As businesses continue to adopt digital transformation, the demand for UCaaS solutions has skyrocketed. These solutions not only streamline business communication but also enhance collaboration, improve productivity, and reduce operational costs.

Here are our top picks for the best UCaaS providers in 2023:

• Nextiva: Best for multi-location operations (Read more)
• RingCentral: Best for large enterprises (Read more)
• 8×8: Best for integrated communication solutions (Read more)
• Vonage: Best for flexible communication options (Read more)
• Cisco Webex: Best for highly secure communications (Read more)
• Zoom: Best for remote teams (Read more)
• Microsoft Teams: Best for seamless integration with Microsoft 365 (Read more)

Top UCaaS providers and companies comparison

Before we delve into the details of each provider, here’s how the key UCaaS features compare across the seven providers. It’s worth noting that they all possess these key features although their standout features vary.

Jump to:

• Key features of UCaaS providers
• How to choose the best UCaaS providers for your business
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Methodology

Nextiva

Best for multi-location operations

Nextiva is a top choice for businesses with many offices. It offers a robust UCaaS platform that integrates voice, video, instant messaging, and collaboration in a single solution.

Nextiva’s advanced call management features, including auto-attendant and call routing, make it easy to manage calls across different sites. The platform also includes unlimited calling and free local and toll-free numbers, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.

Pricing

When paid annually, Nextiva’s pricing starts at $23.95 per user per month for a team of 1-4 users for the Essential plan, while the Professional and Enterprise plans cost $27.95 and $37.95 respectively. The three plans are priced as $30.95, $35.95, and $45.95 when billed monthly. That pricing decreases per user at tiers of 5-19, 20-99, and 100+ users.

Key features

• Advanced call management features like auto-attendant and call routing make Nextiva an ideal choice for businesses with multiple locations.
• Unlimited calling is included in all Nextiva plans, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses with high call volumes.
• Free local and toll-free numbers are included with Nextiva, further enhancing its value for businesses.

Pros

• Comprehensive UCaaS solution integrating voice, video, instant messaging, and collaboration.
• Advanced call management features ideal for businesses with multiple locations.
• Cost-effective with unlimited calling and free local and toll-free numbers.

Cons

• Some users have reported that the mobile app could be improved.
• The platform may be complex to set up initially.

RingCentral

Best for large enterprises

RingCentral is a comprehensive UCaaS solution that is particularly suitable to large enterprises. It offers a range of features designed to support large-scale operations, including unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, automatic call recording and videoconferencing.

RingCentral also offers integrations with a wide range of business tools, including CRM and productivity software, making it a versatile solution for large businesses with diverse needs.

Pricing

RingCentral’s pricing starts at $20 per user per month paid annually and $30 monthly for the Core plan, $25 per user per month paid annually and $35 monthly for the Advanced plan and $35 per user per month paid annually and $45 monthly for the Ultra plan.

Key features

• Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses with high call volumes.
• The automatic call recording feature allows businesses to record calls for compliance, training, or quality assurance purposes.
• Videoconferencing capabilities, allowing businesses to conduct face-to-face meetings regardless of location.

Pros

• Comprehensive UCaaS solution with a wide range of features.
• Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada.
• Integrations with a wide range of business tools.

Cons

• Some users have reported occasional issues with call quality.
• The platform may be complex to set up initially.

8×8

Best for integrated communication solutions

8×8 is a UCaaS provider that excels in offering integrated communication solutions. It provides a unified platform that brings together contact center, voice, video, chat, and APIs, making it a one-stop-shop for businesses seeking comprehensive communication tools.

8×8 also delivers particularly seamless integration with Microsoft Teams to enable businesses to extend the capabilities of both platforms.

Pricing

8×8 offers two main pricing tiers for their Business Communication products: X2 at $24 per user per month billed annually and $28 billed monthly, and X4 at $44 per user per month billed annually and $57 billed monthly.

Key features

• Offers a unified platform with integrated contact center, voice, video, chat, and APIs.
• Provides Microsoft Teams integration and other popular business applications.
• Includes advanced analytics for insights into communication patterns and performance.

Pros

• The integrated platform simplifies communication processes.
• Offers a robust set of features that cater to various business needs.
• Advanced analytics provide valuable insights for decision-making.

Cons

• The pricing can be a bit steep for small businesses.
• Some users have reported that the interface can be a bit complex to navigate.

Vonage

Best for flexible communication options

Vonage is a top UCaaS provider that caters to businesses of all sizes. It offers a comprehensive suite of communication tools that are easy to set up and adopt. Vonage’s platform includes voice, messaging, SMS, video, and phone services, all of which can be accessed via desktop or mobile apps. This flexibility enables businesses to stay connected with their clients and teams anytime, anywhere.

Pricing

Vonage Business Communications starts at $19.99 per month per line for the Basic Mobile plan, followed by the Premium plan at $29.99 per month per line and the Advanced plan at $39.99 per month per line.

Key features

• Vonage Meetings allows users to initiate videoconferencing using their desktop or mobile app, making it easy to connect with teammates and customers worldwide.
• Vonage offers SMS, MMS, and Facebook Messenger integration, allowing businesses to communicate and collaborate in customers’ preferred channels.
• Virtual receptionist provides fully customizable and dependable call routing technology for lunchtimes, after-hours, emergencies, and holidays.

Pros

• CRM integration with popular customer relationship management systems such as Salesforce
• Supports a wide range of integrations with popular business applications.
• Offers a comprehensive suite of communication tools.

Cons

• Small businesses may find the cost to be high.
• Occasional issues with call quality.

Cisco Webex

Best for highly secure communications

Cisco Webex is a leading UCaaS provider that excels in delivering secure communication. With its robust set of features, high scalability, and strong security measures, Webex is well-equipped to handle the complex communication needs of various organizations. Webex is suitable for enterprises that require a reliable, secure, and feature-rich UCaaS solution.

Pricing

Webex’s four pricing tiers for meetings, billed monthly, include the Free plan, Meet plan at $14.50 per license per month, Plus plan at $19.95 per license per month, and Suite plan at $25 per license per month.

Key features

• A suite of communication tools including voice, video, messaging, polling, webinars, events, and whiteboarding.
• Provides strong security measures to protect communication data.
• Secure messaging platform organized by workstreams, making it easy to align across different projects and tasks.

Pros

• The robust set of features caters to the complex needs of large enterprises.
• Strong security measures ensure the protection of communication data.
• High scalability allows the solution to grow with the business.

Cons

• New users may find the interface to be a bit complex.
• The pricing can be a bit high for small businesses.

Zoom

Best for remote teams

Zoom is a UCaaS provider that’s popular with remote teams. With its high-quality video and audio, ease of use, and various collaboration features like screen sharing and breakout rooms, Zoom has become the go-to solution for businesses that depend on videoconferencing. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses that conduct a lot of remote meetings, webinars, or online training sessions.

Pricing

Aside from the free Basic plan, Zoom’s plans include Pro at $14.99 per month per user and Business at $19.99 per month per user. Business Plus and Enterprise plans require you to contact Zoom Sales for pricing information.

Key features

• Superior videoconferencing capabilities with high-quality video and audio.
• Provides various collaboration features like screen sharing, breakout rooms and collaborative annotations.
• Zoom Whiteboard for interactive team brainstorming and collaboration.

Pros

• The high-quality video and audio enhance the video conferencing experience.
• The ease of use makes it accessible to users of all technical levels.
• The various collaboration features facilitate effective remote meetings and training sessions.

Cons

• Add-on expenses to use the full feature set can become prohibitive for smaller businesses.
• Occasional connectivity issues as it requires a good internet connection.

Microsoft Teams

Best for seamless integration with Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams is a UCaaS provider that stands out for its seamless integration with Microsoft 365. It offers a unified communication and collaboration platform that integrates natively with other Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint. This makes Microsoft Teams an excellent choice for businesses that rely on Microsoft 365 and want a UCaaS solution that can easily fit into their existing workflows.

Pricing

For small and mid-sized businesses, in addition to a free plan, Microsoft Teams offers Teams Essentials at $4.00 per user per month, Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $6.00 per user per month and Microsoft 365 Business Standard at $12.50 per user per month, all as an annual subscription. Teams for enterprise is included with all Microsoft 365 plans.

Key features

• Seamless integration with Microsoft 365 applications.
• Provides a comprehensive variety of communication tools like voice, video, messaging, and team collaboration.
• Teams Rooms delivers hybrid meeting experiences across the workplace.

