Top UCaaS Terms and their Definitions

Business communication isn’t a new concept. Before 1850, merchants sent letters, catalogs and invoices by mail, and in the latter half of the 19th century, corporate messages flew from one side of the United States to the other via telegraph. By the end of WWII, telephones were everywhere, and the World Wide Web came along in the early 1990s. Finally, unified communications emerged.

Unified communications, or UC, started with the invention of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in 1995. Within four years, enterprise-level VoIP developments kept VocalTec’s original Internet Telephone company in the marketplace. Standalone messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger began to appear just in advance of Y2K, and then Skype launched in 2003.

Contemporary unified communication is a seamless combination of mostly cloud-based messaging services. Some UC products—CPaaS apps, for instance—are integrated into existing company websites. Others exist on centralized UCaaS platforms.

UCaaS jargon can be a little overwhelming at the best of times. In this guide, we’ll explore seven of the most common unified communications buzzwords and acronyms to find out what they mean and how they benefit businesses.

Voice Over IP (VoIP)

In basic terms, Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is telephone via internet. Landline calls transmit coded electrical pulses through a network of copper wires and numerous digital exchanges, but VoIP calls transmit digital data through the internet instead. Early VoIP connections weren’t very reliable: Vulnerabilities like jitter and latency led to below-par call quality, and low-speed internet connections didn’t help.

Modern VoIP is a different animal. Back in 1998, VoIP calls accounted for about 1% of U.S. telephone traffic, and by 2019, VoIP market share had grown to 36.5%. Businesses use VoIP for three main reasons:

• VoIP is up to 50% cheaper than a business landline connection

• VoIP plays well with other digital tools, like CPaaS programmable voice systems

• VoIP calls reroute automatically

Contemporary VoIP connections are clear and reliable, and they travel with your team. Remote workers receive calls via the same system as on-site workers.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

“Please say or type your tracking number.” Sound familiar? Many couriers, including the USPS, use an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to communicate with customers. You dial into the automatic IVR and use your voice or your alphanumeric keypad to retrieve information.

IVRs work with telephone touch tones—DTMF tones—and they often also integrate voice recognition technology. Really sophisticated IVRs use AI to decipher queries and route customers to different departments.

Most modern contact centers handle calls using a blend of IVR technology and live agents. Incoming calls flow through the IVR, which gathers data; that data then travels to an agent pool. By the time customers get connected to agents, those agents already know a lot of information. In a nutshell, well-programmed IVRs help increase call center efficiency and improve UX.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems are private internal telephone networks. Almost none of the VoIP or telephone lines in a PBX connect directly to a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Instead, they connect to the PBX system—the digital switchboard. The PBX routes calls to other internal phones or to a small number of shared outside lines.

Before PBX, employee-to-employee phone calls would travel through the PSTN and back to the building, potentially incurring charges. Businesses were drawn to traditional PBX systems because they reduced costs associated with internal phone calls. Older PBX systems, however, used proprietary hardware, which companies had to update periodically.

Modern PBXs are open standard-based IP systems. In other words, they’re software-based Internet Protocol systems, and they use VoIP technology to transmit calls. Cloud-based IP PBX systems save businesses a lot of money and integrate with many other UC technologies.

Application Programming Interface (API)

In layman’s terms, application programming interfaces (APIs) are gateways. In practical terms, they’re software intermediaries—bridges between apps. Many apps use APIs to exchange data with external servers, for instance. Every time you integrate a WordPress widget, you do so via an API. Every time you send an instant message, you use an API.

Unified communications apps use APIs to connect with one another and with your back end. APIs tell pieces of software how to interact with one another, how to interpret information and how to pass information to other apps. Without application programming interfaces, UC wouldn’t be possible: APIs unify UC systems.

If you choose to build your UC system using CPaaS rather than UCaaS, you’ll connect UC widgets—messaging apps or VoIP systems—to your existing infrastructure via APIs. If you go with UCaaS, you won’t be directly responsible for API implementation.

