The need for multi-UC deployments has become a reality for enterprises worldwide. We have seen an enormous uptick in the development of UC platforms. Still, the rapid adoption has come at a price for customers trying to manage multiple platforms and Carriers and Operators trying to provision them.
Customers still need to stitch together UC platforms because services may not be available in certain regions, or they may inherit alternative platforms through acquisition. From a strategic point of view, many now see the use of multiple platforms as a way to mitigate risk in case of outages or play to the wants and needs of the workforce.
Provisioning multiple platforms into the same enterprise customer comes with a heavy payload for a Carrier. Until now, the complexities of delivering a UC solution into a large enterprise have required a specialist team; as multi-UC solutions become the norm, several teams have become necessary to provision a solution. This leads to excessive costs, slow delivery times and clunky management solutions across multiple portals.
Mark Bunnell commented, “We are working with carriers and operators that have separate departments for each vendor platform. In a multi-UC world that makes deployments complex, costly and challenging to manage, teams need to collaborate to deliver these solutions effectively.”
Carriers and Operators are desperately seeking efficiencies around deployments and looking to consolidate portals into single-user interfaces where possible. Delivering this with a common customer experience is the utopia that only some deliver successfully.
The Unicorn stories have been prevalent in the UC space since the pandemic forced evolution and adoption of technology at a scale no one could have anticipated. Regular readers will be familiar with the explosion of UC. Still, you may not be as au fait with the ecosystem enabler NUWAVE and its growing reputation as the go-to for Carriers and partners looking to provision and manage UC platforms across the market’s top three vendors (Microsoft Teams, Zoom and, more recently, Webex). The approach could be another ‘hockey-stick moment’ for the industry as it battles to increase its margins in new ways.
NUWAVE recently announced the iPILOT platform now provisions and manages Webex Calling proposition. For more information, click here.
Bunnell continued, “We allow the carriers to consolidate their provisioning teams and reallocate resources. Lower-skilled employees can use iPILOT to provision and manage any of the big three platforms. They are all provisioned in the same way with the same process. This means those high skilled engineers and departments that normally get involved in provisioning can concentrate their skillsets on more high value or complex work. iPILOT is so simple to use that the customers can even self-serve and manage their environment as they scale.”
This approach has a significant impact on training costs and efficiencies, too. Every solution is provisioned identically on the same platform, which negates lengthy training programmes with highly skilled staff that would be better utilised in other areas.
Migration Headaches Subside?
Migration between systems can cause even the most level-headed IT Manager the blind-searing rage one would only normally find on the highways. UC migrations are often full of disruption & routing mishaps, but in a multi-platform environment, this becomes a more significant challenge. Not having a smooth migration strategy can lead to unnecessary delays and business disruption and can have a substantial detriment to Customer Experience if agents cannot access information or miss inbound calls.
Bunnell said, “We have built iPILOT to be the ultimate migration tool, too. If you need to move from Webex to Teams, Teams to Zoom, or any other combination, you can achieve that within the platform. We can even integrate legacy systems with a SIP trunk too.”
The migration challenges for operators don’t stop there either. From a network perspective, getting true geographical reach into new territories requires a lengthy process of applying for a license. Through the iPILOT platform, operators can gain access to voice networks of other NUWAVE carrier partners. This becomes especially important in new territories where partners can turn on voice services immediately and migrate users to their network within the same platform once their license is approved.
Bunnell continued, “We recently did a deal with the global carrier NTT and can now leverage their global coverage. Any partner wanting a retail calling plan from NTT in a region they don’t support currently can get that through NTT or one of our other carriers. We give them a single portal to control everything, and the carrier picks up the voice business. It allows partners to get to revenue quickly and then migrate to their own network if and when ready. iPILOT unlocks instant geographical reach.”
“NUWAVE’s mantra has been to standardise functionality, workflows, and interfaces within the iPILOT platform to ensure an identical experience whether you are provisioning Teams, Operator Connect, Zoom or Webex. A lot of people are talking about doing this, but our conversations suggest few are delivering it effectively.”
The Future is ‘Multi’
Whether you are a customer looking for a better way to manage your UC estate or an Operator/ Carrier looking to provision UC platforms more effectively, there is one common trend. We live in a multi-UC world, which isn’t about to change. The Hybrid Workplace has always come with its technical challenges, yet companies like NUWAVE are simplifying the deployment of critical technology and the management after that. While the platforms ‘duke it out’ for feature supremacy and technical innovation, the real value for partners is how they deliver and manage this Multi-UC future.
Learn more about Multi-UC by reading our latest interview with NUWAVE COO Mark Bunnell here.
