As we look ahead to 2025, the unified communications and collaboration space is set to undergo transformative changes driven by emerging trends and technological advancements. AI continues to redefine workflows with smart automation, conversational AI, and enhanced user experiences.
Meanwhile, growing concerns around security and compliance push organisations to adopt stricter measures to safeguard communications, while integration with enterprise tools like CRM and HR systems is becoming seamless, breaking down silos and boosting productivity.
With our latest UC Round Table subject, “2025 Predictions”, we spoke with experts and executives from NUWAVE, GoTo and Zoom about what emerging UC trends will dominate 2025, the role integration with other enterprise tools will play in the evolution of UC solutions, how the increasing adoption of AI and machine learning might reshape UC platforms, and the major security challenges UC platforms will face in 2025.
What emerging trends in UC do you believe will dominate in 2025, and why?
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at NUWAVE
For Bunnell, in 2025, the UC landscape will be shaped by the need for efficiency, mobility, security, and trust.
“Organisations will focus on adopting platforms and tools that not only facilitate seamless communication but also integrate with broader workflows while addressing modern challenges like cyber threats and fragmented ecosystems,” Bunnell said.
“The players that can provide Multi-UC management/enablement, branded communications, and AI-powered solutions will stand out in this rapidly evolving industry. These trends emphasise the importance of agility and innovation as UC continues to redefine how we work, connect, and collaborate.”
Bunnell also suggested that a significant trend will be the migration from legacy systems. “Many businesses continue to rely on outdated PBX systems that are costly to maintain and lack modern features,” he explained. “Platforms like NUWAVE’s Teleport are leading the way in painless migrations to cloud-based UC by automating the transition process and minimising downtime, enabling businesses to modernise more efficiently.”
Damon Covey, General Manager, UCaaS at GoTo
Covey outlined that while customer communications are already a priority for many businesses, our industry will see it truly take centre stage in 2025.
“As the market moves to adopt widely available AI, functions like customer service will become increasingly valuable differentiators, and fostering customer experience soft skills within internal teams will be a focus for business leaders,” Covey said.
“Employees who can meaningfully connect with customers outside of contact centre settings will go a long way in building loyalty, especially if they track, analyse, and optimise these interactions to provide maximum customer value and a blueprint for success to other workers.”
Ben Neo, Head of Contact Center and CX Sales EMEA at Zoom
Neo suggested the most important trend in UC will be how AI-powered automation breaks down silos and works as an assistive technology across the organisation to boost the total CX.
“In the next year, customer experience will change from being the sole responsibility of the contact centre to something that the whole company works together to deliver, powered by AI,” Neo outlined. “With AI automating tasks in the background, business leaders will integrate teams both within and beyond the contact centre, breaking down silos to deliver truly excellent customer service with personalised, accurate responses in seconds.”
What role will integration with other enterprise tools (e.g., CRM, ERP, HR platforms) play in the evolution of UC solutions?
Ben Neo, Head of Contact Center and CX Sales EMEA at Zoom
Neo emphasised that businesses that offer employees greater autonomy using integrated tools will see not only higher productivity and engagement but also better outcomes for customers.
“The integration of enterprise tools, such as HR platforms with UC solutions, will play a crucial role in delivering employee autonomy,” Neo said. “AI-driven tools will enable self-directed workflows, and this, in turn, gives employees the freedom to improve collaboration, focus on the tasks that matter most to them, and personalise their work processes.”
Neo also highlighted that with a growing demand for greater autonomy, the integration of CRM tools alongside AI-led coaching tools will create a more supportive environment for agents.
“This will have broader implications for businesses: happier, more engaged agents — empowered by AI tools such as automated call summarisation, proactive knowledge base retrieval and ‘on the spot’ AI-led agent coaching — will enhance customer interactions, ultimately driving improved customer loyalty,” Neo continued.
