UCaaS is an acronym for “unified communications as a service”. UCaaS platforms are cloud delivered communications platforms that allow users (such as small, medium or large businesses) to subscribe to communications services rather than purchase or otherwise procure on premise, dedicated services.
UCaaS is different than CCaaS in that UCaaS refers to “unified” communications – generally intended to replace your old phone systems while also providing chat, messaging and, often, video communications capabilities.
The UCaaS market is growing rapidly. One reason for its rapid adoption is that UCaaS allows a company to shift the way it treats its investment in communication technology.
The traditional approach of purchasing on-premise telecommunications equipment was treated as a capital investment, while UCaaS (or CCaas) is treated as an operating cost. Further, UCaaS is not a fixed investment — the number of seats or licenses needed can vary based on a companies needs, allowing a company to save money as the number of licenses needed reduces.
With a traditional communications model, companies had to acquire capacity ahead of demand and they rarely get it totally correct, which means over-capacity.