Stop and think about why you are looking into Unified Communications (UC) for your company. Are you trying to keep up with the trends? Is your current communications system in need of an upgrade? Are you looking for a way to make your communications more flexible, reliable, and cost-effective?
One of the most flexible options available on the market today is hosted unified communications. A fully-hosted communications deployment from the cloud involves outsourcing hardware and software management to a third-party provider who then provides the technology to users as a UCaaS offering. There are several benefits to hosted UC, listed below.
Hosted UC Benefits: More Than Flexibility
Scalability & Ease Of Use
We see it all too often: a business will set up its own communications network, and then experience an unexpected capacity pinch. A hosted UC provider will let you scale up or down when you need to, without costing you a lot of money. And thanks to the easily deployed nature and centralized platforms of many hosted UC systems, users enjoy a streamlined, simplified experience.
Disaster Recovery
Threats like fires and floods can happen at any time, crippling unprepared businesses that do not have disaster recovery solutions in place. When working with a hosted UC company, all of your communications infrastructure is housed offsite in a secure facility — meaning employees can still access core services following a disaster.
Improved Call Quality
In order to have a clear conversation over an IP network, data packets need to flow evenly and accurately to their destinations. This does not always happen, and so it’s important to choose a provider that operates on a highly secure, reliable network such as fiber and have access to tools like CODECs to perform real-time network adjustments when they are needed. Hosted UC providers manage your network so that you don’t have to perform excessive maintenance when you could be focusing on your business.
Global Reach
Certain hosted UC providers can extend your global network and get you closer to end users in other parts of the world. Look for a vendor that offers edge networking using multiple Points of Presence, data centers, and ultra-reliable fiber connections for reduced latency and stronger transmissions.
Custom Call Options
Another top benefit of some hosted UC systems is greater control over your call settings, which you will be able to manage from a web-based console. You will be able to set up features like call barring and hot desking without having to go through multiple third-party services, allowing you to retain ultimate control over your communications.