Unified Communications as a Service Guide

 

Quick links:

• What is Unified Communications?
• Types of Unified Communications Systems
• Unified Communications Benefits
• Components of Unified Communications
• Unified Communications vs Collaboration
• Costs of Unified Communications Systems
• How to Get Started with Unified Communications
• Unified Communications Examples by Industry
• The Future of Unified Communications
• FAQs

 

What is Unified Communications?

Unified Communications (UC) is a business software that combines voice and digital communication channels with extensive team collaboration tools in a single platform.

Two-way voice and video calling, SMS, live website chat, and social media messaging are available alongside internal collaboration capabilities like team chat messaging, screen and file sharing, whiteboarding, and analytics.

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) allows users and customers to seamlessly switch between multiple devices and communication channels during live interactions, streamlining workflows, increasing productivity, and improving the customer experience in the process.

Integrations and custom APIs provide interoperability with essential third-party applications like CRM systems, contact center software, and webinar platforms–eliminating constant app-switching.

 

Types of Unified Communications Systems

There are two main types of unified communication solutions: cloud-based and on-premise.

 

Cloud-Based UC Systems

A cloud-based unified communications platform is hosted and managed by the service provider, not the end user, on an offsite cloud server.

A cloud UC system functions via a web-based application, so it’s not limited to a single physical location. The softphone interface is accessible from anywhere, and on any device, with a working Internet connection.

Advantages of cloud-based unified communications include:

• Affordability (avoid paying for expensive equipment)
• Scalability (pay-as-you-go tiered plans with monthly or annual billing options)
• Easy to upgrade plans, add features, or purchase additional user seats on provider website
• Accessible on desktop and mobile devices, ideal for remote, blended, or international teams
• Provides an excellent and intuitive user experience

Disadvantages of cloud-based unified communications include: 

• End users lack control over security features, data management, and system upgrades, sharing server space with other businesses can pose security risks
• Requires extensive bandwidth and high-speed Internet
• Not all providers integrate with your existing hardware or preferred business software
• Initial learning curve may frustrate employees and customers

 

On-Premise UC Systems

An on-premise UC system is hosted and managed on-site, meaning the end user is responsible for physically housing the server, purchasing corresponding equipment/hardware, and performing ongoing maintenance.

On-premise UC is restricted to a singular location and usually requires an in-house IT staff,  and is therefore more expensive and less common than its cloud-hosted counterpart.

Advantages of on-premise unified communications include:

• Entirely customizable UC system specifically designed for your business needs
• Stronger security, greater access control, don’t share a server with other businesses
• Not reliant on the strength/quality of your Internet connection

Disadvantages of on-premise unified communications include: 

• Much more expensive than cloud UC tools, as end users must purchase IP phones, SIP Trunking services, any additional hardware–plus the expenses of an in-house IT team and ongoing maintenance
• UC tools and business phone systems can only be accessed within the physical office space–no remote access
• Complicated, lengthy set-up process
• Adding phone lines/system upgrades require time-consuming physical installations

 

Unified Communications Benefits

The top benefits of unified communications solutions include:

• Cost Savings: Eliminates/condenses the number of necessary third-party applications, lowers long-distance communication costs via VoIP telephony, users only pay for the number of seats/features they currently need, no need to purchase additional hardware/equipment
• Mobility: Desktop and mobile access on devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets cater to remote, blended, and on-the-go teams
• Scalability: Scale features, number of users, or plan tiers up/down at any time directly on the provider website–changes are immediately implemented
• Additional Communication Channels: While landlines and basic VoIP phone numbers offer voice calling only, UCaaS tools let teams add digital communication channels as needed. Popular channels include video conferencing, SMS/MMS texting, chat, and social media–all accessible within a single interface
• Improved Workflows: AI-powered automations speed up workflows, eliminate manual “busy work,” keep agents free, cut down on lengthy team meetings, and reduce the margin of human error
• Happier Customers: Advanced UC features decrease hold times, improve the customer service process, speed up the support resolution process, let customers connect via their preferred communication channel, and allow agents to provide personalized service
• Increased Team Collaboration: Real-time user presence lets team members know who is available, one-click video calls facilitate face-to-face communication/brainstorming, instant messaging increases employee engagement, file sharing and file versioning keeps everyone on the same page
• Performance and Interaction Insights: Live and historical analytics identify customer journey roadblocks, areas or agents needing additional training, common customer questions/complaints, overall team efficiency, peak times, top performers, and more
• Global Business Presence: Supports the needs of a geographically diverse and international workforce, international phone numbers give small businesses a local presence in multiple countries/cities

 

Components of Unified Communications

The three essential components of UCaaS solutions are voice calling, web conferencing, and messaging. 

