Enterprise Unified Communications in 2020:
The Complete Guide

The global unified communications (UC) market is forecasted to reach USD 167.1 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research Inc. This accelerating growth is driven by changing workforce dynamics, the continued virtualization of organizations and an increase of Unified Communication-as-a-Service (UCaaS) implementations. The novel coronavirus pandemic is causing businesses globally to embrace remote working conditions, altering how we communicate – both internally and between businesses and their customers – and highlighting the need for reliable, unified communications.

Unified Communications is the art of combining all communication strategies. It allows companies to access multiple methods of enterprise communications at the same time. The UC landscape is constantly evolving and growing. Here’s everything you need to know about Enterprise Unified Communications in 2021:

UC provides a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types and gives employees complete access to the companies’ tools and security, regardless of location or device. UC platforms may include various tools, such as:

• Video conferencing
• Real-time messaging/chat
• Broadcasting and webinars
• Voice, including IP telephony
• Voicemail and call recording
• Contact centre technology
• Audio conferencing
• Screen and file sharing
• Presence and schedule management
• Quality monitoring and workforce monitoring

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Enterprise Unified Communications platforms vary for each business, and it is important to differentiate between on-premises UC components and UCaaS, which refers to businesses buying unified communication technology delivered as a service over the cloud.

A unified communications strategy is critical to achieving long-term growth. It unlocks many benefits including improved productivity and performance as employees are enabled to work from anywhere, anytime. Businesses, large and small, benefit from having a reliable and flexible environment that combines all their communication needs. Main benefits include:

• Reduced costs: UCaaS enables smaller companies to implement Enterprise Unified Communications tools for a fraction of the cost of on-premises solutions. Variable infrastructure and software maintenance and management costs are replaced with predictable monthly fees.
• Improved speed to market: Enhanced communication and operations processes can enable businesses to go to market more quickly. Customer problems are solved faster, driving revenues, innovation and continued growth in the long-term.
• Effective collaboration: UC tools enable remote employees to collaborate more easily on projects from anywhere, which improves productivity, drives sales and improves customer service levels.

It is hard to predict what the future of unified communications holds, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but we are noticing several trends:

• Hybrid communications: The future of UC is expected to become increasingly cloud-based. While not every business is be able to shift immediately to UCaaS, most will take a hybrid approach to their operations by implementing elements of their communications strategy into the cloud.
• Emerging new platforms: Businesses worldwide are starting to embrace video-first cultures, encouraging face-to-face interactions among remote workers and putting an emphasis on video and instant chat features as part of their UC solution.
• Team collaboration: Real-time collaboration is becoming increasingly important. Email is no longer the most effective way to communicate in the age of remote work and distributed teams. Video conferencing, screen sharing, file transfer and chat rooms are becoming must-have features.
• Integration: Companies are increasingly looking for ways to integrate their existing tools and services with new solutions.
• Scalability: Considering the growth of the market, UC solutions need to be scalable and endlessly flexible.
• Artificial intelligence: We expect to see more AI in our communications such as smart assistants. Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the way we communicate.

New opportunities emerge all the time. 5G and better connectivity have opened the door to a more mobile workforce, whereas the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for Enterprise Unified Communications solutions for businesses of all sizes.

We have summarized some key questions to ask when choosing a UC solution for your business:

• Does the UC solution support collaboration? Employees need to be able to communicate and collaborate. This is as important as external communications with clients and shareholders.
• How are you planning to roll out your UC solution? On premise? Cloud? Or hybrid? Do you need to combine existing on-premises solutions with new UC tools?
• Is the Enterprise Unified Communications platform open and extensible to allow for integrations and interoperability with the tools your team uses daily?
• Will staff be allowed to use their own devices?
• What privacy and security features are included? Are communications encrypted?
• How scalable is the UC solution as demand increases? Does it support long-term growth?
• Is adoption a concern among your workforce? Question the ease-of-use of all solutions and tools.
• What level of customer support is being offered?

At CounterPath, we understand that communication remains the heart of every business, particularly with remote working on the rise. As a result, we are empowering businesses of all sizes with Enterprise Unified Communications solutions:

Bria Teams: For internal teams or small businesses, start communicating quickly with team voice, video and messaging.

Bria Enterprise: For call centers or small to mid-sized enterprises, Bria Enterprise supports HD voice and video calling with any call server or VoIP provider.

Custom Solutions: Create a custom, branded solution for 200+ users.

Bria converges calling, messaging, presence and collaboration tools into one secure, streamlined interface. Integrate your company’s VoIP service or call server to extend corporate calling with crisp, clear calls and access robust Unified Communication call control features.

All our solutions are scalable, secure and cost effective. By switching or augmenting your current communication system to include VoIP, organizations can realize immediate benefits including real-time collaboration and cost savings.

Interested in learning more about our Enterprise Unified Communications solutions? Contact our team today for details.