Pros

• The seamless integration with Microsoft 365 enhances productivity and collaboration.
• Offers a comprehensive suite of communication tools.
• Supports Microsoft Whiteboard, which facilitates effective brainstorming and planning sessions.

Cons

• The interface can be a bit complex for new users.
• Some users have reported occasional issues with connectivity.

Key features of UCaaS providers

UCaaS software offers a variety of features that can significantly enhance business communication, namely cloud-based communication and integrated communications tools — but beyond the bread and butter, they should include scalability, security, and external integration capabilities, too.

Cloud-based communication

UCaaS software is hosted in the cloud, which means businesses can access communication tools from anywhere, at any time. This feature is particularly beneficial for remote teams or businesses with multiple locations. It allows for seamless communication and collaboration, regardless of geographical boundaries.

Integrated communication tools

UCaaS software typically includes a variety of integrated communication tools. This integration allows for seamless communication and collaboration within an enterprise. It eliminates the need for multiple standalone tools, thereby reducing complexity and improving efficiency.

Scalability

As businesses grow, their communication needs often change. UCaaS software is highly scalable, allowing businesses to easily add or remove users or features as needed. This flexibility ensures that the software can adapt to the changing needs of the business, making it a future-proof investment.

Security and compliance

UCaaS providers typically offer robust security features to protect business communication. Additionally, many providers offer compliance solutions for industries with specific communication regulations, such as healthcare or finance. This ensures that businesses can communicate securely, without compromising on compliance.

Integration with other business tools

Many UCaaS solutions can integrate with other business tools, such as CRM or ERP systems. This integration can streamline workflows and improve efficiency. It allows businesses to leverage their existing investments in business tools, thereby reducing costs and complexity.

How to choose the best UCaaS providers for your business

Selecting the ideal UCaaS software is a crucial decision that will be informed by your specific needs. You should consider factors like the size and nature of your business, the specific communication tools you require, the software’s integration capabilities and its security features.

For instance, large enterprises might find RingCentral’s robust feature set and scalability ideal, while businesses of all sizes could benefit from Vonage’s versatility. Meanwhile, teams that rely heavily on videoconferencing might enjoy Zoom’s high-quality video meetings and interactive whiteboarding features. 

Ultimately, the best UCaaS software should offer a comprehensive suite of communication tools, be scalable to accommodate your business’s growth, integrate seamlessly with your existing business tools, and provide robust security features to protect your business communication.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is UCaaS and why is it important for businesses in 2023?

UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. It’s a cloud-based solution that integrates multiple communication channels like voice, video, messaging, and team collaboration into a single communications platform. 

UCaaS is important for businesses because it simplifies communication processes, enhances productivity, improves equity, and provides a cost-effective and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.

Can UCaaS providers offer customizable solutions to fit unique business requirements?

Yes, many UCaaS providers offer customizable solutions that can be tailored to fit unique business requirements. This includes the ability to choose which communication channels to include, the ability to integrate with specific business applications, and the ability to add or remove users as needed.

How does UCaaS ensure the security of business communications in 2023?

UCaaS solutions typically provide strong security measures to protect communication data. This includes data encryption to protect data in transit and at rest, two-factor authentication (2FA) to prevent unauthorized access and compliance with various data privacy regulations to ensure the privacy of communication data.

Methodology

We evaluated the UCaaS providers in this article based on a variety of factors such as the range of features offered, the ease of use, scalability, security, and customer reviews. We also assessed the providers based on their ability to integrate with other business tools. 

From the comparison table, it’s important to note that while all featured providers offer the basic features (because the ones who don’t didn’t make the list!), the specifics and quality of these features may vary between providers.

Bottom line: The best UCaaS provider for your business

Choosing the best UCaaS provider can significantly enhance your business’s communication and collaboration. By considering your specific needs and evaluating the features, scalability, and security of different providers, you will find a solution that will help your business thrive in 2023 and beyond. 

Whether you’re a small business looking for cost-effective solutions, a large enterprise in need of robust and scalable communication tools, or a company in a highly regulated industry with specific compliance requirements, there’s a UCaaS provider out there that can meet your needs. 

Remember, the best UCaaS solution is the one that fits your business perfectly, helping you achieve your communication goals while providing value for your customers and employees.

Don’t get left behind: catch up on the top unified communications trends pushing the industry forward.

The post 7 Best UCaaS Providers and Companies in 2023 Compared appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

The unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) market will evolve as businesses’ needs shift. Understanding these changes early on can help you make the most informed decisions about this technology and how to capitalize on it. 

Here are seven UC market trends to watch in 2023 and beyond.

1. AI steals the spotlight

As in many industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is the most prominent new development in UCaaS. The massive success of ChatGPT — now the fastest-growing internet app in history — has set an unprecedented standard for what language models can do. Businesses will undoubtedly look to integrate similar features into their communication platforms in the wake of this trend.

Natural language processing (NLP) models like ChatGPT automate many communications functions. They can generate customer outreach emails, answer basic queries through chatbots, suggest edits to internal copy and more. UCaaS platforms that offer these features could save businesses considerable time and reduce many errors.

Other AI applications in UCaaS include automated note-taking during meetings, converting voice to text, prioritizing emails by urgency, and summarizing long messages. Features like these will make UCaaS more versatile and helpful than ever, though you should recognize that early examples may be imperfect, as ChatGPT’s inaccuracies highlight.

2. A shift to the cloud

Another unified communications trend to watch is the shift to the cloud. This transition has been happening across all software categories for a while, but it’s now reaching a turning point. The cloud is slowly accounting for more of overall IT spending as on-premise’s share drops, finally surpassing on-prem expenditures by 2025, according to Gartner.

This shift is significant for UCaaS for a couple of reasons. First, it means that legacy aspects of some unified communications packages are falling out of favor. Many solutions include voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) and other hardware-based channels, but these are becoming less of a selling point and more of an unnecessary expense.

The most promising UCaaS solutions for 2023 and beyond focus on mobility and the cloud. Mobile-friendly platforms, cloud-native software, and fewer hardware-centric options will offer the most relevant advantages to modern businesses.

3. Integration and consolidation

Relatedly to the last point, it will become increasingly important for UCaaS packages to offer more integrations with other systems. The widespread shift to the cloud is partly due to a push to consolidate tech spending instead of paying for multiple individual solutions. UCaaS already offers consolidation of communications channels, but it should also integrate with other business functions.

Organizations today use 110 different SaaS apps on average. They could incur unnecessarily high expenses if UCaaS can’t integrate with at least a few of these other solutions. A communications platform that doesn’t work seamlessly with your existing infrastructure will likely cause more miscommunication and inefficiency than it resolves, rendering it ineffective.

UCaaS in 2023 must integrate with email, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, HR software, and other core business functions. For vendors, this means developing platforms that foster this connectivity. Businesses using UCaaS should look closely at what integrations a platform offers before paying for it.

4. Growing emphasis on cybersecurity

As in every industry, cybersecurity is another growing concern for unified communications. Business communication becomes more vulnerable to cybercrime as digital channels like email, instant messaging, and the cloud become more prominent. That will be a key issue for vendors and users as awareness around cyberattacks and their cost grows.

Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies represent the biggest cybersecurity concern with UCaaS in 2023. Roughly 72% of businesses today either have a BYOD policy or plan to implement one, and many UCaaS platforms are shifting to accommodate this trend. However, securing work communications on a device level is extremely challenging, so application-side controls must meet higher standards.

UCaaS solutions must include strong identity and access management (IAM) controls to verify users. Businesses using these platforms should also enact the principle of least privilege to minimize lateral movement and data leakage. Any systems that don’t support this level of security simply aren’t worth the investment.

5. Simulated reality grows slowly 

Over the past few years, many discussions around UC trends have centered on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). These technologies will likely expand, but it’s important to recognize that this growth may be slower than people have anticipated.

CEOs spend 61% of their time in face-to-face meetings and 24% on electronic communication, so combining the two makes sense. Apple’s recent release of a business-grade mixed reality headset may also bring new life into the simulated reality market. Consequently, UCaaS platforms that accommodate VR and AR could become a more viable solution.

However, significant roadblocks will slow this growth. VR and AR equipment prices are still high, and third-party software support is minimal. More UCaaS integration could help offset that, but simulated reality tech will still likely cause a slight bump in the market, not disrupt it entirely.

