As more and more organizations go through digital transformation processes, migrating their cloud communication platforms (among other things) to the cloud, we encounter more use cases requiring a Bring Your Own Carrier approach.
So, what is Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC)?
BYOC effectively means that the technology provider – be it UCaaS, CPaaS, or CCaaS – allows the enterprise customer to keep their existing carrier and phone numbers as they migrate.
Being a seasoned provider of cloud communications and customer engagement solutions, Toku makes sure to allow enterprises the BYOC option. I spoke with Toku CEO and Founder Thomas Laboulle to explore common use cases and learn why ultimately, the pros of offering the BYOC alternative to enterprises outweigh the cons.
The Legacy Angle
BYOC is often adopted by enterprises going through digital transformation, which means they've been previously using on-premises communications solutions.
"In a time where both PBX systems and contact centre solutions were deployed on-premises, the connectivity piece, handled by a telco in most cases, was managed separately in terms of channels, phone numbers, calling destinations, and rates," Laboulle notes.
The transition to the cloud effectively means that those same things are now handled by a technology provider, who would often recommend the option of number porting. However, this option is not always available.
"Some European countries and Singapore allow porting, but in other countries, like in Asia Pacific, for example, this option is not widely available. This means that if your technology provider isn't allowing BYOC, you have no choice but to start from scratch and take on new numbers," Laboulle explains.
It's a major decision depending on the type of industry and market you operate in.
For example, the hotline for a major public train system is likely to have phone numbers that have been in use for the past 20 years or so. Since most users are familiar with these legacy numbers, it's important to ensure that the company can retain them even when porting is not available in their market.
