Unified Communications: Is your connectivity actually disconnected?
This blog has been expertly reviewed by Darren Hogan, Director of Portfolio at Nasstar.
According to UC Today, 93% of organisations have increased Unified Communication (UC) use since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, almost all business conversations are conducted over a Unified Communications (UC) platform.
Collaborating at a distance using unified communications has become the new normal. And while it’s been a silver bullet for businesses embracing remote working, it’s also made it difficult for some organisations to adapt quickly.
In this new world, technology plays a significantly larger role in how we communicate with each other – no more walking across the office to speak to someone at their desk! This means our UC technology needs a sufficiently robust and reliable infrastructure, or you risk effectively disconnecting your business from the improved collaboration that UC was designed to deliver.
What is Unified Communications?
Unified Communications (UC) refers to the ways we connect different communication systems in a digital workforce. It’s essentially an umbrella term for the integration of several communication tools, including:
- Voice calling
- Instant messaging
- Video calling
- Meetings
- Team collaboration
- File sharing
- Integrated apps
UC is designed to integrate these tools into a single, streamlined platform, thus improving user experience, collaboration, and productivity. It also ensures that no matter where a person is working from, they will still have access to the same secure system.
Connectivity: The enabler
Unified communications solutions have become key for businesses adopting a hybrid or remote working approach. However, your UC deployment will only deliver the best results when the right connectivity solution is in place.
If you’re a business that relies on a UC platform for real-time telephony and video services, there are certain connectivity elements that are essential for consistent and reliable use. These services can be negatively affected by low throughput, high latency, high jitter, and packet loss, each of which can be mitigated by choosing the best connectivity solution.
Without connectivity, distance communications are impossible. The solutions to this include options such as SD-WAN connectivity. High-speed connectivity, orchestrated through SD-WAN and configured to deliver an unforgettable end user experience (through private dedicated connectivity into the hyperscaler), will contribute to the best UC deployments.
Connectivity at Nasstar
At Nasstar, we understand that connectivity is the key to success, whether it’s fuelling collaboration or enabling your UC platform to work at its best. We know that adopting a strategy for a successful UC deployment is no longer just about addressing the hybrid working model and allowing collaboration via a new technology solution.
It’s equally about establishing a connectivity fabric so that your unified communications solutions can deliver the best outcomes for your business, enabling that wider hybrid working and collaboration element of work.
We have developed three products as part of our Intelligent Connected Cloud (ICC) portfolio: ICC Access, SD-WAN, and ICC Cloud Connect. Each of these services can deliver the underpinning connectivity fabric for your UC success story, either independently or in collaboration with one another.
ICC Access brings your business into the Nasstar connectivity infrastructure. With an ecosystem of connectivity partners, we’re able to deliver cost-effective, high-speed connectivity solutions that enable site-to-site communication and Direct Internet Access for public cloud SaaS apps through a single connectivity fabric.
It’s last mile technology that can be “bundled” through SD-WAN orchestration to create faster, more reliable connectivity while maintaining the quality of interactions across your UC platform of choice.
Our SD-WAN offering has been designed to allow multiple circuits to act as one. Consequently, the failure of any single circuit will not impact the quality of voice and video. Furthermore, enhanced visibility and control through SD-WAN reporting and analytics means you have performance data at the touch of a button.
In essence, SD-WAN enables a consistently great user experience.
ICC Cloud Connect simplifies the process of connecting to the public cloud, privately. Our dedicated and centrally provisioned connection between our ICC network and your chosen hyperscaler environment is delivered to result in a single, streamlined connection. Imagine connecting privately to the provider of your chosen UC platform to reduce round trip times, packet loss, latency, and jitter - all of which are enemies of a great user experience.
Get connected
Hybrid working demands effective technology solutions, underpinned by a robust, high-speed connectivity fabric. It’s no longer enough to just deploy Unified Communications and hope for the best. Your business and stakeholders deserve the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively – no more frozen faces on video calls! Working with a trusted partner to establish the best and most reliable connectivity options for your business is vital in the digital workspace.
Reach out to our teams to establish the perfect connectivity solutions for your business here.
