Comparing UCaaS Providers: 5 Key Considerations

As the workplace continues to evolve, we see new technologies and services entering the business environment all the time. The office of the future is being shaped by factors like flexible working hours, shared information, and cloud technology. How can businesses that depend on voice, messaging, presence, and collaboration better utilise technology to support employee productivity, irrespective of location and device? Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) may well be the answer. But how do you choose between the numerous UCaaS providers offering solutions today?

In this blog post we’ll take a look at how you can compare UCaaS providers to find the one that’s best for your organisation.

Supporting Employee Productivity

UCaaS solutions are an extremely efficient way to support employee productivity. They’re attractive as they are light on capital expenditure, and have the flexibility and scalability to add or remove users as required. Opting for a hosted UCaaS solution means gaining access to the latest functionality, less admin on your side, a guaranteed service level agreement (SLA), and a level of expertise offered that can be hard to achieve internally, particularly for smaller businesses.

But with so many UCaaS providers and solutions available, and with issues such as cloud integration, security, and support to consider, it’s hard to know where to start your UCaaS journey. How do you start comparing UCaaS providers and deciding which solutions are worth the investment?

Comparing UCaaS Providers

When it comes to comparing UCaaS providers, you should start with what you know best – your business. Establish targets and expectations that are practical and achievable in the short, medium, and longer terms. It may sound obvious, but planning against targets will help you to accurately and consistently measure the impact of your strategy, and will allow you to look for third party solutions that align with your business’ needs and budget.

5 Key considerations when comparing cloud-based UCaaS providers should include:

1. A list of UCaaS applications offered. What are your UCaaS functionality requirements? Does the provider meet or exceed these with their solution offerings?
2. The cost to subscribe. Cost will always be a key factor in any outsourcing decision making. Does the provider only offer the required functionality at a premium cost? Whereabouts do you choose to compromise?
3. SLA terms. When you’re relying on a third-party provider to deliver business-critical functionality, you need the assurance of robust SLAs to ensure that uptime and performance meet your business’ requirements.
4. Network access requirements. How much access to your network does the provider need in order to implement and support their UCaaS solution? How does this impact on your business’ security posture?
5. Track record and evidence of happy customers. What do the provider’s existing customers say about the services they receive? Are they happy with their UCaaS solutions, and more broadly working and communicating on a regular basis with the provider themselves?

Six Degrees UCaaS Offering

Six Degrees, in partnership with Avaya, offer a UCaaS solution that delivers voice, video, and collaboration tools on virtually any device. The hosted service, which scales to 2,500 users across 150 sites, utilises our carrier-grade SIP platform and business continuity capabilities. This provides the flexibility, scalability, and security that midmarket enterprises depend on during periods of differentiation and growth.

Six Degrees were recently awarded ‘cloud partner of the year’ with Avaya who are ranked #1 worldwide for voice maintenance and support services. We have combined the advantages of a traditional customer premises equipment (CPE) model with the benefits of a hosted model by taking IP-PBX solutions to the cloud. This allows customers to grow their own platform, scaling user licence requirements as and when required via an end-user portal.

Knowing what you need from your UCaaS solution, and aligning it with your research, will help you to make the best decision regarding cloud-based UCaaS providers. Our team of committed, hands-on engineers will help create the solution that you need. To find out more about our UCaaS offering, get in touch with us.

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