By now, most business technology buyers are likely familiar with Voice-over-IP (VoIP). Its affordability, compared to on-premises PBX systems, has established it as the modern standard for basic business voice communication. Recently, cloud-based VoIP has further reduced costs. Additionally, VoIP offers other benefits. Being software-based, it can integrate with various software systems to support multiple communication channels beyond just voice. This functionality has given rise to a new category of VoIP-based business communications software known as Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS).
UCaaS aims not only to enhance voice calling with new features but also to transform business communications beyond traditional phone technology. By integrating voice with your essential business software, UCaaS systems create multi-channel delivery platforms that boost productivity. Although this may seem complex, it remains manageable if you concentrate on your organization's specific needs and avoid being overwhelmed by the wide range of options vendors provide.
While VoIP typically serves as a voice service provider managing inbound and outbound calls, UCaaS expands to encompass all business communications over internet protocol (IP). It is multi-modal, integrating text messaging, chats, video conferencing, screen sharing, video meetings, and more, with VoIP at its core for handling voice communication.
According to Statista data shown in the chart below, the UCaaS market is expanding. The trend indicates that most customers are expected to opt for hosted or managed solutions in the coming years.
What VoIP Gives You
VoIP fundamentally serves as a digital phone service utilizing the internet for communication transport and delivery. It allows you to make and receive calls through your internet connection using traditional handsets or, alternatively, softphone applications on computers or devices.
VoIP provides features similar to those of a traditional telecom provider. You can access voicemail, use caller ID to monitor calls, and forward calls to other lines when necessary. Additionally, VoIP offers features not typically available with standard telecom plans, such as auto-attendants, call holds, call logs, call monitoring, call recording, call transcriptions, dial-in conferencing, and number porting.
Networking Considerations
A potential drawback of VoIP, even for cloud-delivered and managed services, is the strain it can place on your local area network. Enabling VoIP can result in a surge of voice traffic from PCs, VoIP-enabled phones, smartphones, tablets, and other devices. The primary issue isn't just the traffic volume; it's the need for special handling of VoIP traffic.
Unlike normal data traffic, which can tolerate brief network slowdowns and occasional packet loss, latency, and network jitter, VoIP traffic is sensitive to these issues and often reacts poorly. This sensitivity can result in audible breaks during conversations or even dropped calls. While top VoIP providers offer customer service engineers to assist you, having on-staff IT professionals is essential. Managing VoIP traffic will require significant time and effort, particularly during the initial rollout of the service.
Keep in mind that as you convert basic voice communications into data streams, the challenges increase with the addition of more channels, which is exactly what occurs when implementing UCaaS.
Stepping Up to UCaaS
UCaaS begins with voice capabilities and extends its value by incorporating additional channels. Most prominently, it includes video, allowing you to organize both individual video calls and group video conferences.
Previously, these capabilities might not have appeared essential for smaller companies, but in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic and hybrid remote workforces, they've become indispensable. With video conferencing and VoIP, you can conduct meetings with hundreds of participants, share your screen with all attendees, and even share and receive files with everyone on the call or with individual participants.
UCaaS tools enable chatting and text messaging with coworkers, an essential feature for remote teams. For instance, if you're on a video call with a client and a sales representative speaks out of turn, you can privately message them to align everyone. This feature also allows team members to use chat instead of email for more immediate and casual interactions.
Certain UCaaS providers offer robust collaboration and project management features. These include document sharing with real-time editing, task lists, shared calendars, and collaborative file storage.
If you still need to send and receive faxes, some UCaaS solutions allow you to do so from your computer or mobile device. Faxes can typically be automatically stored in your Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive account. Managing faxes digitally also provides better oversight of who is sending and receiving faxes and their content. Most systems also offer tools to block junk faxes.