6. User-friendliness becomes essential

As the UC market continues to develop it brings with it a growing need for user-friendly interfaces. Tech talent is becoming increasingly difficult to find, so you need a solution that’s easy to learn. UCaaS providers should accommodate this need if they want to remain competitive.

A good user interface is about more than just efficiency. Employees looking for easier alternatives to authorized apps is a leading cause of shadow IT, a pressing security issue. UC solutions with a steep learning curve or that don’t fit in with what teams already use could lead employees to use unsanctioned tools, creating security gaps.

Companies looking for a UCaaS system in the coming year should prioritize usability in light of these concerns. Vendors should likewise emphasize intuitive controls and minimal upkeep as key selling points.

7. 5G and NTNs open new opportunities

As the year progresses, the UCaaS market could also expand with growing 5G networks. These faster, higher-bandwidth systems offer the ideal platform for UCaaS solutions aimed at hybrid and remote workforces. Now that mid-band 5G coverage is available to roughly 80% of the U.S., the technology may finally be coming of age, too.

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) could take this opportunity further. These satellite-based systems can expand 5G’s speeds to more remote areas, making UCaaS platforms more accessible to dispersed workforces. While this technology is still in its infancy, more mobile carriers are developing NTN solutions, promising growth in the future.

Both UC users and vendors should take note of this shift. Look for UCaaS vendors starting to branch into 5G and NTN solutions if you have a highly dispersed remote workforce, as they’ll offer more relevant support. Vendors should look into integrating this technology to meet the needs of tomorrow’s market.

Bottom line: An increasing — and increasingly competitive — UC market

The unified communications market will grow throughout 2023, regardless of what specific trends or technologies emerge. Companies that want to utilize its full potential must learn what changes will have the most significant impact over the next few years.

These seven trends are some of the most substantial shifts that will likely drive the market in 2023 and beyond. Keeping these in mind when developing or researching UCaaS solutions will help you make the most of this powerful technology.

If you’re looking for a new unified communications service, we identified the best UCaaS companies pushing the technology into the new era.

The post 7 Unified Communications Market Trends for 2023 appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Especially as 5G becomes a more concrete reality in both enterprise and public 5G instances all over the globe, a growing segment of 5G infrastructure providers and some RAN vendors are supporting an open RAN movement, which many believe will make 5G more accessible, affordable, and supportive of industry-specific needs. As operators continue to push for open RAN standards and best practices, it becomes increasingly important to understand open RAN and the role it plays in 5G expansion.

What is RAN?

The radio access network (RAN) is one of two primary domains in a mobile cellular network; the other component is the core network. The RAN relies on both antennas and base stations to manage signal and service. While the antenna manages both signal reception and transmission for mobile devices, the signal is then transformed by base stations so that it can be digitally interpreted and connected to the rest of the network. 

Traditionally, network operators have only been able to work with one RAN vendor for each component they need, especially since the interoperability of different vendors’ RAN products has never been emphasized. As RAN has changed to meet 5G and other mobile networking needs over time, new types of RAN, such as open RAN and cloudRAN (or vRAN), have become available.

What is Open RAN?

Open RAN is the practice of separating RAN into different components— the radio unit (RU), the distributed unit (DU), and the centralized unit (CU)— and assuring that the interfaces and protocols amongst these three components are open to communicate and work with each other. In opening the RAN with these three areas of interoperability, different vendors can offer products and services for each part of the RAN. This opens up new opportunities for both vendors and operators, as operators can choose whichever vendors they want for each unit.

The idea behind open RAN came to fruition through O-RAN, an operator-led alliance that promotes more open competition and interoperability amongst RAN vendors and their products. The organization has also heavily emphasized shifting RAN infrastructure needs to software rather than traditional hardware, which is a big reason why cloudRAN and open RAN are frequently discussed together. 

Learn about the challenges in getting started with a 5G network: The Reality and Risks of 5G Deployment

Core Features of Open RAN Infrastructure

Open RAN infrastructure relies on and offers key features like a service management and orchestration framework, cloud application development and security support, AI and ML automation, and 3GPP-defined interfaces.

Other core features of Open RAN infrastructure include:

• Radio unit (RU): typically part of the antenna, the RU is where radio frequencies are transmitted and otherwise managed.
• Distributed unit (DU): a computation piece within the base station that is typically close to the RU.
• Centralized unit (CU): a computation piece within the base station that is typically close to the core.
• Fronthaul: interfaces that have been opened up between the RU and DU.
• Midhaul: interfaces that have been opened up between the DU and CU.
• Backhaul: interfaces that have been opened up between the CU and the core.
• RAN intelligent controller (RIC): a controller that can be customized to program and add programmability to other areas of the RAN.

How Open RAN Supports 5G

5G networks offer the ultra-low latency, bandwidth, and speed necessary for new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart devices. However, 5G is not nearly as accessible and effective when traditional radio access networks drive up infrastructure costs, decrease overall service quality, and limit operator innovation. Many experts believe open RAN is crucial to wider-spread 5G networks for the following reasons:

Open RAN decreases vendor monopolies and increases competition

Traditional RAN has made it difficult for smaller or lesser-known RAN vendors to reach their target audiences, especially as a lack of RAN interoperability forced customers to rely on big providers who could meet all their needs. Open RAN has started to open up the infrastructure in the network, meaning RAN providers can focus on offering a handful of RAN products, services, and use cases. 

The open approach ultimately leads to fewer monopolies, which levels the playing field for providers and forces them to maintain higher standards if they want to hold onto their customers. These higher standards are optimizing RAN to meet current and future 5G networking requirements.

More on the relationship between RAN vendors and operators: 5G Drives Collaboration Between Carriers, Cloud Infrastructure Providers

Open RAN avoids vendor-lockin

Customers also have the freedom to select different providers for different needs and price points, because open RAN components are designed to work in a multi-vendor ecosystem. Cost-savings are important in 5G development because 5G requires more radio towers in closer proximity to users in order to work effectively. Lower costs, driven by open RAN, will likely make it possible for network operators to reach more rural and global audiences with more affordable infrastructure.

The freedom of choice not only has the potential to save operators money on RAN infrastructure, but it also opens up the opportunity for operators to discover new integration and setup possibilities, thus further expanding the potential for 5G-powered innovations.

Open RAN offers specialized industry- and event-based support

Multi-vendor support provides the strengths of each available vendor. This can be particularly valuable for users in a specialized industry who need more support or features in a certain area of the RAN; they can rely on a quality vendor for that piece without being required to use that vendor for all pieces. Open RAN also offers support for predicted network traffic increases.

A great example of open RAN in action on a 5G network is event-based network optimization. If a concert venue, airport, or other large venue wants to improve network services or boost them with AI for a designated time period, the flexibility of several vendors makes it possible to meet event-based needs and provide real-time specialized services during network traffic spikes. With many 5G-powered technologies requiring situational features and service increases, this particular open RAN benefit is driving many operators to the O-RAN movement.

Read next: Best 5G Network Providers for Business 2022

The post Understanding Open RAN in the Age of 5G appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Also Read: 6 New Trends Shaping the Future of Unified Communications (UC)

Rich Communication Services (RCS) in Enterprise

• What is Rich Communication Services?
• Features of Rich Communication Messaging
• What is RCS Business Messaging (RBM)?
• Enterprise Benefits of RCS
• Potential Enterprise Risks of RCS

What is Rich Communication Services?

RCS is an approach to mobile messaging in which rich features are offered through native messaging software, through compatible vendors and mobile devices. Technically speaking, rich communication services happen through session initiation protocol (SIP) and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) support.

Rich communications frequently offers similar rich features to those found in third-party messaging applications like Slack and WhatsApp, but instead, it’s offered directly through the carrier-based service. Users don’t have to download additional applications in order to benefit from what effectively presents as a richer version of SMS.

Features of Rich Communication Messaging

So how is rich communication different from traditional mobile messaging? These features are typically added or enhanced in RCS-enabled devices:

• Rich text: Rich text moves beyond plaintext in text messaging and includes action-oriented and user-experience-focused text features. Some examples include action buttons and read receipts.
• Rich imagery and videos: Traditional messaging doesn’t allow all users to share audiovisual content at the same quality level across the board. Rich imagery and videos not only enhance the quality of this imagery, but they can also include things like viewable video thumbnails in the messaging thread.
• Branding: Particularly when enterprises use RCS, they can include branding logos and imagery, calls-to-action, and even some secure sharing features to improve the customer experience while messaging.
• Location and map features: Going beyond basic address sharing, rich communications can allow for location tracking and sharing, sometimes with visualizations.
• Integrations for user actions: Allowing users to stay within a single app, some RCS integrations make it possible to do things like appointment scheduling and payments directly from a message.
• Collaboration and file sharing: In traditional messaging, users can’t typically share files like PDFs. RCS makes file sharing possible and augments in-message collaboration opportunities.