Damon Covey, General Manager, UCaaS at GoTo
Covey stated that while there is still room for UC solutions to enhance efficiency, simplify IT infrastructure, and reduce costs, as organisations continue to bolster AI capabilities and improve UC solutions’ integration flexibility, enterprise tool add-ons will become less of a differentiator and more of an expectation.
“This continued advancement will improve baseline UC solution offerings, widening access to better customer service across industries,” Covey added. “With UC Solutions now the norm, customers are looking for more advanced functionality – and integrations into existing systems and processes are at the top of that list.”
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at NUWAVE
Bunnell listed several concepts for how integration with enterprise tools such as billing systems, ticketing systems, and CRMs will play a pivotal role in the evolution of UC solutions by driving enhanced efficiency, productivity, and end-user/customer experience.
The first is enhanced workflow automation. This will include seamless data flow. “Integrating UC with CRMs and ticketing systems enables automatic logging of communication data (e.g., calls, chats, or emails), reducing manual data entry,” Bunnell said.
Another is actionable insights, which Bunnell expands upon as when “data from billing systems and CRMs can be utilised to trigger real-time workflows, such as creating tickets or generating invoices directly during support or MACD events”.
A second trend will be an improved customer experience, including through personalised interactions. “Real-time CRM integration allows support teams to access customer histories instantly during communications, enabling tailored interactions,” Bunnell explained. Bunnell also suggested that integration with ticketing systems ensures issues are tracked and resolved efficiently without needing redundant communication, resulting in faster resolution times.
Bunnell outlined a third trend: better collaboration across teams, as exemplified by unified access. “With integrations, UC platforms become a hub for accessing tools and information, streamlining collaboration across departments like sales, support, and billing.” Real-time updates are also a boon, as “information updates in one system (e.g., a ticket being resolved) are reflected across integrated platforms, improving alignment”.
A fourth trend will be increased scalability and adaptability. “As organisations grow, integration with enterprise tools ensures UC systems remain scalable, accommodating increasing complexities and diverse tools,” Bunnell said. “The ability to plug into existing tech stacks ensures businesses can adopt UC solutions without overhauling their current workflows.”
Finally, Bunnell argued there will be a boost to data-driven decision-making. Centralised analytics will manifest when “integrated UC solutions can aggregate data from multiple tools, offering holistic insights into customer behaviours, operational efficiency, and performance metrics.” Meanwhile, predictive analytics will be produced by leveraging data from various systems that can aid in forecasting and proactive management.
Bunnell then outlined NUWAVE’s approach: “As partners demand more interconnected systems, the integration of UC solutions with enterprise tools will transform them into comprehensive communication ecosystems, fostering innovation, reducing silos, and enhancing overall operational efficiency. Organisations that prioritise such integrations will likely stay ahead in delivering exceptional experiences and driving operational productivity.”
“At NUWAVE, we bring together OSS/BSS systems seamlessly with API integration into iPILOT. This advanced integration empowers our partners to harness the full potential of operational management with the Multi-UC solutions.”
How will the increasing adoption of AI and machine learning reshape UC platforms in 2025?
Damon Covey, General Manager, UCaaS at GoTo
Covey highlighted that we’ve seen AI start to assist employees in day-to-day tasks in 2024, but suggested the year ahead will bring more rapid transformation and establish the technology as a force multiplier for teams.
“That starts at the employee level, and workers should expect to see menial tasks like scheduling, transcription, and note-taking increasingly assigned to AI tools, giving them more time to focus on high-value tasks,” Covey said.
“This will also improve UC platforms and the customer experience, with conversational AI bringing additional opportunities for employees to automate repetitive tasks and ensure that live support service and call handling are also available. In 2025 this will be brought to the masses, not just the larger companies who can handle complex offerings.”
Ben Neo, Head of Contact Center and CX Sales EMEA at Zoom
Neo emphasised that the increasing adoption of AI and machine learning will offer UC & CC platforms predictive capabilities which were simply not possible before.
