Phones and phone numbers remain a critical part of the business environment. However, as the communications landscape evolves and large enterprises shift from on-premises telephony solutions to cloud-based UC platforms, managing numbers becomes increasingly complex.
Tasks that were once manageable, like using a spreadsheet or a simple database to handle numbers for voice, messaging and integrated services, have grown overwhelmingly complex. IT administrators must now juggle tracking which numbers are compatible and available for specific platforms (e.g., extensions for one platform and DIDs for another), identifying numbers currently in use, ensuring proper forwarding when employees leave and securing access at end-of-use.
Fortunately, new solutions are emerging that offer companies a holistic picture of their number landscape - providing intelligent automation features and helping enterprises to become more efficient.
Phone Number Management Predictions
As communication ecosystems transform, enterprises can no longer afford to rely on piecemeal management tools that are jurisdictional, regional, and departmental to manage phone numbers. They need a comprehensive, dynamic view of their ecosystem - to manage resources, costs, and performance effectively.
Going forward, the need for a powerful phone number management solution will be enhanced by:
- Rapid cloud technology adoption: As the PSTN/ISDN switch-off approaches, businesses must transition rapidly to cloud-based systems. This shift will require adaptation to new number formats and communication ecosystems, significantly increasing the complexity of UC management.
- Ongoing Telephony requirements: Even with a range of communication options, including messaging and email, phone conversations remain crucial. Teams will continue to rely on phone systems for collaboration and customer service.
- Multiple numbers will be necessary: Businesses will need to manage a broader range of phone numbers, from toll-free numbers to DIDs, local numbers, virtual phone numbers and mobile numbers - creating more complexity.
- Increasing security issues: The internet-based nature of telephony in the future will raise serious concerns about security and data transmission. Businesses will need a comprehensive way to monitor numbers and track risks.
- Advanced technology: Advancements in automation, AI and zero-touch provisioning solutions will empower organizations to accomplish more with their UC management strategies, with less effort and expense.
The Future of Phone Number Management: Key Trends
The growing complexity of the telephony landscape has led to the rise of several key trends – all of which will transform how businesses operate in the years ahead.
1. UC Service Management Platforms Become Essential
With numerous phones, users and ecosystems to navigate, companies can't afford to take a fragmented approach to UC management. All UC and collaboration apps come with their own native provisioning portals, and relying on those alone leads to increased complexity, and silos between teams. A comprehensive UC service management suite addresses these issues.
Solutions like Kurmi’s provisioning suite for enterprises unify the IT admin experience in a single pane of glass, simplifying user MACDs (Move, Add, Change and Delete), configurability, insight tracking and provisioning on a comprehensive scale.
Studies have shown using these solutions can reduce operational management costs by 36.9% and minimize provisioning times by 46.6%. The longer-term value is the ability to integrate UC and Collab management with your other IT systems like ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, and Workday—leading to further gains in efficiency through automation.
2. Multi-Vendor Environments Will Remain
Complexity in the UC landscape has prompted many companies to search for ways to consolidate ecosystems, reducing the volume of apps and numbers they need to manage. However, many organizations are still reliant on a multi-vendor ecosystem.
Around 32% of companies use more than one calling system, according to Metrigy. To keep the phone numbers connected to these tools businesses will need a flexible system that can integrate with all their on-premises, cloud, and hybrid solutions.
