Unified Communications: An Introduction

Unified Communications is a major to our digital collaborative future.

Introduction to Unified Communications

Unified Communications (UC) is a system that optimizes business communication, association, and productivity. In essence, integrates real-time communication tools and applications so company employees can connect from any location and time. Its key functions are global conferencing, voicemail-to-email, paging systems, call-routing/control. Businesses acquire UC solutions into existing communications systems to expand their regional reach as well as customer base.

A report by Transparency Market Research estimates the UC market CAGR at 13.2%, estimating a market size worth of USD187.6 Billion by 2031.

Where can I find companies using Unified Communications?

Unified communications and collaborations are being used by larger corporations with massive regional reach and usually, they are companies with large IT teams.

Businesses choose to automate day-to-day operations, through solutions such as Internet of Things (IoT), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and optimization software etc. The goal is to automate previously complex and bulky systems, to ones that are smarter and automated.

Examples about how businesses use Unified Communications

For example, a large team of users can join web conferences and make calls simultaneously.  They integrate functions such as global conferencing, voicemail-to-email, paging systems, call-routing/control with services such as email, web applications, social media and business tools such as customer relationship (CRM) management systems. This consolidates large teams and multiple essential work tasks into a simpler, unified communications solution.

The end result in using these smarter solutions include better information prioritization, improvement in overall tool and application efficiency, reduced costs, increased business process revenues and better customer service. These solutions can also offer lower data storage costs and provide the option of virtual PBX (an expensive telephony system), allowing businesses to upgrade at a more cost-efficient structure.

By product

The solutions from the UC market are either hosted by service providers and/or carriers, or they are managed on-premise of the business.

By Solution

Solutions include Instant and Unified Messaging, Audio and Video conferencing, IP Telephony, Contact Centers and Work Mobility.

Where are the prominent markets?

Europe is currently the largest region dominating the UC market, led by existing key industry players. Both small and large businesses are adopting digital communication channels, with an increasing demand for unified communications.

Asia-Pacific is however, the fastest growing region for the market, fueled by technical advancements and the rise of concepts such as e-learning and distance learning.

Challenges and related services

There are large companies that offer UC software or software as a service (SaaS). These are intuitive and multi-functional platforms for businesses to use for their daily operations. Popular ones you may know include Zoom, G-suite, and Microsoft Teams. Others include NICE CXone, Ring Central and Salesforce.

One of the main factors hindering adoption of UC solutions is the data, privacy and security concerns of these businesses. When upgrading networks and software, it is important that confidential data is protected and safely moved during migration to the cloud, and consistently afterwards.

This is covered by the work of service providers, that inspect and strategize the best way to support legacy networks and new structures for each business process upgrade.

Sources:

Bloomberg, June 2022
Fortune Business Insights, 2021
Globe News Wire, 2022