In today’s changing world, customers expect enterprises to provide collaboration across flexible workplace environments along with state-of-the-art customer experience solutions, all on the bedrock of seamless communication infrastructure. While unified communications (UC) and collaboration solutions seem like a simple answer to these challenges, the reality is much more complex and layered.
According to
Omdia’s Future of Work 2020 survey, four out of five organizations plan to increase remote working permanently. In this hybrid environment, fixed-primary rate interface (PRI) lines and
on-premises PBX systems may become extinct soon. We’ve said enough about collaboration and contact center technology. This article focuses on the voice infrastructure layer.
Here are three elements of the voice communication strategy that IT leaders should consider:
1. Cloud Connectivity
Moving voice connectivity to the cloud is as important as implementing cloud solutions for collaboration and contact centers. Legacy infrastructure and out-of-date technology become a drain on the finances. Meanwhile, cloud solutions help to optimize costs by moving capital expenses to operating expenses on an organization’s balance sheet. Scalability and flexibility are two other advantages of moving communications to the cloud. Session initiation protocol (SIP) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) help to address legacy issues when it comes to the voice infrastructure. A telco with a robust voice cloud solution and global SIP coverage is ideal as organizations move to the cloud.
2. Vendor Coverage and Expertise
Working with multiple service providers brings coordination issues to the cloud, such as difficulty in migrating seamlessly and getting visibility across measurement, monitoring, and management requirements. It’s also crucial that the voice service provider understands the compliance and regulatory landscape in the countries of operation and has expertise and experience to help organizations navigate this minefield. IT leaders should look at a communications partner who offers global coverage, an integrated service level agreement (SLA), compliance and regulatory expertise and experience.
3. Global and India Coverage
Both enterprises and communications application service providers (CASPs) understand the importance of India as a market since many have business interests/offices and users in-country. India has stringent regulations regarding PSTN calls. For example, you cannot switch calls using corporate private networks—enterprises must deploy a voice gateway at each of their sites to have domestic PSTN calling in India. The contract, delivery, and management for both enterprise telephony solutions and PSTN are separate.
Expertise in India’s regulations becomes an important factor for enterprises and CASPs to flourish in the country. Since it’s quite difficult for organizations to have such expertise in-house—it underscores the need for a partner with the necessary licenses and expertise for India, and a global presence.
The Way Ahead
True unified communications and collaboration (UCC) is the vision of integrated unified communications as a service (UCaaS), contact center as a service (CCaaS), and communications platform as a service (CPaaS) solutions that enable a seamless experience for employees and customers based on a SIP trunk to meet India’s domestic and international voice calling needs.
If you want to give your users a rich, uninterrupted, and friendly experience—today and in the future—you must work with a partner who understands your business and connectivity needs. A single provider who offers full service across cloud, voice and UC and delivers business value through a combination of process excellence, quality framework, and service delivery innovations while meeting compliance requirements in local regions such as India is ideal.
Take the trusted route to UCC in India and beyond with regulatory-compliant domestic and international calling and UC solutions from Tata Communications.
