Last week, a post on GetVoIP discussed an important trend in the hosted telecom carrier arena: The unified communications sector is more directly targeting small and midsize businesses. This has given rise to arrangements in which the heavy lifting is done away from the premise using the platform. This, of course, is unified communications as a service.
The news is full of headlines centering on the use of the cloud to deliver unified communication solutions. But, before becoming the next name on a major service providers’ press release, there are big questions that you should be asking your prospective service provider.
It’s a little ironic: Since companies likely to be interested in UCaaS generally don’t have experts on staff – which is one of the main reasons they are outsourcing the job – those tasked with finding the right partner don’t necessarily know all the right questions to ask. The first important point, then, is that simply because a company is considering moving to a UCaaS doesn’t mean there is no need for a relationship with consultants or other experts. Perhaps these folks’ role ultimately will be reduced or eliminated, but it is important to have access to expertise while considering which service provider to retain.
If the company is going to skip the consultant, it is important that someone be mandated to study hosting and the cloud in general and the UCaaS in particular. There is a lot of good information available. Obviously, RCR Wireless News is the best place to start, but there are many other sources, of course. Here’s a useful slideshare posted by Digium. More insight is provided by Thinking Phones. And a third source, offered by NEC, focuses a bit more broadly on SaaS and cloud platforms in general.
Many of the questions that a company, big or small, must ask the prospective service provider are common sense. Some are particular to technology and UC.
First, some common sense
The common sense questions are about the same as those you would ask a doctor or, for that matter, somebody you are thinking of hiring to paint your house: Have you done this before? Do you have references? Do you have the proper licenses (if appropriate)? How long will the job take? What happens if it runs overtime? Will you prime before you paint? (Okay, skip that one when vetting UCaaS companies.)
Second, the obvious stuff
The second level of questions is just as obvious. They relate to precisely how the company wants to use its UC platform. These concerns are unique to the companies involved, so can’t be outlined here. But getting what is needed obviously is key: Is mobility the key? Is the ability of CSRs to escalate callers – conferencing in an expert, for instance – while on the phone a vital requirement? Even if the service provider can check all the boxes on overall experience, it pays to ask a lot of detailed questions on what services are needed.
Third, ask about the telecom tech side of things
The third level of questions is at the telecommunications level. A UC provider makes money by accommodating as many customers as possible on virtualized servers and other infrastructure. A prospective client should understand that in many cases the key to success is volume.
This leads to a layer of questions that get to the point of what sacrifices, if any, the client is making in exchange for not having to support UC internally. A key area of exploration is how the shared resources are configured: A piece of equipment may support several customers. If so, is there a suitable amount of excess capacity? How is the company’s data kept separate – and protected from – other customers’?
The list of questions is long:
• How much lead time is needed to change service configuration in case, for instance, there is an unexpected holiday rush?
• What do such changes cost?
• Are backup and failover pieces of equipment in place for mission-critical tasks?
• Are those backups located in dispersed locations?
• Are there redundant communication links among those locations – and between both and customers’ offices?
• Is there a guarantee that security patches will be installed within a certain number of days from when they are released?
The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that the option of outsourcing a difficult and specialized task is a good thing. But, if the right questions aren’t asked – and answered in a way that satisfies the organization – a move to UCaaS can become a nightmare.
Reuben Yonatan is the founder of GetVoIP. With an extensive background in cloud communication technologies and building industry-leading internet companies, Yonatan’s writings blend commentary, research and perspective on cloud computing, digital media, business/leadership strategies and enterprise solutions. Follow Yonatan on Twitter @ReubenYonatan.
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