Trends to Watch in Unified Communications and Collaboration
The pandemic only accelerated what was a growing unified communications and collaboration (also referred to as UC&C) industry. If your company is contemplating a communications upgrade, it’s a good idea to be updated on the latest trends in this market because things are changing relatively quickly. Here are the most significant developments:
As-a-Service Options Dominate: The leading unified communications providers are seeing the combined services with collaboration tools expand, but companies increasingly want to turn over the management, maintenance, and troubleshooting to a third party. UCaaS is the growing segment of the market, with companies appreciating the ability to upgrade to rich features without placing additional burdens on in-house staff.
The Market is Consolidating: Just a few vendors are dominating, acquiring smaller providers and forcing out smaller companies. There will be intense competition as leading providers race to accommodate the high number of clients wanting to shift communications to the cloud.
Some Industries Retain PBX Solutions: The private branch exchange (PBX), once thought a technology set for extinction, has demonstrated its slim-but-critical benefits for organizations that cannot tolerate a network outage, such as in healthcare or financial industries. While the features and benefits of UC&C are rich and numerous, a PBX backup plan is a good consideration for some situations.
Equitable Experiences Get Another Look: There has been a lot of attention on efforts to try to make every participant in a meeting with Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions feel that they are equally contributing to the conversation. Whether the attendee is present in the room or participating over videoconferencing, granting equal screen real estate and the option to be heard no matter the setting is a key component. This challenging aspect of communications technology may get a boost from artificial intelligence (AI) developments and will be a central consideration for new devices emerging.
A Shift Away from Dedicated Rooms: In recent years, companies have prioritized dedicated meeting service-specific rooms that are fine-tuned for videoconferencing. The market will begin to shift to devices designed to support permanently hybrid work environments. While the immediate future will still see a high level of devices intended to support dedicated rooms, the gradual shift to multi-service rooms is imminent.
Companies May Require Multiple UC&C Solutions: The focus of many businesses will be the rolling out of collaborative communications technology, but preferences for certain features will differ between departments. In addition, companies will be trying to accommodate the demands of customers, vendors, and business partners. The result is likely to be multiple solutions utilized by companies to gain the features they want.
Navigating an upgrade to Unified Communications and Collaboration requires a guide that’s familiar not only with the specific solutions available, but also the trends shaping the technology offering. Contact us at One Connect for assistance in developing a seamless plan for your communications strategy.