Blog: Why service providers should offer their own unified communications and video-as-a-service platform

Many service providers are looking into building their own platforms for providing unified communications and video-as-a-service. And so they should. The complexities involved and the flexibility required for these services require a platform where you have total control.

The driving forces, technology and market for unified communications is very different today compared to the situation just a few years back. With consumer oriented video solutions like iChat and Facetime becoming commonplace, users have become accustomed to be able to quickly and easily have face-to-face conversations wherever, whenever.

Instead of investing in dedicated video conferencing rooms, many organizations now implement integrated video solutions in their office suits, like Office 365 with Skype for Business or Google Apps with Hangouts. Today, laptops, tablets and even smartphones come with HD cameras and high quality sound, reducing the need for the bespoke and very costly equipment needed only a few years ago.

The changes also reflect the way users work and interact. With flexible office solutions and more project-oriented work processes, unified communications provide the glue that connects people and their assets. Users no longer stay in one place, working on their stationary computers. They hook up from wherever they are, and on whatever device they’re using – their own or the company’s.

Excellence as a service
Today, it is the service providers who are in a unique position to deliver unified communications and video communications-as-a-service to customers. With their infrastructure and reach, they make this possible.

However, there is much more to unified communications than delivering fast and steady data rates up and down the lines. The delivery platform needs to support multiple tenants using multiple vendor specific solutions over a wide range of devices. But the flexibility requirements extend much further than that, covering reporting, monitoring functionality and billing requirements.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. And this is why service providers ramping up their communications-as-a-service offerings are more and more looking at building their own platforms. There simply aren’t any standard solutions available that can provide the flexibility and functionality required.