When it comes to choosing a service for external communications, a cloud-based system is almost always best. These solutions exist outside of the internal network and are designed to cross network boundaries with ease. However, whether you should choose Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS) or Communications Platform as a service (CPaaS) depends on numerous factors, making the decision-making process less intuitive. To help you decide, here’s what you need to know about these technologies.
In most cases, UCaaS prioritizes internal communications. These are setup to allow your business to communicate more effectively for the purpose of continuing operations. While there is an external component to many of these solutions, it may not be the priority behind the design.
At its core, UCaaS is a collaboration software solution. The intent is to allow employees to share information with greater ease, even when conversations are cross-departmental or with workers at different physical locations. These services are also highly scalable, enabling adjustments to be made when the number of personnel within the organization fluctuates.
CPaaS typically allows for a wider selection of use cases and puts a higher amount of focus on outward and inbound communications involving contacts outside of the company and customers. This may allow it to integrate more efficiently into a broad range of scenarios, making it a better fit for business processes that involve external communications.
Both UCaaS and CPaaS aim to provide access to real-time communications, but CPaaS can be advantageous when creating mechanisms for external customers to communicate with internal resources is the priority.
In the grand scheme of things, CPaaS is relatively new. However, it has the potential to improve external communications within a business significantly. This service gives developers access to a wide range of functions that can be integrated into applications quickly. For example, SMS, MMS, and speech recognition may be offered along with standard options like traditional voice and video.
Often, common portions of the code are created by the provider in advance, allowing developers to save time by simply adding the features they want to integrate. Cloud-based services are also less taxing on business as internal infrastructure isn’t required to maintain functionality. Plus, CPaaS has the ability to lower the cost of development as it shortens the time it takes to create a suitable web or mobile applications with the features in comparison to building something internally.
If you’re trying to choose between UCaaS and CPaaS, the decision is often based on whether you are looking to improve internal or external communications. In some cases, a single provider may offer both services, allowing you access to a full complement of features. However, certain suppliers are focused on one area, especially since CPaaS is just getting its footing in the larger market.
If the goal is to increase options for internal collaboration, then UCaaS may be your best bet. But, if you’re hoping to reach your customer base through web or mobile applications, CPaaS might be the better way to go.