What Is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)?

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) is a cloud delivery model for business communications such as voice, video meetings, team messaging, presence and collaboration. Instead of operating separate on-premises systems, organizations access these capabilities through a provider-managed platform and subscription model.

Core UCaaS capabilities

• Cloud business telephony and calling.
• Video meetings and conferencing.
• Team messaging and collaboration.
• Presence and availability information.
• Voicemail and unified messaging.
• Mobile and desktop communications.
• Administration, security and integrations.

How UCaaS works

The provider hosts and operates the communications platform in the cloud. Users connect through desktop, mobile or supported endpoint applications. Central administration manages identities, calling policies, features and integrations. Cloud delivery can reduce the need for organizations to maintain separate communication infrastructure at every location.

UCaaS vs. CCaaS

UCaaS is primarily designed for internal and business communications among employees. Contact center as a service (CCaaS) is designed for customer service operations and includes capabilities such as intelligent routing, IVR, digital channels, quality management, workforce management and interaction analytics. The two can share calling infrastructure or integrate, but they solve different operating needs.

Why UCaaS and contact centers are often connected

Customer issues sometimes require expertise outside the contact center. Connecting UCaaS and CCaaS can help agents identify available subject-matter experts, collaborate internally and bring them into a customer interaction while preserving context. This can be especially useful in complex B2B service, healthcare, financial services and technical support environments.

What to evaluate in a UCaaS strategy

• Calling reliability and geographic coverage.
• Collaboration and user experience.
• Security, identity and compliance controls.
• Administration and lifecycle management.
• Integration with contact center and business systems.
• Migration requirements from legacy telephony.
• Provider support, resiliency and total operating cost.