The Potential of Video for Enterprise: Video Conferencing has Bloomed in a Time of Crisis

What Is RCS Business Messaging (RBM)?

RCS business messaging (RBM) is effectively the business application of RCS functions and features to business use cases. When businesses apply RBM to their workflows, they can make customer interactions more interactive. Companies can also handle things like package tracking and delivery, meeting scheduling, payment notifications, and several other business tasks without a third-party application. 

There are also several branding and feature-rich items in RBM that improve the user experience for customers. Some examples include rich card carousels that help customers visualize products and services, business verifications and notifications, and prefilled response options. As an added bonus for enterprises that use RBM, customer engagement and communication analytics can be found and reviewed when using RCS business messaging.

Enterprise Benefits of RCS

Rich communications has the potential to offer several key benefits to enterprises that transition their mobile communications to the format:

Branded customer conversations

RCS is the only way to message customers with all of the branding capabilities of a third-party application while staying in native messaging. This means fewer apps for your team to manage for customer conversations, but it also means that customers can easily recognize your branding in a message and trust that the message is really from you.

Call-to-action opportunities

The rich features of RCS make it easier for customers to see and respond to calls-to-action (CTA) in a message. Since the message and its action go directly to their main messaging inbox, they’re more likely to see and act on the CTA that you offer.

Collaboration and groups

Rich communications can also improve collaboration with internal teams, especially because of the group settings and customizable notifications that it offers. It’s also a pleasant experience for your employees who likely don’t want to download another communication application on their phones.

Less frustrating UI for customers

Enterprise customers in particular like RCS, even if they don’t know that a company is using it, because they can interact with a brand directly in the inbox that they already use. There’s no need for them to interact with you in an app or through your website’s chatbot.

More on Communication in the Workplace: Improving Workplace Equity with Unified Communications

Potential Enterprise Risks of RCS

Although rich communication offers several benefits to enterprises, the newness of the technology can lead to risks in implementation and security:

Possible device incompatibility

RCS communication only works when all members of a conversation have RCS-enabled devices. Newer devices typically offer RCS now, but older devices likely cannot benefit from the rich features in rich communications. There are also some providers, like Apple, who are currently not on board with adding RCS to their mobile products.

Security

Companies and users alike share sensitive data through rich communication messages, but not all RCS providers have strong security measures in place to protect that data. Some RCS users have suffered from different forms of hacking, like denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and message interception. Although there are still security problems in the RCS space, most current RCS providers are tackling the problem through chip and SIM card authentication, session validation, PIN codes, and other security methods.

Read Next: Best Enterprise VoIP Providers

The post The Rise of Rich Communications: What Does it Mean for Enterprises? appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Video Conferencing

Previously, video conferencing facilities would have been viewed as nice to have by enterprises. However, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic has made video conferencing software a must-have for enterprises, as they seek to support hybrid work.

Business travel, talent, and geography

The limitations on travel and trade in various parts of the world during the onset of the pandemic prompted enterprises to provide work-from-home facilities to their workforce. As a result, professionals had to shift to video conferencing on the go in place of physical travel. In addition to the changes to business travel, the pandemic has made enterprises more aware of the staffing opportunity provided by the now non-existent constraints of geography.

Video conferencing tools play a massive role in connecting enterprises with such workforces. As such, video conferencing tools have morphed from merely being a means of conducting virtual meetings to a key collaboration tool for dispersed workforces. For instance, video conferencing now includes standard features such as the ability to share screens, files, and documents as well as other features that sufficiently and legally cater to the evolving needs of virtual meetings.

Also read: 6 New Trends Shaping the Future of Unified Communications (UC)

Video conferencing and workplace equity

As popular as it continues to be, a work-from-anywhere model has inadvertently proven to magnify pre-pandemic workplace inequalities, especially concerning collaboration and interaction. Throughout the duration of the pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent that it is much easier to feel disconnected, isolated, ineffective, and disadvantaged while working from anywhere.

Nonetheless, video conferencing has been providing ways to deal with inequality in the workplace. Firstly, video conferencing platforms have been crucial in providing a much-needed human touch throughout the pandemic. Employees can discern emotion in their workplace communication by interacting with another face through video. Video conferencing technology has supported nuance in remote conversations in comparison to text-based interactions, which can easily provide an aura of distance and isolation.

Video conferencing platforms may be used by teams to create a safe space for employees to have important conversations by providing each participant with an equal opportunity to express themselves. These platforms also level the playing field for workforces of varying abilities such as cognitive and linguistic ones through the evolution of speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and translation features.

Features such as the use of digital whiteboards also satisfy the need for a common canvas during a hybrid meeting setting, where an actual whiteboard would be out of reach to remote employees. Continual improvement of video conferencing platforms brings video interactions as close to in-person interaction as possible. These platforms also play a part in creating and maintaining an organizational culture of teamwork and collaboration to improve productivity and provide a sense of belonging to remote teams.

Also read: Improving Workplace Equity with Unified Communications

Pandemic impact on video conferencing technology

The popularity of video conferencing continues to prompt providers to provide unique, high-quality experiences. Furthermore, the allure of remote working is flexibility, convenience, and efficiency. As work from anywhere takes hold, user experience is becoming a buying criterion that influences the choice of users.

Providers are continuously working to provide a seamless experience across all devices. For instance, they are working to make their tools as easy to use as possible. Simplicity and ease of use is defining the user experience of approaching hybrid work. Additionally, the popularity of video conferencing software that can seamlessly power hybrid meetings will increase.

The pandemic has also challenged providers to improve the video quality of their video conferencing software. And as we charter a new normal with hybrid work, video quality has an increasing influence on the user experience. As a result, HD video is slowly coming online. Providers are working on offering much higher video quality through a shift from 720p to 1080p. Hence, to improve resolution, webcam tests should be done to assure quality.

Artificial Intelligence

As much as there has been a surge in video conferencing adoption, providers face a challenge to ensure users have high-quality meeting experiences regardless of location while also keeping up the burgeoning demand for these tools. The capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) alleviate these challenges while making video conferencing more sophisticated.

The art of taking notes during meetings becomes ever so important during virtual meetings. However, these meetings may be marred by background noise, people talking over each other, technical issues among others. Through machine learning, voice-to-text transcription provides real value by identifying speakers and segmenting their contribution to the meeting thus preventing confusion and simplifying virtual meetings.

Furthermore, transcription and translation technology can take down the language barrier through real-time translation, allowing meetings to be even more inclusive. Such technologies are set to make video conferencing even more popular to a hybrid workforce. Looking forward, in addition to stabilizing the visibility of video calls, computer vision may offer users additional options like color adjustments, interactive backgrounds, and intelligent balancing out of light issues.

AI also has a role to play in providing users with high-resolution video. New compression algorithms are coming up to handle issues of codecs and compression that impact higher resolution video. An example is the NVIDIA Maxine platform, which gives users the ability to provide both low- and high-resolution video without requiring increased bandwidth.

A few video conferencing platforms are leveraging NVIDIA’s platform to remove audio noise from meetings and integrate virtual backgrounds to allow users to overlay their video on top of presentations, leading to impressive video conferencing experiences for all sorts of enterprises. The goal is to offer AI-powered video communications that support virtual meetings that rival the quality of face-to-face meetings.

Nonetheless, true 4K video is the desired capability but is only being offered by a handful of providers. However, with platforms such as NVIDIA Maxine, there is potential to achieve this soon as video quality continues to improve.

The Cloud

At a time where enterprises are increasingly aware of the benefits of remote work, legacy communications and collaboration tools are struggling to keep up with the surging demand and popularity of these tools to remote workforces. The shift to more video-friendly hybrid environments means that all kinds of enterprises not only have access to but also need for video conferencing deployments.

Aside from large enterprises with significant CapEx budgets, on-premises video conferencing deployments provide a barrier to entry for small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, considering today’s unprecedented nature of work is based on flexibility, the shift to cloud-based video conferencing platforms is set to continue as they offer as-a-service models that often prove to be cost-effective to enterprises of all sizes.

