Software-based voice and unified communications (UC) is one of the biggest trends in IT today. The ability for voice and PBX functions to be purely software-based, residing on off-the-shelf servers, has opened a new world of possibilities when it comes to virtualization, portability, business continuity and disaster recovery. It also benefits end users by providing a common user experience across multiple devices, ensuring the look and feel of the UC app on your PC is the same as your smartphone and tablet. This ease of use greatly enhances your organization’s mobility strategy by simplifying end user training and increasing adoption. It also complements the undeniable BYOD trend as end users can visit an app store to download a mobile version of their desk phone and UC app to their smartphone or table.
Whether it’s traditional PBX features such as voice, voicemail, unified messaging, presence, call recording, or a combination of them all, software-based communications gives you the management interface that combines the tools you need and makes it easy to manage and deploy. With software-based communications, you have a single application that makes upgrading and ongoing maintenance easy and seamless. With the portability to move in or outside of your network through on-premises, cloud, or hybrid deployment, you can feel secure with the complete business continuity that software-based communications offers.
If your biggest concern is finding the capital to fund this venture, the good news is there are financing options to consider to ensure you’re still able to reap the benefits without breaking your budget. Your best bet in leveraging financing is to shift your technology upgrades from your Capital budget to your Operating budget. This is where your technology financing partner plays a very important role. With budget concerns, a partner who offers varying lease options may work best. For example, taking advantage of a zero percent lease option will allow you to obtain the technology upgrades you need now at a rate that falls well below what you’re currently spending for maintenance now.
Watch the video below to see Drew Beckmann, from NEC Corporation of America, discuss how software-based communications can be deployed on-premises or as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). He addresses a number of additional benefits and discusses security concerns with this type of application.
Have you made the move to software-based communications? Tell us how in the comments below.
