By Ronan Higgins

Ronan Higgins

Anything-as-a-service (XaaS) solutions, including unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) platforms, have allowed businesses to thrive in today’s hybrid work environment. These solutions have provided the necessary tools and resources for companies to adapt to the changing business landscape and continue to collaborate for productivity and success.

According to Cavell Group, only 11-13 million of the 285 million Microsoft Teams users each month have connectivity to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) enabled, which is less than 5% of the overall user base. This presents a significant opportunity for service providers to offer new solutions to customers and generate additional revenue streams by providing voice capabilities to the many enterprises that are unaware of their benefits.

Telephony capabilities can be integrated into UCaaS platforms such as Teams and Zoom to optimise service delivery and provide a consistent global experience for enterprises and end users. Calls can be made from the Teams platform to external mobile numbers, and vice versa, for smooth communication on a single platform.

These voice capabilities can be enhanced with bring your own carrier (BYOC). This model enables enterprises to choose their own telephony carrier for maximum benefits, rather than relying on the standard plan offered by the UCaaS vendor. BYOC is a fantastic way for service providers to capitalise on the growing opportunities in the UCaaS market, while meeting more of their enterprise customers’ demands.

Getting started with BYOC can be difficult without the right network, solutions, and knowledge. However, working with an expert partner can help service providers expand their reach to global markets and take advantage of new opportunities.

Overcoming UCaaS Challenges

User experience is one of the most important factors to consider when using UCaaS platforms and services. Connectivity issues can lead to a poor user experience with poor-quality video and audio calls, dropped calls and downtime. If problems occur during a business pitch via video call, it can even result in lost sales and revenue.

Addressing these issues for enterprise customers should be a priority for service providers, but they may face some challenges along the way. These include complex regulatory and compliance challenges, a lack of global network infrastructure and presence, skills gaps within their teams, and a lack of experience with BYOC and telephony integration in general.

By working with a reliable partner, service providers can gain the necessary knowledge, experience and expertise to help them successfully enter the cloud telephony market.

BYOC Benefits

When starting your BYOC and UCaaS journey, it’s crucial to find a partner who can guide you through the process with the right tools and expertise. An ideal partner will assess your connectivity landscape, evaluate your needs, discuss your options, assist with setup, and test and optimise the BYOC solution.

Partnering makes it easier for service providers to meet the increasing enterprise demand for integrating telephony into UCaaS, communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS), contact centres-as-a-service (CCaaS), and other XaaS platforms with a comprehensive solution.

They can enhance enterprise customer loyalty by addressing their cloud telephony challenges and allowing them to choose the carrier that best suits them in the long term. By choosing a partner with a reliable global network for BYOC, service providers can also provide enterprise customers with a wider reach across the globe.

Working with a partner with a strong network and global relationships can also reduce the time spent working with multiple vendors, helping to boost business efficiency. The right partner will handle complex details, simplifying compliance and regulatory issues.

Partnering with an expert who knows the ins and outs of UCaaS platforms, BYOC and cloud telephony makes it simpler to monetise the growing opportunities in Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more.

Taking the Next Step

To keep up with the increasing demand for cloud communications, service providers must be prepared to adapt their offerings as the world becomes more virtual.

BYOC provides numerous benefits to service providers around the world, helping them to meet the changing needs of customers in a rapidly growing XaaS market. Working with an expert partner can provide a smooth transition to cloud telephony with direct access to new opportunities and revenue streams.

With a forward-thinking BYOC solution and an expert partner, service providers can adapt to changing cloud communications demands globally and stay competitive in a fast-changing market.

Ronan Higgins is commercial director of Coolwave Communications, where he uses his expertise in solutions-based telecoms learned over two decades to develop bespoke deals for clients. He previously was sales director for Imagine Communications Group. You may follow Coolwave or Higgins on LinkedIn.