Below, we’ll cover the specific capabilities of voice, messaging, and conferencing within a unified communications system. We’ll also discuss other important UC functionalities quality providers should offer, including team collaboration, mobile app access, analytics, an omnichannel user interface, integrations, and AI-powered automations.

 

VoIP Voice Calling 

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) makes/receives phone calls over the Internet as opposed to the wired PSTN.

In addition to major cost savings, VoIP calling offers advanced call management features and customer self-service options, including: 

• Call forwarding and call routing
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)
• Visual voicemail and voicemail-to-email
• Call recording and transcription
• Custom business hours
• In-call coaching, call monitoring, call barge, call whisper
• Call queueing and call transfer

 

Audio and Video Conferencing

With face-to-face video meetings, team members and external guests can access real-time web conferencing, access in-meeting chat, collaborate on whiteboards, give/attend presentations, share their screens, co-edit files, and more.

Additional video calling features include:

• In-meeting polling, emoji reactions, Q&A
• Virtual backgrounds and custom views (Active Speaker, Gallery, etc.)
• Ad-hoc and scheduled meetings with calendar and email integrations
• Breakout rooms
• Meeting recording and transcription
• Meeting notes/automated meeting summaries
• Meeting waiting rooms, host controls, meeting co-hosts
• Dial-in access

Audio conferencing lets businesses host on-demand or scheduled conference calls via VoIP phone service or as a voice-only group call within the video calling interface.

 

Messaging and Team Chat

Unified Messaging allows internal/external real-time communication across several channels, including:

• Live website chat
• Team chat messaging
• SMS/MMS business text messaging
• Email
• Social Media
• Integrated messaging apps (WhatsApp, Slack, etc.)

Essential messaging functionalities include:

• User Presence (Manual/auto-updated employee status)
• Real-time conversation synching
• Direct messaging, chat channels, message threading, user tagging
• Canned responses, auto-replies, chatbots
• File sharing/storage
• Push notifications
• Message search bar
• MMS

 

Team Collaboration Tools

Team collaboration tools are one of the most important aspects of unified communications, facilitating omnichannel communication between all team members and departments.

These tools can be accessed during voice and digital customer interactions, on active video calls, or persistently throughout the day.

Essential team collaboration capabilities include:

• Team chat with user presence
• File sharing/co-annotation, file versioning, and local/cloud-based file storage
• Always-on huddle rooms
• Screen sharing, application sharing, and browser sharing with remote screen control
• Interactive whiteboards with sticky notes, link/image sharing, saving/sharing/editing, user tagging and commenting, shape and drawing tools, pens, highlighters, etc.
• Task management
• Agent notes and collaborative notes

 

Mobile App Access 

Any quality UCaaS solution should have a robust mobile application for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

The specific mobile features users have access to vary by provider, but should include: 

• Custom push notifications
• Inbound/outbound voice calls and two-way SMS
• Team chat messaging and video calling
• Access to files stored in the cloud
• Mobile screen sharing
• Visual voicemail/voicemail-to-text

 

Analytics and Reporting

UC solutions include real-time and historical analytics available in interactive template-based or customized reports.

A key feature to look for is the live activity dashboard, a real-time birds-eye-view of essential voice metrics like current call volume, number of active calls/in-queue calls, average daily talk time, inbound:outbound call ratio, percentage of missed calls, and more.

Omnichannel Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like FCR (first contact resolution rate), AHT (average handle time), and agent status updates provide insight into productivity, agent performance, and customer satisfaction.

 

Agent Inbox

The agent inbox is an omnichannel dashboard that syncs all customer interactions, internal collaboration updates, and any other notifications or assignments in real-time.

This allows agents to access customer interaction histories in one place–regardless of their channel of origin.

Essential features of the unified agent inbox include:

• Multichannel Routing: Omnichannel smart routing automatically sends customers to the best available omnichannel agent via skills-based routing, and/or initiates pre-made IVA/IVR contact flow paths
• Interaction Management: Agents can place any interaction on hold, accept or deny it, transfer it to another agent/department, send it to voicemail, etc.
• Agent Coaching: Interaction monitoring with real-time agent coaching from managers via call whisper or chat message, plus automatically assigned training modules based on interaction ratings/CSAT scores
• CRM Pops: Any inbound interaction automatically triggers an on-screen popup of CRM system data

 

Third-Party Integrations

Unified communications and collaboration platforms integrate with CRM software, calendaring tools, project management systems, contact center software, and collaboration apps.

These integrations let agents access all their business communication tools in one place: the UC dashboard. Integrations sync customer data and all other updates across multiple platforms, provide valuable real-time agent assistance,  and streamline workflows.

