Unified Communications Checklist

A Collaboration Strategy

According to Gartner, by 2024, 80% of organizations will prioritize collaboration and meeting platforms over telephony when defining unified communications portfolio strategy, up from 30% in 2019. Identify your company’s current collaboration solution and determine the goals and requirements. If an organization doesn’t know what type of strategy fits in with its business goals, a UCaaS solution will not be effective.

Ask the following questions when deciding on your new collaboration strategy:

• Do you rely on Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Slack, or another collaboration tool?
• Do you have a single communications & collaboration solution in place or multiple?
• Have you considered consolidating vendors?
• Are there additional stakeholders involved in the decision making of your collaboration strategy?

Percent of organizations prioritizing collaboration and meeting platforms
in 2019 vs 2024.

A Unified Communications Strategy

According to Gartner, unified communications markets are poised for investment acceleration through the first half of 2023 as IT planners move forward with strategic UCaaS initiatives. Given the surge in remote working, organizations must consider unified communication and collaboration solutions that can improve productivity, enhance mobility and seamlessly integrate with other important cloud solutions.

Ask the following questions when deciding on your new collaboration strategy:

• Who are your end users? What pain points are you trying to solve?
• Are you looking for one fully integrated communications and collaboration solution or two separate options? By implementing siloed solutions with overlapping features, organizations typically incur extra costs.
• Does your organization currently use or plan to use additional cloud solutions such as contact center as a service, virtual desktops, SD-WAN, CRM integrations, Call Recording, Reporting & Analytics etc.?
• Consider the end-user experience of a unified communication, collaboration, and contact center solution. Do you require consistency? How will it impact employee productivity?
• Can you put up with a disjointed experience from what is supposed to be a unified solution?

A Work From Home Strategy

According to Gartner, by 2023, the number of remote workers will have doubled to over two-thirds of digital workers. Because of this, organizations have new requirements for work-anywhere capabilities. If your employees don’t have a company laptop, this might be the time to investigate an ‘any device’ strategy.  Ask the following questions when deciding on your new collaboration strategy:

• Does your company support a remote working strategy?
• Does your company support bring your own device (BYOD)?
• What kind of applications do your employees access while they are mobile?
• How will employees access applications, hosted on-premises, or collaborate when remote?
• Are you hiring a more mobile/younger workforce?

Support a Hybrid Workforce

According to Zippia, 74% of U.S. companies are currently using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model. A UCaaS solution might look different depending on the employee’s work location.

• Do all of your employees either work in-office or remotely?
• Do you need a one size fits all solution or a tailored solution depending on the user profile i.e. a solution that supports a hybrid workforce?
• Do some users only require collab features (e.g. video conferencing and messaging), some a telephony solution (e.g. calling) and some that would need both (calling, video conferencing and messaging internally and externally)?
• Does your organization have legacy PBX needs (e.g. ATA, IVR) as well as hybrid requirements (non-collab users?)

74% of companies are planning permanent hybrid work model

Build With Scalability

According to Gartner, scalability is one of the leading technical requirements when choosing cloud solutions. As your company grows, your unified communication system also matures and adapts to new infrastructural requirements. Whether it is scaling up or scaling down, the provider needs to be flexible enough to meet your organizational needs.

• Does your organization plan on growing in the near future?
• How scalable is your current collaboration solution? Can you easily add locations, configure users, schedules and notifications from anywhere?
• Have you considered leveraging a UCaaS platform that has a self-service admin portal to help IT administrators and personnel manage and monitor call flow, user information, hunt groups and auto attendants?
• Does your existing collaboration, phone system, and contact center solution support a long-term strategy?

Get Around-the-Clock Support

When untimely technical emergencies strike, a reliable unified communication and collaboration provider needs to be ready with the right support. Whether this includes a specific point of contact for customers or a generic helpdesk, real-time support is necessary to maintain an organization’s business collaboration tools and ultimately, its reputation.

• What is your current communication and collaboration provider support level?
• Do you need a 24x7x365 helpdesk for technical issues?
• Which channels do you prefer to communicate with your support team with? Chat, phone, email, SMS or all?
• Do you have a dedicated team of experts to discuss your onboarding, issues or upcoming business plans?
• Can the provider accommodate on-site visits when the situation requires them?
• Have you ever experienced company-wide downtime or interruption in services related to your unified communication solution?

Advance Reliability and Business Continuity

Part of adopting a UCaaS solution is centralizing technology management. Communication outages threaten your enterprise’s reliability. In order to maintain a good reputation, staff, customers, and clients should be able to reach your organization whenever necessary.

When deciding on your next unified communication and collaboration provider, ask the following questions:

• Does your UCaaS provider if they offer “5 nines” (99.999 percent) reliability?
• Are there clear and robust service level agreements (SLAs) in place?
• Do you have a Business Continuity Plan secured in case of a health crisis, natural disaster, or geopolitical issue?
• Does this UCaaS provider consistently look ahead and keep pace as new advances impact unified communications?

