Effective communication and cutting-edge collaboration applications are more important than ever in the new age of remote workforces. However, organizations and IT juggling collaboration tools, conferencing tools, and diverse technologies that exist across their locations can quickly become overwhelmed by the volume of applications and equipment that require support and upkeep.
This scenario has played a part in the rise of unified communications as-a-service (UCaaS), especially in organizations that depend on reliable connections between disparate remote offices and employees working from home. Although enterprise UCaaS has proven to be an invaluable tool throughout the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing a UCaaS solution requires thorough planning and preparation.
Below are a few missteps to watch out for when plotting your UCaaS deployment:
1. Ensure that your UCaaS deployment factors in all critical features
When planning to transition to a hosted enterprise UCaaS system, it’s important to keep mind that your entire organization relies on dependable and convenient communications that your users are accustomed to. Early in the planning process, take the time to perform a complete audit of capabilities your teams currently utilize, ensuring that the new enterprise UCaaS solution leaves nothing behind. This way you can avoid establishing a cloud-based communications system that doesn’t include critical features that your organization needs to function.
Also read: How CBTS is Integrating Hosted UCaaS with Microsoft Teams
2. Prior to deployment, build a rigorous enterprise UCaaS support system
A successful UCaaS deployment brings every branch of an organization together with intuitive communication functionality, including voice, collaboration, video conferencing, and more. To maintain this network, precautions must be taken to ensure that peak traffic periods and downtimes can be managed without losing quality of service. This means provisioning sufficient bandwidth and staffing enough knowledgeable experts to keep the enterprise UCaaS infrastructure intact. Remember that poor traffic routing, call lag, or dropped connections can be severe detriments to the overall experience of your customers, partners, and users.
3. Have a comprehensive process map in place before your UCaaS deployment
The devil is in the details; if your UCaaS deployment roadmap fails to account for business continuity, then your communications upgrade could end up disrupting strategic operations and hurting more than it helps. To maintain regular business activities during an enterprise UCaaS transition, your deployment must include contact center routing plans, IVR configuration, auto attendant setup, strategic hunt groups, call flows, call handling strategies, and any other critical workflow elements your organization relies on.
Also read: UCaaS roadmap requires support from stakeholders
4. Thoroughly train and prepare team members at every level of the organization
Training, adoption, and ongoing technical support are crucial elements of follow-through that can help a UCaaS deployment make a meaningful long-term impact. After all, simply buying a new collaboration application or handset for your company doesn’t mean much if your teammates aren’t taught to use it effectively. Not only should employees be properly trained to get the most out of the new enterprise UCaaS solution, but this training should be tailored to specific departments based on the needs of each branch of the company. For example, sales staff and warehouse technicians typically don’t require the same training since they use their communications hardware and software for different tasks. This approach to specialized training and adoption should be baked into the planning process of your UCaaS deployment and accounted for with ongoing support.
Precautions such as these can help ensure a successful hosted cloud communications transition and set your enterprise up for long-term success. It’s also worth considering pairing your enterprise UCaaS solution with a customized software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) service to fully modernize and streamline your network infrastructure and applications.
Also read: Stepping up your UCaaS experience with SD-WAN
Contact CBTS to find out how to properly prepare for and execute a UCaaS deployment for your enterprise.