Scalable deployments are of great value to enterprises now as the needs of hybrid work continue to be unpredictable. Such scalability is exactly what cloud-based deployments offer. The agnosticism of cloud video conferencing deployments also influences the departure from on-premises solutions as organizations benefit from a versatile approach, thus future-proofing their systems. This also promises interoperability that can enhance both meeting room and video conferencing technologies.

Integration

The boom in communications and collaboration platforms leaves users with plenty of choices. However, organizations are deriving more value from having their workflows centralized as opposed to switching between platforms. Resultantly, organizations are realizing that having integration capabilities is key to the success of their approach to hybrid work.

The agnosticism of cloud-based video conferencing software will continue providing endless integration opportunities with unified communications and collaboration platforms. Cloud-based video conferencing software is positioned to play its part in integration with voice as well as third-party applications since more providers are centering their focus on communications platform as a service (CPaaS).

Integration is not limited to software, however, as hardware also affects the quality of digital meeting experiences. Integration between software and hardware allows organizations to easily leverage their hardware solutions to improve the experience of their users. The partnership between software and hardware will continue to power the solution efforts of enterprises and ultimately improve the quality of digital meetings.

Read next: Best UCC Use Cases in WFA Environments

The post Video Conferencing has Bloomed in a Time of Crisis appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Findings in the vendor’s sixth annual 2022 State of the WAN Report showed that the trend toward hybrid work continues to harden in organizations and that in response, businesses are closing more office sites, such as branch offices, and adopting software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications like collaboration offerings, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

The accelerated digital transformation efforts driven by the pandemic are resulting in more data centers being shut down as enterprises move more of their business into public clouds, networking budgets are expected to grow and organizations are increasingly adopting cloud-centric and agile strategies, which is fueling a shift to greater convergence.

Rise of SASE

In the networking and security field, that includes adoption of secure access service edge (SASE), which essentially brings together SD-WAN and key security frameworks. In addition, more than two-thirds of the more than 1,600 enterprises that responded to Aryaka’s survey said they will opt for managed SASE to address such issues as complexity and costs.

“We see a movement to what we’re beginning to call the permanent hybrid enterprise,” David Ginsburg, vice president of product and solutions marketing at Aryaka, told Enterprise Networking Planet. “This leads into the acceleration of digital transformation coinciding with accelerating legacy data center decommissioning.”

Organizations also are looking for ways to reduce the complexity that such hybrid environments can create and to have vendors shoulder some of the burden by providing converged offerings in managed services environments for networking and other IT areas.

“There’s always been an issue with observability and control, but this has gone up in mindshare over the last year vs. some of the other considerations,” Ginsburg said. “It’s becoming more and more of an issue in terms of what enterprises are looking for to solve their issues, what we call an all-in-one SD-WAN and SASE offer. They don’t want to go to a bunch of different vendors or providers to try to stitch something together.”

Also read: Transitioning to a SASE Architecture

The Shift to Hybrid Work

The continued transitioning to a more permanent working model shouldn’t come as a surprise. As the pandemic tightened its grip on the world throughout 2020, companies almost overnight sent their employees to work from home, which forced them to rapidly adopt cloud services such as collaboration software to adapt to the new business environment. Since then, many organizations have said they will allow many workers to continue working remotely, at least part of the time.

According to Ayaka’s report, that trend is accelerating. The survey found that almost half of respondents said 25 percent to 50 percent of their workers are remote and that 28 percent said that up to 75 percent of their staff is remote. Going forward, once pandemic-related restrictions are eased, 43 percent of businesses expect as much as half of employees will work remotely, with another 25 percent saying that number could be as much as 75 percent.

Budgets Growing, Sites Closing

The growing adoption of a hybrid workforce also coincides with businesses increasingly closing physical facilities. A quarter of respondents said they have closed 25 percent to 50 percent of office sites. This puts a premium on managing worker movement between sites and ensuring a good experience for employees working from home, which requires dynamic network bandwidth reallocation, which 61 percent of businesses tagged as very important.

Ginsburg said Aryaka had run into this situation. The company has a main office in San Mateo, CA, that is designed to accommodate about 100 workers. 

“We’re a very distributed company anyway,” he said. “Going forward, we don’t necessarily see the need for that number of seats even at our headquarters, and a lot of people are making that same calculus.”

The shift to remote work also puts a premium on collaboration and productivity software and services. Companies like Zoom and Microsoft—with Teams—saw use and revenues rise sharply in the months after the pandemic set in. According to Aryaka’s report, those offerings will continue to play a key role in the hybrid-work world.

Teams and Office 365 saw strong adoption in the survey, at 58 percent and 55 percent, respectively. That was followed by Zoom and Google Docs at 35 percent, Salesforce at 28 percent and SAP HANA at 25 percent.

Application Performance an Issue

That said, performance is still an issue, with 42 percent of businesses saying slow performance for remote and mobile users was a top issue and 37 percent pointing to slow performance at branch offices. This puts a focus on the network and raises the issue of control as the shift to the cloud and services continues.

“This has always been an issue,” Ginsburg said. “You’re implementing your WAN infrastructure, you’re investing, you’re bringing SD-WAN and SASE, but if you don’t have control, if you don’t understand how your applications are performing, you don’t understand what your user experience is. It’s not serving your business objectives. This goes back to things like Teams [and] collaboration applications, where you need to have a very good understanding of how your web infrastructure is actually handling this.”

Aryaka in December announced AppAssure, software designed to provide deep visibility, observability and control to more than 3,500 applications.

A key part of the reshaping of the IT environment is the transformation of the WAN, Ginsburg said. Organizations aren’t just looking for security or for application optimization. They want everything in a single bucket, fully integrated and easy to use. This is where SASE comes in, bringing with it a broad array of capabilities, including WAN—or SD-WAN—security, application optimization, multicloud connectivity, and last-mile management.

It also dovetails with the shift away from Multiprocotol Label Switching (MPLS), which  for years had been the key technology for connecting branch offices with central data centers but has seen its usefulness wane in the wake of greater mobility and cloud adoption. About 46 percent of businesses plan to end some or all of their MPLS contracts over the coming year.

Also read: The Importance of Application Performance Management (APM) for Cloud-based Networks

Transformation Means More Money

Given the rampant change, organizations are expecting to see their networking budgets grow. About 25 percent of respondents anticipate budgets jump by 25 percent or more and three-quarters expect at least a 10 percent bump.

“This ties hand-in-hand into the other statistics that are coming out in terms of enterprises accelerating some of their longer-term digital transformation efforts,” Ginsburg said. “In the pandemic environment, what was originally a five-year project has now been brought inward. … People want to take a step back, understand where they need to invest for the long term and are beginning to do that planning and then beginning to make those investments.”

This also has created a change in priorities, he said. Where once businesses said reducing complexity in connectivity was the top need, they are now putting a greater emphasis on the foundational costs of transformation.

Read next: Democratizing IT for Rapid Digital Transformation

The post Pandemic Leads to Permanent Changes in Workforce, WAN: Aryaka appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

UCC and Dispersed Workforces

UCC tools are essential to organizations with dispersed workforces—supporting and keeping them engaged in several ways. With the current unprecedented nature of dispersed workforces, flexibility in work environments has become a priority for employees. 

Contrary to the expectation that dispersed workforces would lead to reduced productivity, supporting dispersed teams through the use of communications and collaboration technology increases productivity. UCC tools offer employees the platform to stay productive on their flexible schedules. This is through the provision of centralized tools that replicate every process and activity an employee would need to be effective at their tasks. They are also not limited to a single device to access their work as the UCC platforms are available across multiple platforms.

Flexibility solely, however, cannot guarantee productivity. Organizational culture plays a part in improving the productivity of dispersed workers as they enjoy a sense of belonging. UCC tools allow dispersed teams to collaborate with others without seeming like they are disadvantaged by not physically being at the office, resultantly bridging the gap between office and remote employees. These tools shatter the barriers of distance and location by seamlessly allowing workers to form relationships, bonds, and enjoy interactions that improve a team environment, thus intuitively improving productivity.

Furthermore, cloud-based UCC platforms offer enterprises scalability of their internal communication and collaboration processes, helping them handle the unpredictability of hybrid work environments without impacting productivity and efficiency. As such, changes in communication and collaboration resource usage can be taken in stride through the scalability of cloud-based UCC platforms.

