Choosing the Right UCaaS Partner: Key Considerations for Service Providers
By Jim Machi - CMO
In early 2020, video, or the need for video, and for working remotely, ushered in a golden age for the UCaaS providers. The need for these services from all businesses ignited growth in the entire UCaaS industry. But that growth is now over. And we are seeing many UCaaS vendors now struggling – reduced stock prices, employee layoffs, and reduced services.
If you are a Service Provider, UCaaS is still a core component of your business services. You should be wondering if you have the right UCaaS provider. Will it be there for me? Will it continue to innovate and keep up? How do you evaluate if you are have the right UCaaS provider.
Well, first, you have to see if the provider is a “viable entity”. We have seen Microsoft get into the game with buying Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks. But now we have seen Microsoft get out of the game. If you have been using Metaswitch, what should you do? Probably not just stay with them and hope it will get better. Because it won’t. You need a new provider.
Second, you have the see if the provider really has a viable roadmap. Are they really just putting the minimum into the product, such as just providing security patches and updates to keep up with government regulations? If so, this is a big red flag. So ask questions about the roadmap. Real questions about improving admin, 3rd party integrations, add-on services, optimizations and AI.
Third, how has the company been doing? Are they still making money? Are they still investing in marketing? Some companies may look like they are growing because they are hiring. But are they hiring because they are growing, or are they hiring since employees are fleeing?
Fourth, does the company own their own IP? If the UCaaS provider is reselling something under the hood, then they are at the mercy of the technology provider under the hood.
Fifth, can the UCaaS provider meet your specific needs as a Service Provider. Can the UCaaS platform run in your cloud? Or does it need to run in their cloud? Or does it need to run in a public cloud, such as AWS? While this may be OK in some cases, you as a Service Provider may want your control over uptime, or security so that it meets your standards. You are probably providing UCaaS to large enterprise with as many as 50,000 seats. They may want customization to make it look like their product – their naming, their colors, etc. And/or they may have specific back-office integrations. Can the UCaaS product do that?
And finally, while this paper did explore that the concept of Unified Communications means all types of communication, such as voice, video, chat, fax, file sharing, presence, and team collaboration, voice is still the most important and prevalent way communication with end-customers happens. So the UCaaS provider needs to really understand voice – how to route it, how to manipulate it, what real-time really means and importance of that, voice quality, and how to connect. Is Voice still important for your UCaaS provider?
