3 Trends That Helped Transform Unified Communications In 2019

2019 was a transitional year for the Unified Communications (UC) industry. There was an influx of new ideas, twists, and turns that could have big implications for 2020. The leading purpose of solutions and strategies centered around UC has been the same, but the technologies, capabilities, and benefits have changed over time.

2019 was no different because there were several advances in technology that resulted in great benefits for businesses and organizations across the globe. This makes for a great time to reflect on the progress that was made in Unified Communications during the previous year. These three trends helped transform unified communications and delivered improvements in customer service, communication, collaboration, effectiveness, and efficiency.

UCaaS

When we entered into 2019, it was safe to believe that UCaaS was ready to have an impact in a big way. It was more than the Unified Communications aspect of UCaaS that could deliver the impact a business or organization needed. Entire industries began to realize the benefits of cloud services.

Unified Communications as a Service allowed businesses and organizations to make incredible cost savings. UCaaS will not require a business or organization to invest large sums of money in equipment, and the costs to maintain and manage the services will be the responsibility of the service provider.

When businesses and organizations are looking for higher levels of flexibility and scalability, they can instantly find relief by investing in cloud services. When you use cloud services you will not have to worry about paying for services you have no plans to use; you will only pay for what you need within your business or organization.

However, it is about much more than making the move to the cloud. Unified Communications as a Service has something incredible to offer your business and organization, and that is one of the reasons why we expect more businesses to make the switch moving forward. UCaaS solutions can offer benefits such as enterprise-level features, improvements in reliability, and greater accessibility.

Artificial Intelligence

While the cloud is one of the trends that transformed a business's ability to deliver high-level communications and collaboration experience it is certainly not the only trend. Artificial intelligence(AI) became very widespread through 2019 as more businesses and organizations were beginning to use virtual bots to improve their communication.

Artificial intelligence is being used to improve customer satisfaction and drive loyalty. Today, your business or organization can sharpen their communication and collaboration skills by using AI to improve personalization and the overall experience. Virtual bots can be used to help both sides resolve a problem that a customer will be satisfied with. 

As Unified Communications(UC) transitions deeper into the cloud, more businesses and organizations will be able to use the AI infrastructure. AI can be used in contact centers to obtain more information on customers, make predictions about what a customer may require, and provide agents with the tools they need to provide a personalized communications experience. 

AI-driven Unified Communications(UC) became very accessible in 2019 and we expect this trend to continue in 2020.

Video

When we think about Unified Communications(UC) we think of a variety of solutions, including video. Video has been a favorite communication tool for many businesses and organizations. Video conferencing has been able to withstand the test of time and remains a staple in every industry. In 2019, we believed there was a greater shift in the use of video and the way videos were being used.

While video conferencing continues to be used in the workplace, live video features made huge waves in 2019. Video streaming, particularly live video, made an impact in ways many businesses and organizations did not anticipate. Live video streaming opens the door for you to add a personalized aspect to your communications strategy. Live video streaming also can be used to be creative in your approach and it gives you the opportunity to take a reciprocal approach with your audience.

Trends in communication are focused on delivering excellent customer experience because the customer experience can drive profitability. The experiences employees receive can also be improved with trends in UC. Do you anticipate the UC trends to have positive impacts on your customer and employee experiences?

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