By moving communication and collaboration capabilities to the cloud, Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) offers the same general benefits as other cloud services. Rather than purchasing, installing, managing and maintaining an on-premises UC system, you reduce upfront costs and management overhead by accessing a cloud-based system that’s managed by a third party. Also, data is typically more secure in a cloud environment than an on-premises environment.

UCaaS gives you the flexibility to scale services up or down according to current business demand by simply updating your subscription. As your organization grows, UCaaS seamlessly grows with it. Pay only for the services you use and access those services from any location and device. UCaaS also makes you more resilient to disaster. Even if your main location can’t be reached or your on-premises data center goes down, users can access UCaaS to maintain business continuity and support disaster recovery processes.

Beyond the advantages that apply to every cloud service, UCaaS also brings specific benefits to certain industries.

Hospitality. Customers interact with hotels via phone, Internet, mobile app and contact centers. Business travelers in particular are already using communication and collaboration tools, and these types of amenities are a top driver of customer loyalty. By using UCaaS to bring together hospitality applications such as front desk operations, guest email and room billing, hotels can enhance the guest experience and boost staff productivity. For conferences and other events, hotels can offer voice, video conferencing and other services to the host organization and attendees as part of an integrated UCaaS solution.

Banking. The banking industry relies heavily on UC for customer engagement and support, which are critical to their customer experience initiatives. UCaaS provides the scalability required for large-scale implementation, from phone assistance and chatbot-based messaging to mobile transactions and account monitoring. The data captured from all customer activity and interactions can then be fed into analytics tools to better understand customer behavior.

Healthcare. UCaaS has the potential to dramatically improve the patient experience. Video conferencing can be used for patient evaluations, diagnosis, treatment and checkups, while care for those with mental illnesses can be greatly enhanced through 24×7 video counseling. Diagnostic imaging, test results and other information can be instantly shared to educate patients and enable collaboration between healthcare providers. More efficient communication and improved access to data can have a direct impact on patient outcomes.

Higher Education. Real-time communication and collaboration between students, parents, professors and advisors can improve student success and retention rates in higher education. UCaaS also supports new learning models and online programs by enabling education outside the classroom. Additionally, UCaaS can be integrated with campus security to improve how institutions respond to emergencies.

Retail. The retail industry is going through a period of transformation with more sales shifting online and customers demanding a consistent experience across in-store and online shopping channels. UCaaS supports omnichannel initiatives by providing seamless customer support. Inquiries can be handled via phone, email, text, instant message and even social media. Video conferencing can also be used to enable real-time, face-to-face interaction with a call center agent or store associate so the customer can ask about a product and find out if it’s in stock.

Want to find out how your organization and industry can benefit from UCaaS? Let us help you build a business case, choose and implement the right UCaaS solution, and monitor and manage your system to ensure it delivers maximum value.