The hybrid workplace is officially here. Paving the way to a new era of work/life balance and flexibility, hybrid work promises employees and team leaders a better level of productivity. With the perfect blend of in-person and remote working models, employers can keep staff members happy and satisfied without having to compromise on efficiency or output levels. Of course, to unlock all the benefits of hybrid work, you’re going to need the right technology. Among the most important investments for any modern workforce is a UCaaS solution. Unified Communications as a Service is a foundational service for ensuring success in the hybrid workforce. With UCaaS, businesses can enable and empower employees wherever they might be, offering access to cloud-based technology staff can tap into anywhere. So, how do you choose a UCaaS provider well-suited to enhancing your hybrid work landscape?
What to Look for When Comparing UCaaS Vendors
All UCaaS vendors should have certain benefits to offer. For instance, the best UCaaS providers will always offer scalable, flexible technology which can adapt according to your company’s specific communication needs. UCaaS is designed to be as flexible and versatile as possible, and it generally includes not just telephony support, but tools for collaboration, video, and analytics too. Here are some points to focus on when you’re comparing your options.
Bundled Services
Bundling services is commonplace in the UCaaS environment today. After all, unified communications are all about bringing technology together to minimise cost and improve productivity. The right UCaaS solution for you should bundle all the right tech together, including:
- Full telephony services: Telephony solutions like call management, recording, and quality management are all essential in any UCaaS solution. Make sure that your provider can offer the unified communications basics you need.
- Contact centres: Many UCaaS solutions are now coming bundled with contact centre, or CCaaS technology, to help connect multiple parts of the communication environment as effectively as possible
- Collaboration and Meetings: Your UCaaS offering will often come bundled with meeting tools. These are essential for keeping hybrid teams connected. Look for something which supports real-time calls and conferencing, video, and chat
As hybrid teams continue to spread around the world, the UCaaS service that’s best for you will often be the one most capable of bringing your teams together through perfectly aligned information, services, and functionality.
APIs and Integrations
To take your UCaaS experience even further, you might decide to look for custom integrations and additions to your service. The leading companies in the UCaaS environment today will offer a host of ways to transform your UCaaS environment, with APIs and CPaaS connections customised to suit you. CPaaS solutions even allow you to embed calling, meetings and messaging into other apps. Most UCaaS solution providers will come with their own native integrations, add-ons, and extension to support the hybrid workforce. However, many will also allow you to request your own integrations too. If you have specific requirements for your UCaaS environment, make sure your vendor can offer the integrations and extras you need. If the environment you’re embracing isn’t “open” enough, then you may need to deal with extra expenses, like getting an advanced developer involved.