UC vs. UCaaS

UC is an acronym for unified communications. In itself, UC is a concept rather than a set of products. UC refers to the smooth integration of—and interplay between—many types of enterprise communication. UC technologies include instant messaging apps, APIs, various types of telephony, video conferencing apps and cloud faxing. All of these programs, products and code snippets come together in an overarching UC framework.

UCaaS is a delivery model for UC. It’s a cloud-based UC platform—unified communications as a service. UCaaS systems are hosted by UCaaS providers: You pay a subscription fee and gain access to many different UC tools. Because it doesn’t involve programming, UCaaS offers an affordable way into UC for many SMBs.

UCaaS isn’t for everyone, though. If you want to integrate UC solutions into your existing site—a chatbot, for example—you’ll need to use a communications platform as a service (CPaaS).

Cloud Computing

When companies access IT resources online, they’re working “in the cloud.” Essentially, that’s cloud computing. Companies no longer have to invest in infrastructure development: Instead, they just select a cloud provider and sign up for a set of on-demand tech services. Cloud computing services include:

• Infrastructure as a service, or IaaS: Data storage services, remote physical machines, virtual machines and virtual LANs

• Containers as a service, or CaaS: Load-balancing tools, compute instances and scheduling capabilities

• Software as a service, or SaaS: Subscription-based on-demand software hosted on a third-party server

• Platform as a service, or PaaS: Infrastructure tools like storage, networking and servers, and middleware like business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems and development tools

• Communications platform as a service: A cloud-based platform designed specifically for communications solutions development

Imaging your company has extensive data storage needs. In the past, you would have had to purchase, secure and maintain your own business-class server system. Now, you can rent server space elsewhere and store your data offsite.

CRM

Customer relations management (CRM) is a process, a strategy and a technology. From a unified communications perspective, it’s a system. CRM software acts as a central hub for customer data: Telephone numbers, addresses, email addresses, social media profiles, demographics and other information flows into the CRM—either automatically or manually.

CRM systems also capture and track interactions in real time. You can use your CRM to monitor and share service requests, questions, customer preferences and shipments. When people call or email your customer service department, your CRM captures the contact. Customer service reps can add notes and schedule follow-up calls or emails via the CRM, too.

The right CRM software can help you identify opportunities for improvement—and additional sales opportunities. You can use data gathered by your CRM to forecast sales, hone supply chains, upgrade recruitment processes and generally understand your business better.

SIP Trunking

SIP stands for session initiation protocol. In simple terms, SIP trunking is a type of VoIP service. It’s essentially a bridge between analog telephony and digital telephony. SIP trunks convert electrical signals created during an analog call into digital audio data packets for VoIP transmission. In a nutshell, SIP trunks eliminate your voice lines and make the most of your data connections.

You can use SIP trunking to keep your number when you move from one office to another—either temporarily or permanently. SIP trunks and multi-location PBX systems work together to reduce the need for physical telephone lines—in fact, SIP trunks are an essential part of the PBX playbook.

The UC Wrap

Unified communication isn’t a software or a simple set of tools: It’s an ecosystem. Messaging apps, video conferencing apps, VoIP systems, collaborative platforms and file sharing options merge into one. The right mix of UC tools—or the right UCaaS platform—can help your team collaborate and share ideas. A well-designed UC framework can:

• Drive team productivity

• Save your company money

• Enhance customer UX

• Boost your sales

• Improve customer service quality

• Reduce staff turnover

Here at 8x8, we create custom UC solutions for businesses large and small. Get up and running right away with our world-class all-in-one UCaaS platform, or let us tailor a CPaaS solution to suit your SMB or enterprise-level organization.

Successful businesses communicate effectively—both with their customers and with other businesses. If you’re ready to find out how to drive your business forward with UC, request an 8x8 quote online or call on 1-877-926-2116 to speak to one of our talented tech experts.