It is becoming increasingly important that businesses provide the best methods of communication. Since it is so important that customers and businesses communicate, there are various solutions that are being used.  

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) are is a combination of various channels that have formed one impactful connection and hosted by a service provider.  

The service provider offers the service on a subscription basis to their customers.   

1. Unified Communications is growing and adoption is rapidly increasing.  According to Nemertes Research Enterprise Technology Benchmark study, 63% of companies had at least one UC app in the cloud.  One in 3 enterprises moved to cloud-based email or calendard with another 12% planning to migrate.  IP telephony has grown beyond the small and medium-sized business market with costs savings as the biggest driver.  
2. The utilization and new deployment of high-end, expensive in-room video conferencing is declining while less expensive cloud-based solutions for desktop and mobile devices are taking hold.  Small conference room and Huddle room solutions are growing as well.  The interop of various systems is becoming less cumbersome.   Customers are looking for simple, flexible, and reasonable quality video to hold their meetings.  
3. Customer demand for cloud-based Unified Communications is moving the industry to develop and deploy mobile applications that mirror the desktop experience as closely as possible.   Making a call, joining an audio conference, viewing a co-workers screen needs to be a common experience regardless of the device.  Microsoft Skype for Business is worth noting for their iOS and Android client.  The client is a common experience with the additional of several features that are client specific to improve meeting quality. 
4. As the silos between telecom and IT come down, the monitoring and support of UC solutions is a key driver for customers.  UC brings additional devices such as blue tooth headsets that may be new to the telecom and IT team.  Also, the converged services are sharing a local and wide area network.  The ability to monitor and proactively identify potential network issues that will affect meeting quality results in a better user experience and drives adoption.  Higher adoption is requiered for the company to meet the desired ROI for moving to UC solution.  
5. By 2020, nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of millennials, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  By 2025, the figure jumps to 75%.   Given these stats, successful companies will be implementing plans to attract and retain top talent and fully maximize the productivity of these younger workers.   Companies need to deploy technologies that reflect how millennials work including headsets instead of handsets for phone calls, mobile options, and a user friendly solution for video calls that is deployed company wide.  Remember to be flexible... it is difficult to predict which devices will be preferred by millenials in several years.  Plantronics has addressed this concern with a new program desired to keep the lastest and greatest headset devices in play.  

More businesses are choosing UC because they love the convenience and ease of having all of their communication channels wrapped into one. Using Unified Communications can completely change the way you communicate with all of your customers.  It can also change the way you advertise your products and services to consumers. You definitely need to have outstanding communication in place before you can reach a certain level of success. 

It does not matter what size your business is, you still need to have an effective communication solution. A great thing about Unified Communications is that you will be able to have a solution that fits your business's size and your business's budget. Once your business starts to grow, you will be able to add additional features as needed. 

You need flexibility when you have a business, and you need your solutions and equipment to also be flexible. You will not have to be stuck with options that do not fit the style of your business. You can choose the capabilities and features that will work for your business, and not be stuck with capabilities that you do not need.

Ready to learn more about UCaaS?  Join the UC Journey today!