Also read: Improving Workplace Equity with Unified Communications

UCC Improving to Meet Emerging Challenges

As working from anywhere becomes more prevalent, challenges such as managing remote workers and keeping them productive and motivated become more apparent. Working remotely may leave employees feeling isolated and frustrated when they struggle to be effective or feel like their participation as team members is limited.

Video meetings are challenging the dominance of voice calls since they are as close as it gets to actual human-to-human interaction among dispersed teams. UCC platforms have been improving their video meetings by improving voice and video quality to provide users with an experience that combats feelings of isolation. UCaaS platforms are also offering a team collaboration experience that engages team members and improves participation. This also allows users to integrate apps into their collaboration platforms and design their workflows, leading to more effective management of their work.

As the demand for high-quality voice and video meetings increases, ensuring consistently high video quality on remote devices and networks becomes a challenge. AI tools can be used to flag issues of quality and automatically adjust video and voice quality to stealthily solve issues. The effectiveness of digital labor, such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and other integrated services, is also improving, thus making work more seamless for dispersed teams. For instance, tedious workflows can be automated, and customer-facing bots can simplify work for employees. 

UCC Strategies and Cases for Successful Communication with Remote Workers

Examining how UCC tools perform to support virtual interaction at scale

Enterprises need to generate insight into the performance of their UCC tools to identify areas that require optimization or reconfiguration. Consider a case where through tracking tool performance data, an enterprise realizes that remote users in a certain region experience severe video latency. Identifying such an issue through constant examination allows the enterprise to understand that such a region may be experiencing overutilization and figure out what adjustments would be required to ensure that remote teams are not disadvantaged.

Migration to cloud-based communications to facilitate remote work and continuity

To better handle the growing needs of remote teams, enterprises should consider migrating from on-premises UC platforms to cloud-based UC platforms. The scalability and out-of-the-box integrations with third-party applications offered by cloud-based platforms make them more effective at supporting a remote workforce. Furthermore, unlike with legacy UC platforms, remote teams have access to all the necessary features and tools regardless of location, without trade-offs, thus bettering engagement and experience for employees as well as customers.

However, depending on factors such as cost, data residency, data privacy, and security, enterprises can choose between a full cloud or hybrid cloud approach to UCC platforms.

Also read: Four Trends Driving VoIP Development in 2021

Transitioning to intelligent UCC platforms

The current transitional period has the end goal to achieve truly intelligent communications platforms while moving away from analog features that are merged. An intelligent communications platform can generate valuable insights from current and historical communications data to improve the UCC platform for users. Voice analytics is becoming more and more integral to the quality of the offerings of UCC platforms.

Additionally, features like the ability to automatically generate transcripts that take notes or translate conversations in voice and video conferencing make communication with remote workers more effective. These transcripts may then be shared with participants after a meeting. Such features are increasingly becoming central to platform intelligence as they automate meetings, their set up, and the content generated to provide a seamless experience all through.

Offering a unified experience

Remote workers may have to stay on top of multiple accounts, such as email and social media; make and receive many phone calls; and attend video and voice meetings among other channels of communication. It becomes tedious and ineffective if a remote worker constantly loses time moving from one platform to another to work.

Since UCC tools are people-centric, several vendors offer a unified client. However, aiming to go beyond a unified client to a unified experience will enhance communication with dispersed teams. The drive towards a shift from a unified client to a unified experience is being aided by prescriptive and predictive analytics. 

UCC platforms with diverse ways to support communication offer greater value to the communication and collaboration needs of remote teams in the longer term compared to platforms that offer either solely voice or video meetings.

Addressing BYOD, collaboration security, and governance

Bring your own device (BYOD) solutions have become more popular as more enterprises support dispersed teams. As this boosts employee morale and the effectiveness of remote work, if unattended, a BYOD approach may complicate as well as threaten the security of an enterprise. Enterprises should ensure that the security concerns presented by working on devices remotely are mitigated by dedicating time to identifying gaps and holes in their security policies and UCC environments.

Enterprises should also pay attention to collaboration security and governance as this defines the user and channel management, and policies such as usage, and access. If ignored, communication with remote teams may be compromised by threats such as denial of service attacks, theft of service, and unauthorized access.

Read next: Top UCaaS Providers & Companies for 2021

The post Best UCC Use Cases in WFA Environments appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Whether you’re looking to supplement your existing customer lifecycle or needing a brand new customer data solution, take a look at some of the best customer data platforms on the market today and why so many enterprise users are moving toward a more comprehensive customer tool.

More on CDPs and digital transformation: Powering Digital Transformation with Customer Data Platforms

Top Customer Data Platform Solutions to Consider

• What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?
• CDP vs. DMP: What is the difference?
• Top CDP Features
• Best CDP Solutions on the Market
  • Tealium
  • Treasure Data CDP
  • Salesforce Interaction Studio
  • Bloomreach Engagement
  • Adobe Experience Platform
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
  • Oracle Unity Customer Data Platform
  • SAP Customer Data Platform
• Enterprise Network Benefits of Customer Data Platforms

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

A CDP shares some similarities with the more commonly used CRM. Unlike a CRM, however, customer data platforms focus on the whole customer experience before, during, and after the marketing stage. 

CDPs have been designed to act as a centralized hub for all relevant customer data. Connected applications and platforms continue to collect and update customer data, but their connection to the CDP makes it possible to update CDP customer profiles with every new piece of information you learn about them. The centralized approach of a CDP also gives these other software solutions the opportunity to learn from the data that is normally contained in a different, siloed system. In other words, think of CDP customer data as the master copy for the organization’s customer data.

CDPs are typically connected to a wide variety of other customer engagement and management tools, such as analytics platforms, web traffic tools, CRMs, and data management platforms (DMPs). With their wide base of customer data input, customer data platforms often include customer data from the following brand engagements:

• Website and e-commerce site behaviors
• Online ad and email interactions
• Mobile app engagement
• Relevant search queries
• In-store interactions, typically based on purchase data

Tools for protecting your data: Best Data Recovery Software for Restoring Data

CDP vs. DMP: What is the difference?

Customer data platforms and DMPs share many similarities, especially since they’re both focused on collecting, managing, and sometimes providing deeper analytical insights on customer data. However, they differ in the traditional scope of their projects. While a CDP works with and enriches data at all phases of the customer lifecycle and for different use cases, DMPs narrow their focus down to marketing, more specifically, targeted advertising. And while CDPs collect data from all kinds of internal and external sources, DMPs almost exclusively collect third-party data for smart data training.

Although DMPs work best when used in partnership with a CDP, that is not to say they don’t provide additional value to a customer data platform. While a CDP helps the DMP to have improved access to first-party data for more targeted advertising, the DMP helps the CDP by offering deeper customer insights about online engagement. CDPs offer more comprehensive use cases, but the two share a fairly symbiotic relationship.

Learn more about data management on Datamation: Data Management Trends

Top CDP Features

A top-performing customer data platform typically offers users the following features:

• Unified customer database: CDPs, at their foundation, are expected to create a unified customer database where other applications and users can collect a trusted master copy of their customer data.
• Data cleaning and segmentation: The best CDPs not only store data but also manage that data for quality. Think about it this way: the same customer’s information may be collected by three different sources, and due to either user or system error, each of those records may be different. With the help of a CDP, enterprises can create more accurate customer records through record merging and deduplication.
• API connectivity: CDPs work best when they can collect data from and provide data to a variety of sources. Because of their goal of connectivity, it’s important for customer data platforms to offer native integrations and API options so users can connect all of their relevant enterprise apps to the system.
• Automation: Beyond automated updates to customer profiles, the best CDPs offer other event and workflow automation, such as automated grouping and buyer’s journey updates.
• Data reporting: Although not all CDPs offer in-depth reporting, many tools either offer native or third-party data reporting and data visualization features.

Data visualization tools to supplement your CDP: Best Data Visualization Tools & Software

Best CDP Solutions on the Market

Tealium

Tealium AudienceStream CDP is a favorite on the CDP market for its comprehensive data management features, its extensive integration marketplace, and its data quality tools. Tealium is also one of the few tools on the CDP market that natively offers data governance features, with several data privacy certifications under their belt. 

Features

• Patented visitor stitching technology for customer profile building and cleaning
• Over 1300 native integrations available, including with most email, marketing automation, online advertising, social, and CRM platforms
• Customizable badges for customer behavior and trend management
• Consent management and regulatory compliance features
• Predictive machine learning and orchestration

Top Pro: Customers say that Tealium offers strong data sanitization without a lot of manual work; many users also complement their robust integration capabilities.

