Everything you need to know about Unified Communications, UCaas & The Future of Work

Looking back on the past two years, almost every corporate professional can say their work-life has taken an interesting turn. These days, we all connect to our colleagues around the globe using video conferencing and share business collaborations using mobile phones and other electronic devices from the comfort of our homes.?

Sometimes it can be hard to get through a whole day without checking our digital devices; it’s even possible to let hours pass before we remember what we should have been doing!

So it’s no surprise to see how unified communications will change the way we work and, honestly, how we even live!

But what don’t you still know about this emerging concept?

First and foremost, know this: UC (Unified Communications) will become inevitable for your business in the next few years.?

Don’t want to be left behind? Then here’s what you should know.?

*Do you want a practical experience of UCass practical experience with LIVE demos and customer experiences? We will be there at the GITEX 2021 to show you the potential of the Telebu UCaaS product suite. Come meet us at Booth Z3 B22 at the Bahrain Pavilion from 17th? to 21st October 2021.?

What is UCaas??

Even the savviest telecommunication business professionals don’t always know for sure what UCaas is. Am I talking about an acronym? A service? A new industry? Indeed, it’s all three at once and so much more! If you want the lowdown on this massive wave in today’s tech-driven economy, keep reading, and I’ll introduce you to its numerous facets and growing presence in your daily and work life.

Unified Communications As a Service (UCaas) allows you to get cloud-based telephony, chat, video, and audio conferencing solutions that enable your business to happen anywhere on the go.??

What is the growth potential of the Ucaas Market??

According to the Business Fortune Insight Report , the UCaas market will grow from $28.96 billion in 2021 to nearly 70 billion in 2028.?

Gartner projects 10.9% growth in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Solutions. There will also be a downturn towards on-premises telecom moving communications to the cloud.?

This exponential growth is mainly because of the seamless adaptation of cloud-based communication infrastructure across any industry including, telehealth, education, online events, and corporate setups.?

Today SMEs are rising in numbers, and the need to streamline business communication is driving the adaptation of Unified Communication solutions.?

Unified communications offer an all-round solution to business needs from customer care to team collaborations?

Which product segment(s) will have the lion’s share??

Telephony, IT, and conferencing will grab the highest share and dominate this industry, thanks to their mega cost-saving benefits.?

Since 2019, conferencing and telephony have been the most in-demand solutions, and these two have been a highlighted product of UCaas.?

A lot more businesses are getting smarter, moving their servers for all business communications to either the cloud or other virtual server that provides a customizable infrastructure tailored to their needs. With this new technology, businesses reap the benefits of added security and greater collaboration with customized email, messaging, collaborations, and similar applications.

Which regional market will dominate in the coming years?

Since 2018, North America has been responsible for 50% of the global revenue of cloud-based unified communications technology.?

However, some analyses reveal that Asia Pacific will have a higher market share compared to Europe in the next couple of years.

Which application channel will see sustainable growth??

?Cloud and VoIP solutions currently dominate via the telephony segment, but workplaces have been showing a greater interest in new types of collaboration and communication technology.

Looking into the UCaas vertical, the IT and telecom sector have been in demand, offering mobility advantages, cost-effective as well as secure solutions.?

What are some UCaas-centric growth opportunities for businesses??

?Unified communications solutions are benefiting small and medium business enterprises in general. But in terms of sectors, here’s our forecast:

Retail Sector

Retailers who take advantage of UCaaS technology will find themselves to be the sector with the highest growth because they'll be able to get real-time and customizable updates on everything that's happening seamlessly while staying flexible enough to deploy resources quickly.

Banking and Financial Services?

With banks and financial institutions having large networks with millions of employees and customers, unified communications will be helpful.?

Using unified communications as a service (UCaaS) can provide a wide variety of benefits to help financial services companies build strong customer relationships, increase employee satisfaction and boost productivity.

?Healthcare?

In today’s world, medical aid is also available in remote places.?

Telehealth, in particular, is playing a lead role in countries like the US and UK.?

Medical training, health care contact centers and conferencing are also on the come-up in developing nations - partly thanks to the pandemic’s catalytic push on the health sector.??

Education?

UCaaS sees broad application in the education industry beyond just distance learning.?

School management teams can benefit from efficient real-time communication via messaging apps with teachers and students. IVR and API integration can also automate tedious processes that are time-consuming for educators or administrators.

Public Sector?

The benefits of unified communications have extended to the public sector, including teams governing cities, townships, and political parties, to help them run their day-to-day operations. Audio conferencing, voting, lie polling, and SMS broadcasts all hugely benefit various public sectors. Cloud communications also help to increase scalability.?

What are some challenges that UCaas could face in the future?

Migrating to UCaas can be challenging for many businesses, and shifting from on-premise to a cloud-based infrastructure may cause upheavals during the migration.?

Moreover, UCaas providers should provide a reliable and highly secure infrastructure and meet all compliant standards. An experienced and reputed partner will help you to get through the challenges and customized requirements.?

Who are the leading companies in the Unified Communications as A Service (UCaas) market??

Zoom, a popular video conferencing platform, is not yet a fully stocked UCaaS suite in terms of features but intends to be soon enough. Prominent players who are already doing so are RingCentral, Telebu , Cisco, Microsoft, and BlueJeans.

It looks like a small market, but stiff competition will be expected thanks to the increasing demand and value for UCaas in the coming years.

What are the main trends that will positively affect the growth of the market?

• Consolidation - A giant wave of consolidation is already sweeping the UCaas Industry. Big players in one aspect of communications now want to become huge in all aspects of communication and collaboration- either via company mergers, competitor buyouts or product differentiation. And this trend has only just begun.
• ?Artificial Intelligence - AI is grabbing the attention of UCaas developers and customers alike. The seamless integration of AI into messaging, telephony, email, and conferencing will lead to better customer experiences, break more barriers, and help eliminate tedious processes. By the way, did you know that 64% of IT managers say that they are willing to pay a premium for AI analytics?
• The One-for-all and All-in-one demand -? The line between internal and external communication will continue to blur for many organizations, particularly in their ever-growing bid to scale affordably. That means the need for platform solutions to allow external stakeholders to tag along in the communication party will increase! Organizations will not want to look for many solutions when they can find one for everything!?
• Security, Security Security! - Since UCaas demands that everyone can and should access necessary tools via the cloud, from any device and any location, increased security will become not just a necessity but a priority. That will translate into not just stretching the security measures but increased capabilities remote user support, troubleshooting, and IT help desks- all on the cloud!?

?Have more questions about Ucaas??

Why don’t you reach out to us at GITEX Tech Week 2021 or drop us an email at [email protected] ?

This article was originally published on the Telebu Communications blog HERE .?