Popular integrations include Salesforce, Slack, Asana, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, Zoom, HubSpot, Okta, Zapier, and more.

 

Automations and AI

Natural Language Processing (NLP), Conversational AI, and machine learning have become a key aspect of UC platforms in the past few years.

AI automates routing business processes, speeds up workflows, syncs communications across channels in real-time, and provides high-level customer self-service tools.

The most important AI-powered automations include: 

• Agent Assist: Automatically provides agents with live assistance via internal knowledge based integration and NLP, eliminating the need to place a customer on hold/transfer the call
• Natural Language Processing: Recognizes trigger words to process IVR/IVA system input and route customers to the correct agent, performs live sentiment analysis, automates after-call/after-contact work, updates call disposition, scores agent performance, etc.
• Automatic Recording/Transcription: Live or post-call recording transcription, real-time meeting closed captions, live translations
• Interaction Summaries: Automated post-call or post-meeting summaries including complete transcript with speaker differentiation, suggested action items/tasks, highlight reels, keywords/topics, etc.
• Automatic Callback: Customers schedule their preferred date/time for a callback instead of waiting on hold/in queue
• Automatic Customer Survey: Automatically sends out a customer survey at the end of each interaction

 

Unified Communications vs Collaboration

While Unified Communications and Collaboration platforms complement each other and share some common features, there is a distinction between the two solutions.

Unified communications focuses on providing multiple communication channels like audio, video conferencing, and instant messaging, while collaboration platforms intend to help teammates work together to achieve business goals.

Collaboration tools, such as monday.com and Asana, generally include some communication features: 

• Instant messaging
• Project and task assignment
• File sharing and editing
• Screen sharing
• Virtual whiteboards

While Unified Communications and Collaboration products are distinct, they are combined in some platforms–like RingCentral RingEX and Microsoft Teams–under the umbrella of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC).

 

Costs of Unified Communications Systems

Though the cost of unified communications varies according to the selected provider and plan, the average UCaaS system costs $15 to $35 per user, per month..

Providers usually offer between 2-4 pricing tiers, each adding a suite of features, channels, and calling-area coverage. Some also offer the ability to purchase individual add-on features a la carte.

Annual pricing, volume discounts, exclusive use discounts, education/non-profit discounts, and bulk pricing discounts are often available.

 

Basic Tier

A UC provider’s basic, most affordable tier typically costs $15-$20/user/month and includes essential voice calling features and collaboration tools like:

• Basic auto attendants, ring groups, call forwarding, and call transfer
• Team chat, file sharing, whiteboarding, screen sharing, and hour-long video calling with low participant capacity
• Call logs and QoS reports
• Email and calendar integration
• Limited SMS

 

Standard Tier

Often the most popular and offering best value, a middle-tier plan costs $20-$30/user/month and adds digital communication channels, advanced call management and analytics tools, and call monitoring.

Standard plan features usually include:

• Voice calling, SMS, team and live website chat, virtual faxing

• Call recording, call barge, call whisper, in-call coaching
• Expanded video meeting length and participant capacity
• Call queuing, multi-level IVR, Agent Assist, automated post-meeting summaries
• Live and historical custom reporting
• Standard call routing
• CRM integrations and APIs

 

Advanced Tier

The highest-tiered pricing plan costs $30-$40+/user/month and includes the provider’s full suite of advanced tools like:

• Unlimited audio and video calling, high volume SMS
• Meeting co hosts, unlimited video calling, webinar capabilities, advanced in-meeting analytics
• 24/7/365 multi-channel priority customer support
• Call recording and transcription for voice/video calls
• Unlimited cloud storage
• High-level integrations
• Skills-based and intelligent call routing
• Advanced analytics
• Custom plans

 

How to Get Started with Unified Communications

Here are the 5 general steps to transition to unified communications:

1. Review your current business communications setup
2. Determine user pain points and needs
3. Compare unified communications providers
4. Select a plan
5. Add users and phone numbers

 

Step 1: Review Your Current Business Communications Setup

Before you make the switch to UC, make a complete list of your company’s current business communications setup.

This list should include: 

• All existing business software/applications (CRM systems, chat apps, office phone systems, etc.) and any contracts associated with them
• Any existing business communications hardware/equipment (desk phones, computers, headset, routers, etc.)
• Your current Internet Service Provider, bandwidth, and speed
• Your business’s total number of employees/number of software user seats
• Your current/most popular business communication channels
• Daily call volume
• Current communications budget

This information helps you understand what you need to purchase, the software/hardware you want to continue to use, your overall budget, and the features you need vs the ones you can do without.

