It’s no secret that Unified Communications as a Service or UCaaS is on the rise. Avaya, a key PBX manufacturer who acquired Nortel Networks in recent years instead of developing a Hosted VoIP strategy, has filed for bankruptcy. The smarter hardware manufacturers like ShoreTel and MiTel have a strong cloud push. By 2020, UCaaS will account for over 40% of the market share and if you’d like to know more follow us on Twitter

Besides it being a common ground for both IT and Accounting departments to agree upon, here are five reasons why UCaaS is being so widely adopted:

1. The functionality – The functionality of these UCaaS systems is hard to compare to anything in the
market. Their use of APIs to tie in external applications is phenomenal. Their ease of use for compliance like HIPAA could not be easier. In fact, they assume the liability. Conferencing, messaging, faxing is all bundled in so well that some tech pundits say that email as we know it soon cease to exist… Much like POTS lines and PRIs. FYI – It’s all SIP in the core. See how RingCentral manages your HIPAA compliance

2. Reliability – If your premise based PBX fails for any reason – could be a power outage, lightning strike,
product defect, or any other number of reasons – you are out of communication with your customers and co-workers. You have a single point of failure with a PBX. Replicating the type of redundancy that leading cloud based phone systems are already equipped with would cost you big time! It simply just works. Learn more about RingCentral’s architecture

3. Scalability – Companies in growth mode don’t usually check their phone system to see if it can handle their growth. Whether you need more SIP trunks, POTS lines, a T1 card or more handsets. These problems are from the past. With today’s UCaaS you can immediately set up a new user or even a group with an auto-attendant and toll free in minutes. The handsets can come pre-configured so that they’re plug and play. See how ShoreTel was able to help this growing non-profit

4. Distributed work force – Connecting multiple sites or distributed is workforces are easier than ever.
Connectivity can securely go over the internet since the most reputable UCaaS providers use encryption. QoS is not an issue since today’s office is bandwidth rich and so is the user, virtually walking around with a back-up connection in their pocket by way of smart phone. Mitel World Cloud helps empower distributed workforces

5. CapEx vs OpEx is a lie! The old argument that the purchase of a PBX is a less expensive model is no
longer true because bandwidth is readily available on the cheap. Furthermore, how you get your phone lines or dial tone has changed completely. Combine that with the fact that cloud based phone companies have made drastic improvements their infrastructure to support this change and the shift to mobile, old hardware vendors have a hard time competing. There are no more maintenance agreements, vendors for moves adds & changes, or fluctuating monthly bills due to usage…. It’s all built in. Click here to see how to calculate the TCO for your phones

These 5 factors make UCaaS a no brainer for anyone who has to administer or pay for their company’s communications.  It is easy to use and easy to account for on a monthly and/or per user basis. Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up on the latest in UCaaS.