Top Con: Some users say that Tealium is complicated to use; the dashboards are useful but lack the detail and reports that some people want.

Treasure Data CDP

Treasure Data CDP emphasizes a comprehensive approach to the customer lifecycle by clearly delineating their different features for marketing, sales, and customer service. Customers have the ability to scale up and down in each of those verticals, with the added bonus that Treasure Data offers unlimited storage space to its users. 

Beyond their core offerings, Treasure Data also offers Treasure Boxes, or templated code, components, visualizations, and applications that can be applied to a variety of customer metrics tracking initiatives. 

Features

• Prebuilt Treasure Boxes offered for simple ML operations
• Ready-to-use and frequently maintained connectors for integrations
• Batch and streaming ingestion for multi-channel data management
• Schema-flexible data ingestion and built-in query engines for data quality management
• Workflow editor and user-friendly audience studio available

Top Pro: Unlimited storage space is available to users, advertised for 10s or 100s of billions of records.

Top Con: Some customers have explained that there is a lack of change management and that they’ve experienced bugs due to multiple user edits.

Salesforce Interaction Studio

Salesforce is typically thought of as a CRM, but with its robust data lifecycle management and AI/ML features in the portfolio, the Salesforce Interaction Studio offers a full-fledged CDP with in-depth customer insights and cross-channel metrics made available. Salesforce offers a more robust analytics backend natively than many other CDPs as well as the ability to easily manage communication, workflows, campaigns, and reporting directly on the platform.

Features

• Data can be sourced externally through connectors, ETL, API, and JavaScript integrations
• Automatic cataloguing for data and metadata to power machine-learning recommendations
• Real-time data segmentation and AI application
• A/B test algorithms available on the web, in-app, and on other channels
• Data warehousing and data science workbench available for additional data management needs

Top Pro: This Salesforce tool offers strong qualitative data analysis to users, making campaign adjustments and behavioral data measurement easier.

Top Con: The UI is not considered very intuitive, particularly for reporting.

Bloomreach Engagement

Bloomreach Engagement has recently rebranded themselves as something more than a CDP: a customer data and experience platform (CDXP). With this emphasis on customer experience management as well, Bloomreach offers marketing automation and conversion rate optimization features, such as email, SMS marketing, in-app messages, and retargeting as native features.

Features

• Online and offline data tracking for single customer view
• Real-time dynamic segments for customer behavior tracking
• AI-powered personalized product recommendations for first-time users
• 13 out of the box recommendation templates and DIY templates available
• Ready-made prediction templates to predict customer behavior

Top Pro: The Optimum Email Time automation feature has improved customer message open rates for many users.

Top Con: Some users have concerns about security and regulatory compliance on the tool, specifically in areas like encryption and GDPR adherence.

Adobe Experience Platform

Adobe is typically thought of as a creative cloud suite of tools, but with the Adobe Experience Platform and other Experience Cloud products, Adobe is capable of streaming in data, preparing it for deeper analysis, and activating new data knowledge across an enterprise portfolio. Adobe’s data preparation in particular is highly praised, with data governance, data privacy, and standardized schemas built into the data cleansing process. Some users who aren’t familiar with the Adobe ecosystem may have trouble getting started, but it’s important to note that this tool works across both Adobe and non-Adobe datasets and platforms. 

Features

• Standardized XDMs and data validation
• Dynamic identity graphs for cross-device profile management
• SQL query analysis across multiple channels and platforms
• Central omnichannel data source for machine learning model efficiency
• Data visualization with built-in BI integrations

Top Pro: Adobe offers very granular customization for settings and permissions in particular.

Top Con: Some users, especially users who were not previously familiar with Adobe tools, feel that this product has a steep learning curve with limited documentation and tutorials available.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is a Microsoft CDP that offers AI-powered insights and granular customer analytics on a user-friendly dashboard. This platform particularly excels in its AI offerings, with out-of-the-box AI, self-service AI, and customizable AI features offered to platform users. And while many other platforms suffer from an outdated user interface or limited data visualizations, Customer Insights offers customizable data visualizations that are easy to interpret.

Features

• Out of the box and custom reporting available
• Prebuilt and custom AI models for predictive insights
• Cookie-less consent rules feature
• Multiple-condition funnel reports for customer journey optimization
• Built-in data governance tools for regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Top Pro: More robust reporting and data visualization features than most other tools in the CDP market.

Top Con: Dynamics 365 Customer Insights does not offer as many external integrations and connectors as some of the other tools in this market.

Oracle Unity Customer Data Platform

The Oracle Unity Customer Data Platform is a tool in the Oracle CX Marketing suite that focuses on CDP with machine learning-powered insights and recommendations. Smart segmentation and in-depth behavioral analysis is one of this platform’s strengths, with features like behavioral scoring and prebuilt behavioral segment templates. Oracle is known globally for its database and data management tools; this tool, in combination with other Oracle data tools, helps enterprises feel confident in the quality of their collected customer data.

Features

• Built-in identity resolution available in single-customer view
• Data cleansing and preparation for customer data modeling
• Industry-specific schemas for customizable campaigns and workflows
• Over 50 prebuilt intelligent attributes and customizable attributes available for customer profile enrichment
• Smart segmentation with behavioral scoring and prebuilt behavioral segments

Top Pro: Connection to other Oracle database and data management tools makes this one of the strongest data quality options in the market, specifically with other Oracle CX tools.

Top Con: Some customers have explained that this Oracle product requires a long implementation/setup process with limited customer support available.

SAP Customer Data Platform

The SAP Customer Data Platform is another tool on the CDP market that offers robust data visualizations and other dashboard features for easier understanding. Typically deployed through the cloud as software-as-a-service (SaaS), users can expect real-time updates to their customer profiles and all of the data privacy and governance strengths that now often come with a cloud-based platform.

Features

• SAP Master Data Integration service available to connect back-office and front-office data
• Engagement systems based on data privacy and regulatory inputs
• Regular calculation of attributes for segmentation and audience management
• Adaptive business hierarchies and departmental ownership visibility for a larger enterprise
• No-code and low-code features for a user-friendly interface

Top Pro: SAP offers several native features, but also offers easy integrations via APIs and connectors, thus limiting necessary customizations.

Top Con: This platform caches contact information semi-regularly, particularly from social media platforms, so some contact information is not updated in a timely fashion.

Learn more about low-code in the enterprise network: Using Low-code to Deliver Network Automation 

Enterprise Network Benefits of Customer Data Platforms

Breaking down data silos

Especially in a larger enterprise, every department across marketing, sales, finance, and others has a unique frame of knowledge about the customer. While that specialized knowledge is helpful, separate customer profiles across siloed departments makes it difficult for any employee to get the full picture of who the customer is, what they want, and how they currently engage with your brand.

With a customer data platform, customer data silos are immediately broken down. Anyone who has access to the CDP’s unified customer database can immediately see data from any other enterprise system that has been connected to the platform. Having a master copy of customer data not only ensures accuracy and appropriate engagement with the customer but also allows different departments to understand all of the data and craft customer-facing projects with more comprehensive expertise on the customer experience.

More on data democratization: Data Democratization: Key Strategies for Your Business

Data quality management

Many customer data platforms offer embedded data quality features, such as deduplication, data cleansing, and data merging, and some of the more advanced tools offer data governance features to meet regulatory requirements. Simply by the fact that you are merging customer profiles across your enterprise portfolio into one place, you’ll eventually be able to see and correct inconsistencies in your customer data profiles.

In-depth customer data

CDPs don’t just offer the name and contact information of a prospect or customer. With the combined knowledge of your entire customer data portfolio, CDPs can share information like the customer’s last engagement with your website, how much they’ve spent in certain product categories over the last year, and even their relevant geo-location tags. While not all of this data will be useful to all enterprise users, this in-depth customer knowledge helps you target campaigns and create groups based on specific customer metrics.

Optimized trends reporting

Although not every CDP offers advanced analytics and reporting capabilities natively, their integrative design and their detailed customer information makes trends and business intelligence reporting more granular and accurate. CDPs typically include data across demographic, transactional, behavioral, and channel-based categories, so when users rely on CDPs for reporting data, they can make more holistic predictions about future milestones and goals for the business.

Knowledge base for customer programs

In-depth customer knowledge helps the customer too. When marketers, salespeople, and executives alike know more about their customers’ wants and needs, they begin creating products and services that serve their buyers better.