 

Step 2: Determine User Pain Points and Customer Needs

Next, conduct employee surveys, send out customer surveys, and review current performance metrics to identify frustrating and/or inefficient business processes.

Ask team members what part of their job takes up the most time, what features current tools are missing/needed, and what causes major workflow bottlenecks or imbalances.

Ask customers for input on sales, service processes, the overall customer experience, and what they think needs improvement.

Doing this simplifies the decision-making process and helps business owners better understand what to look for in a UCaaS provider.

 

Step 3: Compare Unified Communications Providers

Compare UC providers to determine which one offers the channels, features, and pricing plans that fit your needs.

To learn how to choose a unified communications system that meets your customer and business needs, look for providers offering:

• A guaranteed uptime of at least 99.9% and transparency surrounding average notification, response, and resolution times
• Integration with your essential third-party platforms, and/or API integrations with a thriving developer community
• Interoperability with existing hardware
• A user-friendly interface alongside customized and on-demand user training/onboarding (webinars, in-person training, detailed online knowledge base, 24/7 customer support, phased migration from your existing system to the new provider platform, etc.)
• High security standards and compliance certifications (PCI, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance, SSO and multi-factor authentication, 24/7 network monitoring, end-to-end encryption, etc.)

 

Step 4: Select a Plan

Each unified communication provider typically offers three or four scalable pricing tiers with individual add-ons like additional business phone numbers, storage space, or video conference participants.

Evaluate each provider’s overall scalability, general value, included features/communication channels, and pricing tiers. Ensure you also ask about the length of any SLA contracts, additional installation/set up fees, early cancellation fees, or other hidden VoIP fees.

 

Step 5: Add Users and Phone Numbers

Once you’ve selected a plan and paid for the first month’s subscription, you can start adding business phone numbers, users and extensions, ring groups, integrated software, and call flow paths.

When the telecom administrator assigns a phone number to an agent, the agent can immediately begin working from their desktop/mobile device.

 

Unified Communications Examples by Industry

Here are some of the various industries that benefit from UCC software, as well as common use cases:

 

Healthcare

Within the healthcare industry, UC is used to:

• Offer HIPAA-compliant telemedicine and telehealth services
• Unite a patient’s care team
• Provide instant access to/auto-fill patient forms, medical history, etc.
• Access real-time patient data from IoT healthcare devices like heart monitors

 

Retail and eCommerce

Unified communications in retail and eCommerce:

• Lets customers place, pay for and schedule pick ups for order via SMS, social media messaging, and live website chat
• Provides customer-self service via chatbots and IVR (order confirmation, live tracking updates, shopping suggestions, etc.)
• Integrates with internal knowledge bases for automated real-time agent assistance

 

Manufacturing

In the manufacturing industry, cloud-based UC services:

• Streamlines supply chain management by facilitating communication between vendors, suppliers, distributors, etc.
• Send company-wide omnichannel alerts in case of emergencies,mechanical failures, shipment delays, etc.
• Improve team collaboration for a stronger product development process

 

Education

Within the education sector, unified communications is used to:

• Send campus-wide alerts and emergency notifications
• Connect faculty and departments to coordinate events, discuss student progress, develop curriculum, etc.
• Update students about assignments, grades, class schedules, syllabi, etc.
• Offer students a complete virtual classroom experience

 

Home Services Providers

With home services providers like pest control experts, landscapers, plumbers, or electricians, UC systems can:

• Let customers book, reschedule, cancel, or receive notifications for upcoming appointments
• Simplify the technician scheduling process
• Provide a direct line of communication between the technician and homeowner without compromising phone number privacy
• Send customer surveys and collect responses/feedback

 

The Future of Unified Communications

Future UCaaS trends include:

• Eliminating Legacy Technology: The traditional PSTN wired network will be fully deactivated in 2025, so businesses that haven’t yet done so will continue to eliminate legacy hardware and switch to cloud-based VoIP calling
• Increased Reliance on AI: Expect to see AI continue to play a huge role in the customer experience and business process automation using Natural Language Understanding (NLU), customer sentiment analysis, and machine learning
• Mobile-First Experiences: Mobile-first experiences aren’t just for social media or website chat– designers will continue to optimize mobile versions of UCaaS software for on-the-go internal and external communications
• Automated Customer Self-Service: IVR will soon be usurped by IVA (Intelligent Virtual Agents) and Conversational AI, automating 100% of the customer self-service experience across voice and digital channels
• Custom Conference Rooms: Digital kiosks, interactive whiteboards, check-in screens, and custom-built conference rooms with UCaaS-integrated hardware will take in-office business communication to the next level

 

Unified Communications FAQs

Below, we’ve answered some of the most common FAQs about unified communications.