UC Today

Last week UC Today bought you the news that Gartner, the world's leading research and advisory company have scrapped their magic quadrant for unified communications. Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ) refer to a series of market research reports that rely on data analysis methods to demonstrate market trends, such as direction, maturity and participants. The unified communication quadrant has been stagnating for quite a while and the news that Gartner are now scrapping it hasn’t come as a surprise to the industry. In this episode I am joined by RingCentral who give us their reaction to the decision and analyse some of the reasons behind it.

Providing customers with exemplary experiences is undoubtedly hugely important for businesses. Now more than ever customer experience is one of the most crucial differentiating factors for organisations to stand out from the crowd and get ahead of their competitors. Providing great experiences isn't always easy and organisations must consider the security and privacy implications of the latest innovative platform that could improve their service provision. In today's episode we speak to the experts to find out how businesses can ensure that their customer's security and privacy is maintained whilst giving them the best possible customer journeys.  

During January we focused on some of the emerging technology trends within CPaaS platforms and now we hear about another potential development from TeleSign. Telesign are one of the world's leading providers of global customer identity and engagement solutions and they have been pioneering work around mobile, or phone, number identification. The premise of being recognised by a brand by your phone number rather than a username, or other detail, has various advantages and we explore some of the potential applications within business in this episode.

Being able to offer customers a truly reliable, scalable and secure collaboration platform isn't always easy for resellers and service providers. Choosing the right platforms to invest in and then having the capability to provide them as a global solution are often hurdles too high to overcome. As one of the world's leading providers of telecommunication networks Telstra are determined to help their partners do exactly that. That’s why they have been working with Cisco to develop a cloud collaboration platform that allows partners to own the customer relationship but in turn provide those customers with a tailored solution that offers enterprise quality and scalability. Telstra Cloud Collaboration with Cisco, or TCC, utilises Telstra's enterprise global network in conjunction with Cisco's HCS to create a tantalising offering for partners. In this episode we speak to Telstra to find out all about it.

UCaaS is one of the fastest growing technology markets globally. With the proportion of cloud communication deployments increasing, more and more organisations are looking to leverage UCaaS platforms. For service providers and resellers the market is becoming increasingly crowded and competitive forcing them to uncover the latest innovations to differentiate their offerings. Mobile native services are now one of the highest priorities for the modern business so being able to offer customers a truly enhanced mobile experience could be of huge value to providers. Metaswitch have launched their new Max UC platform that promises to redefine Mobile Native Business Communications and Collaboration Services. They join us today to tell us all about it.

As our January focus on CPaaS draws to a close we wanted to look ahead to see what future developments might be in store. Market leaders Twilio have been developing CPaaS for a number of years and in this episode they look at innovations that might formulate the future of the platform. Traditionally CPaaS platforms have offered integrations with voice, chat and SMS functionality but the capabilities of the platform are yet to be fully realised. How will emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, XR and bots be utilised in the CPaaS platforms of the future? We speak to the experts to find out.

Historically contact centres have acted as the main conduit between customers and businesses but the means in which consumers want to reach out has transformed in recent years. Consumers are demanding more when it comes to their interactions with organisations and now businesses are looking to provide a more proactive approach to service. How do you provide a truly proactive customer service experience? In this episode we examine the main benefits of proactive service, for both consumers and businesses, as well as the crucial factors that need to come together to enable this.

In this episode of Out Loud we look ahead to the Cloud Comms Summit which will be taking place in London in March. Hosted by the Cavell Group the event promises to be a key gathering for the Service Provider community. As thought-leaders in the European future voice and VoIP marketplace Cavell Group provide analytics and insights across the industry. Later this year they will be hosting their Cloud Comms Summit in London and we will be there to bring you all the news and key themes from the event. Today we preview the event which will provide the platform for Service Providers in the cloud communications industry to share best practices, discuss key trends and meet the biggest industry vendors. 

As 2018 draws to a close we are starting to review what has been an incredibly busy year within the worlds of unified communications and collaboration. One company have been particularly busy. Yamaha might not be a brand typically associated within the industry but since their acquisition and re-branding of Revolabs, Yamaha Unified Communications now aim to a become a force within this technology sector. Utilising their decades of experience within the professional audio markets Yamaha are hoping to enhance modern day UC provision. In today's episode of Out Loud we hear from them to get an update on their year so far and look ahead to some of their future plans and targets. 

The rise of technological consumption models throughout the industry has been revolutionary for businesses. Being able to utilise services on a more flexible basis has been hugely popular. Microsoft have seen huge success in this area with their Office 365 platform including communication tools such as Skype for Business. Often, however, customers were looking for more from Skype for Business and now one of the UK's leading distributors have teamed up with global cloud communications provider NFON to offer an enhanced service. The new Skype for Business as a Service offering will allow customers to leverage the full power of Skype alongside the communication enhancements offered by NFON's integration. In this episode of Out Loud we hear from both Westcoast and NFON to understand more about the new service and how it can benefit customers.