Although customer data platforms focus almost exclusively on customers and their behavior, these metrics are useful across the board. Knowing your customer, while having the data and action items to back that knowledge up, offers enterprises new opportunities to increase customer engagement alongside their bottom line, making them both a profitable and a preferred seller on the market.

Find the right solution for analyzing your customer data: Best Data Analytics Tools & Software

The post Best Customer Data Platforms (CDP) appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Whether or not it works well for your company, this new work paradigm has led to increased demand for unified communications as a service (UCaaS), which provides a one-stop interface through which employees can communicate and collaborate. As the name suggests, unified communications gathers all modes of communication, such as voice call, messaging/chat, and more, into one software platform to make communication and collaboration easy and accessible. 

While there’s no magic bullet solution to workplace inequities, UC can be part of a systemic and cultural effort to improve your workplace equity, particularly surrounding issues of accessibility, workload distribution, and interpersonal dynamics.

Also read: 7 Trends in Enterprise Unified Communications & Collaboration

Using UC to Improve Equity

Below are the various ways that UC empowers your employees and therefore improves workplace equity. 

UC for device and modality agnostic Interactions

UC empowers employees to work and collaborate on their own terms. The right UC software for your company will accommodate a range of devices and operating systems, so that employees can bring their own devices in what is commonly referred to as the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model. UC lets employees work with the type of operating system they’re more comfortable with, whether Apple or Android for mobile, Mac or PC for laptops and desktops. 

In addition to the power of device choice, the range of communication and collaboration modalities available in UC software addresses different preferences in modes of communication. While some prefer legacy apps, such as email or voice calls, others are more comfortable with chat or video conferencing. With UC, employees with children at home from school can easily toggle over to chat rather than audio methods of communication and have the option of switching off their camera in video conferences.

UC for variously abled teams and team members

UC meets users where their abilities are. Advancements in AI have made UC more accessible to people of varying physical, linguistic, and cognitive abilities. The benefits are especially apparent for teleconferencing. For instance, speech-to-text, like closed captioning, and text-to-speech capabilities make information accessible to users who best absorb information through reading or listening, respectively. For speech output, UC allows team members to contribute orally or through the chat function. 

An added benefit of UC software for meeting purposes is that recording and sharing features facilitate “on-demand” employee viewing or listening, so that they can catch up or review when, how, and as often as they want. UC enhances the meeting experience for all.

UC for equitable workload distribution

UC software is also useful for collaboration. AI enhances some UC software to include time-tracking tools that feed into an algorithm. The generated information informs project managers about tasks that require more time and energy in team projects. With that knowledge, project managers can more effectively distribute bigger tasks among various team members and also optimize meetings in terms of length and who is in attendance.

UC for a results-oriented approach

Given the variable nature of workplace set-ups these days, it’s easy to use UC software to monitor employee “visibility” or “virtual presence,” but that may be counterproductive to an equitable workplace culture. Employees may feel that they’re being watched and not trusted to complete their assignments. Single parents and in-home caregivers may especially feel this pressure. You can leverage UC software to focus on project milestones and deliverables instead. 

UC for voicing concerns

Through the literal screen of UC, employees are more likely to feel empowered to speak up when facing or witnessing discrimination or harrassment. UC also affords an employee a variety of ways to report and, more importantly, document problematic interpersonal dynamics in the workplace. UC provides more channels for airing and addressing workplace concerns. 

Why UC Matters for Workplace Equity

For better or worse, the pandemic has radically altered work for most of us. Remote work is here to stay, and UC will continue to play an important role in accommodating the new work paradigm as well as address subsequent workplace inequities. UC is not a cure-all solution, but it helps managers and business leaders identify and remediate inequities in accessibility, workload distribution, and interpersonal dynamics. 

Read next: Top UCaaS Providers & Companies for 2021

The post Improving Workplace Equity with Unified Communications appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.

Also Read: Top Ways Enterprises Apply AIOps for Network Management

Making NetOps Work for Your Enterprise Network

• What is NetOps?
  • NetOps vs. DevOps
  • NetOps vs. SecOps
• Tips for Transitioning Your Enterprise to NetOps
• Benefits of a NetOps Approach

What is NetOps?

NetOps, a term modeled after the more widely used DevOps, is a strategy for automating spurts of network management across different network verticals. Rather than having individuals or individual teams focus on a single component of the network, a NetOps team is trained to look at the network as a whole and optimize it in iterations over time, all while collaborating with other NetOps team members to ensure nothing gets missed. 

Some common tasks that a NetOps team will handle include monitoring for security and performance issues before they become major problems, fixing issues and applying updates as they become necessary, applying security patches and other security fixes on an ongoing basis, and constantly collecting and reviewing data to ensure that all pieces of the network are performing correctly. NetOps is one of many strategies that adapts the agile methodology to its process, and as a result, many agile-based automation tools are available to make NetOps processes more efficient.

More on Agile Project Management Tools: Best Agile Project Management Tools for 2021

NetOps vs. DevOps

DevOps is one of the most popular collaborative approaches to enterprise tech operations. In DevOps, a development team and an operations team are primed to work together and share best practices as they complete different segments of a software development project or update. Although both NetOps and DevOps focus on finding new efficiencies by breaking down silos and finding project steps to automate, their scope of work is different:

• NetOps is more specialized in network management tasks, while DevOps can be applied to nearly any development project in an enterprise.
• NetOps focuses on automating daily tasks and routine maintenance, much like AIOps or MLOps. DevOps primarily works to build automation into every step of application development.
• Ultimately, DevOps focuses on development environments and products, while NetOps focuses on a network’s hardware and software specifications. Because of the smaller scope of work for NetOps, their dedicated team can make changes to any part of the network more easily than the DevOps team can change their development environment.

Top DevOps Tools to Consider: Best DevOps Tools & Software of 2021

NetOps vs. SecOps

SecOps is another team that works to automate enterprise tech management. However, their focus dives deeper into the security end. They go beyond network traffic monitoring to troubleshoot, assess and resolve major issues, and assess risk across different users and tools. Increasingly, enterprises are encouraging their NetOps and SecOps teams to combine forces, working as a NetSecOps team.

SecOps in Collaboration: A Guide to DevSecOps: What is it and Why is it Required?

Tips for Transitioning Your Enterprise to NetOps

A NetOps strategy can offer a variety of benefits to an enterprise network. But it can also create new challenges if it’s not implemented with deliberate planning. Consider these top tips before transitioning your enterprise’s tech teams to NetOps:

• Create combined task forces among your AIOps, NetOps, DevOps, and SecOps teams, if any of these teams already exist. They can discuss best practices that work best in iterant delivery.
• Consider where current inefficiencies can be improved in the network before transitioning to a new operational approach. You’ll only duplicate most of those problems if you don’t address them now.
• Practice regular and crisis communication across departments. This will teach your team to work more collaboratively and to address problems in real time.
• Perform a proactive network audit. The audit will help you find network issues that can be addressed in the short-term vs. the long-term.
• If you do not currently have a holistic tech team, hire professionals who can configure and manage enterprise hardware and software environments expertly.
• Familiarize yourself with NetOps tools, such as Ansible and other open-source configuration tools. 

More on AIOps and MLOps: Top AIOps Tools & Platforms of 2021

Benefits of a NetOps Approach

If a NetOps strategy is successfully launched on an enterprise team, you can expect to see several of these benefits almost immediately:

Network Agility

The iterant approach to network operations provided by NetOps creates higher levels of network agility. Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) become more realistic, allowing your teams to quickly deliver and pivot as enterprise priorities change.

Less User Error

Automation of network operations makes task management easier for your team. It also lessens the chance for user error as they spend less time on manual, tedious tasks.

Optimized Network Infrastructure

The research you do before setting up a NetOps strategy quickly gives you better knowledge of your current network infrastructure and how it’s being used. NetOps encourages you to learn and incrementally improve network operations on an ongoing basis, frequently leading to more efficient use of existing network resources.

Preventive Network Care

Many enterprise teams don’t address network problems until they’ve already impacted a large swath of teams and tools. NetOps emphasizes preventive network care through automation, orchestration, and provisioning, which improves the overall health of the network.

Cultural Shift for Tech Team

Tech teams are used to working in silos, but NetOps, DevOps, and SecOps all encourage them to think and work collaboratively. With this shift away from siloed teams and project management, your teams can start optimizing process alignment and collaborative projects before they reach the finish line.

Read Next: Best Network Automation Tools for 2021

The post Transitioning to NetOps: Best Practices appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.