The RingCentral Global Cloud Platform is an exciting new development for the company, designed to bring pure, natural, and localised cloud experiences to the global workforce.
We sat down with Curtis Peterson, the engineering, operations, and product technology executive of RingCentral, to ask some of the key questions our readers want to know more about when it comes to the possibilities of the global cloud.
What is a Global Cloud Communications Platform?
The first thing I wanted to know when I sat down to talk with Curtis Peterson, is what he believed the “Global Cloud Platform” really meant. He responded by telling me that the global cloud is what he believes to be “true cloud”.
As today’s workforce moves towards an increasingly multi-national structure, with the rise of globalisation at its heels, employees, contractors, and freelancers around the world are searching for more seamless communications and connections – regardless of device or location. While previous solutions weren’t exactly born “in the cloud”, the global solution from RingCentral means that users can enjoy a local cloud experience wherever they go – and a seamless functionality across all destinations.
I asked Curtis how this new movement compares to the conventional platforms in the industry perhaps ten or fifteen years ago.
“Our platform was always built to be globalised this way”.
He noted that a decade or so ago, typical clouds were more island-driven, with clouds for different locations around the world. Moving from one place to another was much more complicated, with no “over the top” solutions for simplicity.
“We don’t treat our cloud like this – our cloud is one giant cloud. We’re responding to the needs of the communication world, where people expect a common experience regardless of where they are.”
What Benefits Does the Global Cloud Bring Prospective and Existing Customers?
The global cloud sounds impressive enough, but I was keen to hear more about the tangible benefits that customers could expect to get with the new RingCentral platform. Curtis told me that one of the core philosophies for RingCentral is to keep things simple and build with the user in mind.
“With our global office platforms, customers can go in, pick their country, select a number, and hit go. That’s all that’s needed to create a global office. Communications have really never been that easy.” In other words, RingCentral is offering a self-service approach to globalisation.
At the same time, the global cloud is more resilient than other cloud offerings. Not only does the scale of the cloud mean that more code is spread over more hardware, but the global range means that if any service was to go offline, the next closest facility would simply pick up the work it had been doing and cover the problems.
“When you build a network like this, you spread resiliency around the globe”.
Curtis pointed out that while on-premise suppliers like to claim they can get “five nines” (99.999%) reliability, the truth is that these deliverables don’t really extend to other connections, LAN, and so on. RingCentral believes that they can offer a higher level of resiliency by providing multiple paths for the end-user.
“We’re not just reliant on a single circuit – we have mobile applications that roam over WiFi, 3G, and so on, soft clients that run on PC, WebRTC on Chrome. We’ve decoupled the user from the communication elements that were most fragile, to deliver something more secure.”
Do All Your Applications Work Across the International Network?
As exciting as the global cloud platform seemed, I also wanted to know if customers on international networks could expect to access the same applications that they would get at home, anywhere in the world. In other words, I was keen to learn if customers could continue to use the contact centre, GLIP, and so on, over a global framework.
Curtis was eager to tell me that the whole purpose of the global office initiative, for RingCentral, was to make sure there were no second-class citizens to worry about on the global network.
“Our customers will have access to all the services and features they could want, within legal parameters. We’ve worked hard to make sure that the experience doesn’t change between locations, and the quality remains the same regardless of where you are.”
What Regulatory Challenges Have You Faced?
Curtis noted that regulatory changes can be tough, but the biggest challenge for RingCentral has been creating that “seamless” experience from one country to another. Some countries are further behind than others, and RingCentral believes there’s no quick-fix to delivering an incredible service.
“We’ve done the hard work, sorted out the licensure, communicated with local carriers and regulators to get the right fixes in place. We believe this is the way to get a good, stable platform for our customers”.
RingCentral has tried to take most of the stress out of deploying services on a global scale:
“We’ve focused on making the little differences between countries disappear while remaining compliant. It’s about keeping things simple and headache free for our customers. I believe that catering to all parties, and making the process as easy as possible, is where RingCentral really shines.”
RingCentral even uses “bundled packages” for their calls, that ensure that you can connect easily, and cost-effectively between global offices. In other words, if you wanted to make a call from New York to London on your RingCentral office device, that call would be included in your bundle.
Are You Continuing to Expand the List Going Forward? How is RingCentral Performing Overall on a Global Stage?
I asked Curtis what was coming next for RingCentral in terms of global expansion. He told me that the brand never really rests – they’re always working on expanding their list of countries, bringing in new connections for all their customer markets.
“There aren’t many people out there that are offering real, pure cloud. RingCentral is delivering a truly unified experience, where clients can roam freely back and forth. The application you get remains the same regardless of where you are.”
In terms of outshining the competition, RingCentral believes that it’s their core philosophies that set them apart. “We’re the only Global Cloud UCaaS player with a totally open platform. Customers can come in, write their own APIs, and pull data out of the platform as part of a seat charge – rather than dealing with an additional bill.”
RingCentral is committed to keeping things simple for their end users. That’s how they differentiate themselves, and how they believe they’ll win the day in the global community.
“We’re really putting an effort into giving a global system a seamless, local experience – no matter the country.”
More on RingCentral on UC Today:
Getting to know RingCentral – The Disruptive Cloud Comms Provider
6 BIG Cloud Communications Trends for 2017
Cloud Communications Versus On-Premises PBX
Making Team Collaboration Apps Successful in Your Business
AI in the Contact Centre – “Is it Really a Reality?”
Can Chatbots Realistically Help my Business?
RingCentral Q&A: UC Today Meets EMEA Managing Director, Sahil Rekhi
