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Senior Writer: Paras Kela
Date: February 9, 2024The right communication solution can help a business organization transform the customer journey and achieve instant commercial success. However, as the unified communications industry is growing in size and complexity, it’s often difficult for business leaders to decide what they are actually looking for in the market.
There are plenty of acronyms being commonly used in the corporate ecosystem, and it’s difficult to make sense of them at times. Chances are that if you add ‘aaS’ after any letter, you have got a new cloud-based communication technology.
Well, it’s definitely time to crack the code. While UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) is most commonly used in the VoIP domain, there’s a new buzzword in town that is CPaaS. It stands for Communications Platform as a Service and is adding to the confusion with respect to VoIP jargon.
So, let’s delve deep down and understand these two varied terms UCaaS Vs CPaaS. Let’s talk about the technology that drives these services and which would be a better long-term investment for your business organization.
UCaaS: What’s It All About?
The concept of unified communications is something that we have all been hearing about. UCaaS fits under the umbrella of SaaS (Service as a Software) which is a method of platform delivery that lets the business owner choose what tools and features they need such as instant messaging or calling.
Based on a similar vein to SaaS, Unified Communications as a Service allows companies to bundle various tools and products across a single platform. Cloud-hosted unified communications ensure that UCaaS businessess can integrate what they need into their final solution such as live chatbots, video conferencing, text messaging and other VoIP features.
Business managers can work on their communication strategy, and streamline UC software so that they do not need to pay for any features that they will not use. Talking about payment, the best part about UCaaS is that service vendors usually adopt a ‘pay as you go’ pricing approach. This means that owners need to pay a certain amount every month or a quarter of a year for UCaaS.
Implementing UCaaS Would Mean This In The Real World:
Are you wondering about reasons to go ahead and implement UCaaS? Well, here is why you should do it. Unified Communications as a Service is convenient, agile and speedy – will definitely improve the quality of overall business communication.
One differentiating aspect about UCaaS is that it’s not a stand-alone application, rather you get an integrated platform of comprehensive communication tools. Since it’s entirely hosted in the cloud, a business organization will not have to waste time or money managing data servers or any other complex infrastructure.
The emergence of trends such as Bring Your Own Device To Work (BYOD) and digitization has led to a rapid rise in the adoption of unified communications. In fact, the UCaaS market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.2% during the forecast time period of 2019-2025. This clearly demonstrates how the business world is moving towards UCaaS, and the technology is gaining quick prominence amongst global users.
If you implement UCaaS, you can expect a transformational shift in your communication model. Here are some key aspects that UCaaS includes:
- Shared collaboration tools that may include provisioning and network management
- Flexibility to add or reduce users from the plan
- Shared communication infrastructure such as data servers or server racks. All the service provider’s subscribers benefit by utilizing the hardware, in stark contrast to independent on-premise setups.
- A customized per-user per-month pricing model that is based on subscription.
CPaaS: What’s It All About?
Though as a concept Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) is similar to UCaaS, there are some inherent differences between the two. CPaaS enables business owners to create their own suite of communication platforms that enables them to communicate better with clients across the world.
In CpaaS, users receive their own Software Development Kits (SDKs) and APIs so that they can construct their own applications. Business organizations may also choose to use a pre-built API from their service provider if they do not want to go through the entire process of developing their own.
CPaaS is a completely software-driven cloud-based solution for business owners that want to derive the maximum from an enterprise communications platform. Users do not need to invest in any physical infrastructure or utilize channel-based solutions for features such as online conferencing, instant messaging and voice calling.
A standardized CPaaS offering generally consists of APIs, sample code, support forums and precise documentation for developers to integrate any communication essential features directly into the application. Companies have to decide which specific offerings best suit their business model, making CPaaS a much more personalized structure for clients.
Implementing CPaaS Would Mean This In The Real World:
Are you still not certain about what benefits implementing CPaaS for your organization would bring? Well, you need to understand that it would lead to a dynamic shift in your real-time communication abilities, and empower your business to seamlessly interact with clients, vendors, suppliers, and other organizational stakeholders.
CPaaS is the ideal solution for any organization that wants to build its own customized communication platform but does not want to go through any major capital expenditure on space, infrastructure, or data servers. Here is what implementing CPaaS includes:
- Provision of a complete development framework that may even include software development kits to build own applications from scratch.
- Since CPaaS is cloud-hosted, there is no need for on-premise infrastructure, rather users can benefit from shared data racks and servers.
- Users need to pay based on their subscription package – a fixed amount every month, quarter or annual year.
CPaaS providers eliminate all the hassle associated with maintaining infrastructure and allow businesses to create powerful tools that focus on scalability and serving their global clientele better. CPaaS solution APIs make it possible for users to provide web-based chat, translate speech to text, click to call and send notifications. Businesses can also enjoy advanced analytics and lead tracking facilities by building their own suite of required features.
CPaaS vs. UCaaS: For Your Business
There is no one size fits all model when it comes to business communication. Both UCaaS and CPaaS are different approaches that will do well under varying circumstances.
UCaaS is a simpler technology and just requires ‘plug n play’ – no extra work, and users can enjoy a plethora of communication features. However, CPaaS may require technical developer experience where users will need to plan their own application and decide what features to integrate. In that respect, CPaaS is like a blank slate as companies can add whatever APIs they want to develop customer-focused apps that suit their needs. If you lack CPaaS technical developer experience, you can get it by performing various ongoing live projects on sites like upgrad and udemy.
There are tons of exciting opportunities out there in the current evolving business scenario. UCaaS and CPaas have changed the landscape of traditional communication networks. Since both technologies leverage the power of the cloud, they provide the option to scale upon demand. Both CPaaS and UCaaS are extremely user-friendly in approach, and implementing either of the two solutions is not complex or challenging.
This is not an either/or situation. The UCaaS Vs CPaaS discussion brings out diverse points of view, and companies can benefit by adopting even a combination of the two. So what’s your best bet? Read up, research and find out what corporate communications solution will give your business a competitive advantage and catapult your bottom line results to the highest possible level.
Paras Kela is a highly skilled SaaS content writer with over 7 years of experience in the IT field. His expertise lies in simplifying complex technical concepts for easy comprehension. With a portfolio of over 100 high-quality blogs covering various SaaS topics, Paras’s writing style is engaging, informative, and SEO-friendly, ensuring maximum effectiveness. He continuously updates his skills and knowledge to stay current with industry trends, making his writing relevant and reliable.
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