterprise infrastructure or wait for new downloads of the latest software—they want it at their fingertips. This is precisely what UCaaS offers its users; the latest communications systems all within one platform.
They also want their communications systems to support and take pressure off their teams. With AI-powered sentiment analysis, automated workflows, and more, current and future UCaaS platforms do just that.
The fact that UCaaS is completely mobile also makes it ideal for the new work culture—hybrid and remote work are here to stay. Having a team stay connected around the globe, regardless of location or time, is made easy with UCaaS.
Finding the right UCaaS provider for your business: 3 questions to ask
Whether you’re running a contact center or you’re a small business looking for a communications solution, finding the right UCaaS provider isn’t always the easiest task.
The popularity of UCaaS platforms has boomed over the last few years, so there’s a lot of choice. Below, we’ve outlined some of the questions to ask when selecting your communications platform:
1. Is it scalable?
If you have a global or remote team, you’ll need to consider the scalability of the UCaaS provider you choose. Does a solution scale up and down instantaneously, adjusting to your business needs? Does it have features and business applications that can be added to existing employees’ or a new hire’s phone system?
2. Is it secure and reliable?
A must for the current digital age, your privacy and data protection should be one of your top concerns when deciding between service providers. Make sure your provider is verified, HIPAA compliant, and transparent about how it handles your data and privacy.
3. Is it made for collaboration and customer service?
It’s great if you’ve found a service provider with effective collaboration tools, but how does the software shape up in a customer service environment? Ensure the provider you choose has a wide range of communication channels available with everything from audio calls and video conferencing to instant messaging.
UCaaS is the present and future for your business
The good news is, there are a lot of UCaaS platforms for you to explore for your specific business needs. Take your time, ask lots of questions, and take advantage of free trials and live demos.
Some UCaaS providers even offer a powerful, totally free offering; that’s a great way to ease into the UCaaS life. For example, you can get RingCentral Video Pro, from RingCentral for free. It includes our video conferencing and team messaging features, and is a great stepping-stone for small businesses not yet ready to take the plunge with RingEX.
View a free demo today to learn more about what RingCentral has to offer.
UCaaS FAQs
1. What does UCaaS mean?
UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service and is the name for solutions that seamlessly integrate communication tools and channels on one platform.
These tools include a business phone system, messaging (instant message, SMS, and MMS), voicemail, video conferencing, web conferencing, and audio conferencing. And all this is done on one easy-to-navigate interface accessible via the cloud.
2. What are the benefits of using UCaaS?
The are many benefits of UCaaS for organizations both large and small..
The flexibility and reliability it offers make it a great option for global and hybrid teams. Moreover, it fosters effective collaboration between team members, allowing for the free exchange of information, be it via a phone call, message, or video conferencing.
Unified communications tools increase employee efficiency and productivity and improve the customer experience you offer. The end result? Happier, more engaged employees and customers.
Since it’s all in the cloud, a UCaaS solution doesn’t require physical space— and the costs for physical equipment are eliminated. Additionally, any necessary maintenance is taken care of by the provider. Not to mention that UCaaS solutions are scalable, meaning they can adjust as the needs of your business grow.
Lastly, you don’t have to worry about the safety of your data; most UCaaS providers will employ tight security measures to ensure that any unauthorized persons cannot access any information stored or transmitted.
3. What do I need to be aware of when choosing a UCaaS provider?
Not all UCaaS providers are created equal, and businesses don’t all have the same needs. Which provider you opt for will depend on what you’re looking for.
Having said that, there are a few elements you should always consider when choosing a UCaaS provider:
- Scalability: How scalable do you need the service to be, and is that amount of scalability offered by the provider?
- Security: Make sure the service provided is up to date and compliant with the data protection and privacy laws.
Collaboration tools: Do the collaboration tools included in the UCaaS platform align with your business needs and goals?
Originally published Jul 24, 2024, updated Nov 21, 2024