“Predictive analytics, powered by AI, will empower contact centres by enabling proactive outreach that deals with problems before they even arise, anticipating customer needs and behaviours,” Neo said.
“Over the coming months, proactive, personalised outreach will become an essential strategy when it comes to delivering customer experience, enhancing customer loyalty and satisfaction and moving CX away from being reactive and towards being proactive and anticipatory,” he continued.
Neo noted another trend which consumers are likely to appreciate; the obsolescence of post-call surveys due to real-time customer behaviour tracking enabled by AI. “We will also see a significant evolution in virtual agents, with AI agents becoming more conversational thanks to advances in natural language processing (NLP) and the ability to make decisions akin to a human agent,” he explained.
“These advancements will make virtual agents more empathetic and better at understanding human intent and emotion. In parallel to this, we’ll also see a rise in virtual voice agents, offering enhanced speed and personalisation, with predictive analytics and sentiment analysis delivering responses in real time.”
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at NUWAVE
Bunnell prophesied that in 2025, the integration of AI and machine learning into UC platforms will transform how businesses collaborate even further, evolving traditional tools into intelligent ecosystems.
“Organisations that adopt these advancements will gain a significant competitive edge, fostering productive, secure, and seamless connections in the modern workplace,” Bunnell said. “AI will enhance efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and optimising workflows, which will significantly reduce the workload for both IT teams and end-users while saving time and resources. Additionally, AI will improve engagement by facilitating more intuitive, contextual, and personalised interactions, thereby enhancing customer experiences.”
Bunnell also highlighted that one of the most significant advantages of AI is its ability to future-proof UC platforms. “As these intelligent systems evolve and improve over time, AI can enhance call quality through features such as noise suppression and packet loss mitigation,” he added. “Additionally, it can provide advanced analytics which provide actionable insights, making UC platforms smarter and more efficient.”
What are the major security challenges UC platforms will face in 2025, and how can they be addressed?
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at NUWAVE
Bunnell suggested UC platforms in 2025 will encounter several escalating security challenges, including sophisticated social engineering around phishing campaigns that could target service providers and lead to credential theft, enabling inbox compromises, sensitive data breaches, and secondary attacks.
Two others are insecure APIs and AI adoption risks. “APIs are critical to UC platforms but remain a significant vulnerability,” Bunnell said. “If not rigorously secured, they can expose entire systems to exploitation.” Meanwhile, as “AI becomes central to UC solutions, vendors must balance innovation with compliance to emerging AI regulations that demand robust security, privacy safeguards, and ethical practices”.
Lastly, Bunnell asserted that supply chain vulnerabilities, such as poorly managed integrations and weak security enforcement, increase the risk of platform exploitation.
Bunnell also outlined some strategies for addressing these challenges, specifically around a comprehensive data protection and governance strategy. These encompass “stringent API security measures to mitigate exposure risks, proactive training against social engineering to empower employees and service providers, and robust supply chain governance to ensure secure integrations and enforce strong contractual terms.”
“Preparing for these challenges is essential to protecting UC ecosystems in an ever-evolving threat landscape,” Bunnell continued. “With NUWAVE’s Constellation services, our Partners are equipped to meet global compliance requirements and stay ahead of the growing threats to our ecosystem.”
Damon Covey, General Manager, UCaaS at GoTo
Covey observed that organisations need to embrace AI and automation to help detect threats and improve response time.
“This includes incorporating AI in a predictive analytics capacity to ensure expedited insights and better predictive capabilities,” Covey elaborated. “Employees can then automate regular security checks and liaise between customers and tech tools, all while freeing up time for more complex tasks that require heavy oversight.”
“As platform adoption continues to speed up into regulated industries that perform secure transactions, such as processing payments and talking to healthcare patients, it will become increasingly important for vendors to support industry security certifications. In some cases, this will mean the platform itself becoming certified for specific verticals and industries.”
