In order to serve as a trusted advisor to our clients, we need to stay up to speed with the latest IT trends and solutions. To achieve that, our team of IT experts attends weekly training sessions conducted by various IT solution providers. Based on our extensive experience and sales volume with the suppliers, we receive exclusive, direct and usually in person training from these vendors. Our Tech Talks blog series offers a snapshot of these educational sessions.
One of our key unified communications (UC) solution providers has updated their portfolio and recently sat down with our team to go over their new offerings. These UC options give organizations that have already invested in Skype for Business or Cisco phone systems the opportunity to build on what they already have to gain full-blown cloud-based UC capabilities.
Here are a few key facts about these solutions.
Solution summary: These products help businesses facilitate communication and collaboration, allowing for greater productivity and efficiency. The cloud-based UC platform powered by Skype for Business fully integrates with Microsoft Office and offers a range of features including IM, presence, voice, video, interactive voice routing, direct dial to any device, and more.
The cloud-based Cisco UC platform allows businesses to leverage existing Cisco phone systems/infrastructure (including IP phones and power over Ethernet (POE) switches) to gain cloud phone system capabilities. This solution has advanced features such as communications gateways, call control, and more.
Who should consider it: If your business already has Office 365 and Skype for Business, you might want to build on that investment by implementing the full-blown UC solution powered by Skype for Business. Taking that path will cost you less than opting for a UC platform that isn’t based on your current Microsoft solutions.
Similarly, if you’d like to move to a cloud-based UC solution but already have an on-premise Cisco phone system, the cloud UC platform powered by Cisco allows you to save money and time by using your current infrastructure as the groundwork for the new solution.
If you’re unsure which UC offering is right for your business, our team of expert cloud consultants can help. We can evaluate your company’s needs and compare and contrast solutions from various suppliers. Our vendor agnostic approach, network of technology partners, and experience with a wide range of IT offerings means that we can serve as your trusted advisor and save you the time-consuming hassle of trying to evaluate different options on your own. Additionally, we typically don’t charge extra for our consulting services.
To learn more and get in touch with our expert cloud consulting team, call 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com.