Ensure Security and Compliance

According to a survey conducted by Veeam, of the 95% of ransomware attacks attempted, 71% of those attempts were successful. Because the number of data breaches has increased over recent years, regulatory agencies have begun to impose severe penalties on non-compliant businesses. It is crucial to adhere to security and compliance regulations to ensure your organization is resistant to cyber threats.

Consider the following questions about security and compliance when searching for a UCaaS:

• Does your enterprise need to meet any Compliance requirements?
• Can you host your solutions in HIPAA/HITRUST, PCI, SOC compliant datacenters?
• Have you considered an Identity & Access Management / Single Sign-On solution to easily secure, access, and manage your applications?
• Does the platform follow security best practices for all communication methods?
  • Secure encryption: Utilizing end-to-end encryption and securing your passwords and data with a reliable method like crypt hashing.
  • Firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-malware: Installing the appropriate software helps guard confidential information and neutralize vulnerabilities.
  • Password policy: Employees should be educated about the need to maintain strong passwords. Password secrecy must be highlighted and they should be changed frequently too.
  • Role-based access: Only grant access to information required to accomplish specific job tasks. Managers should decide the level of permission to be granted to each employee, which limits exposure to cyber attacks
  • Security training: Provide employee training on techniques to identify phishing attempts. Also offer education about avoiding unnecessary downloads and clicking on unknown links from unauthorized sources.

71% of ransomware attacks
were successful

Check for These Key Features

Identify key features of the unified communication solution as well as the ability to customize any and all features to fit your specific business requirements.

Consider the following features when searching for a reliable UCaaS provider:

• HD Audio Calling: HD Audio Calling, including HD video, WiFi calling, one phone number, a corporate directory, handling multiple calls at the same time, and pulling calls seamlessly
• Unified Messaging: Unified messaging that delivers voice mail, email, and fax, to a single location. Collaborative tools, including file sharing, screen sharing, and desktop sharing
• Audio & Video Conferencing: Offers audio and video conferencing, instant messaging apps, and text messaging.
• Streamlined Communications: Streamlines communication between remote, hybrid, and in-office employees. Accommodate simultaneous access to business-critical information securely
• Fully-integrated SMS: Business messaging platform that enables users to text a business number directly from within Microsoft Teams or via a Web browser.
• Unified Call Recording and Voice AI:  Provide your organization with a voice recording and transcription with AI-driven natural language processing.
• Self-Service Portal: Gain complete control over telephony, voicemail, and conferencing functions
• Device Needs: Meets an organization’s device needs, whether that includes high-end equipment or more basic capabilities
• Global capabilities: Provides global capabilities that you need. For instance, the product can be used by workers in multiple locations in wide-ranging geographical areas at once.
• Tailored: Customizable based on your organization setup. (i.e. if your enterprise has a completely remote workforce, your provider should pay more attention to collaborative tools and work towards improving centralized access to data from anywhere across the globe)
• Integrated Cloud Solutions: Ability to fully integrate and unify additional cloud solutions such as contact center, virtual desktops, CRM integrations, call reporting, etc.

Integrate With Multiple Applications

The ability to access all business applications using a cloud-first, real-time platform integration is the key to unifying communication, saving time, and streamlining workflows. Seamless integration, without the need to rip and replace, enhances the immediate value of a UCaaS system.

• Which third-party applications (e.g. salesforce) does your business use the most?
• How will the unified communications provider allow the end-user to access everything they need from these applications?
• Does the proposed cloud communications platform allow for real-time integration via APIs?
• Does your unified communication need to integrate with other cloud solutions such as contact center, collaboration solutions, virtual desktops, SD-WAN etc.?

Support for Mobile Devices, Browsers, and Apps

It’s estimated that by 2024, 75% of enterprise users will not use a desk phone, up from 30% in 2020. Since your employees are likely breaking away from the typical office phone at their desk, a solid UCaaS provider offers a solution that is not bound by specific devices and applications.

Ask the following questions:

• Will your staff be able to communicate and collaborate from their cell phone or laptop?
• Will the solution integrate well with your current productivity apps like Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace?
• Do you want your phone system integrated with your collaboration software?
• Will you want your call center integrated with your collaboration solution?

Compare Against Legal and Financial Policies and Requirements

When implementing a new UCaaS solution, legal and financial policies should be clearly documented and verbally communicated to employees. In addition, the organization’s legal team will want to provide guidance on specific requirements. Seamless integration, without the need to rip and replace, enhances the immediate value of a UCaaS system.

• Will you pay your employees if their Internet connection is down and they are unable to access your applications? What is expected of the employee to protect Confidential Information?
• Will employees be compensated for equipment usage? How will you handle personal equipment failure or support?
• What items are reimbursable? Supplies, Internet, and phone?
• What items are not reimbursable? Heating/AC, furniture, electricity, commuting expenses?
• Does your enterprise need to meet any Compliance requirements?
• Have you considered an Identity & Access Management / Single Sign-On solution to easily secure, access, and manage your applications?