UCaaS Solutions for Small Business: Everything You Need to Know

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) can unlock a lot of doors for small businesses. Flexible, mobile, and easy to implement, this is one solution that has become even more useful in 2020 for companies forced to work remotely. UCaaS solutions for small business offer a way for teams to communicate, collaborate, and to stay productive from wherever.

Let’s take a look at why UCaaS is becoming increasingly popular and how this technology is uniquely positioned to help SMBs thrive, even in the coronavirus era.

Small Businesses Depend on Efficient Solutions

Unlike big-budget enterprises, smaller companies don’t usually have a lot of financial flexibility. According to a recent McKinsey survey, close to one-third of small businesses in the US were operating at a loss of breaking even – before the pandemic.

Yet, for many, adopting the right technologies quickly has become vital for sustaining business. With a UCaaS solution, there’s no need to invest in expensive hardware or to shoulder maintenance and IT management costs. To use the software, users simply need to download an app to their laptop or mobile phone.

Not only that, but as a cloud-based solution, there’s no tech implementation hurdle. Once your teams have the software and your subscription is activated, staff can get to work. UCaaS has served as a frictionless solution for small businesses during the pandemic.

UCaaS Boosts Productivity

With Unified Communications technology, users can access all collaboration and communication apps from one interface. Your employees can log in to one platform – which means one password and username for one integrated solution. From there, they’ll have everything they need to connect, share, and stay productive.

  • Business phone system
  • Team chat and SMS
  • Video conferencing
  • Screen sharing
  • File management

Since all of this is available through one platform in the cloud, your staff can use all these tools on-the-go. Whether employees are working from home, in the office, or anywhere else, they’re equipped to answer emails, chat with co-workers, host meetings with clients, send and review documents, and more.

This is why UCaaS solutions are often adopted for their ability to increase agility and productivity. It’s also why this technology boasts a year-over-year market growth rate of 29 percent.

Secure Solutions Are Exactly What Small Businesses Need

With the right UCaaS solution, small businesses can count on comprehensive security. When exploring solutions, check that your provider is vigilant about keeping their infrastructure – and by extension, your data – safe. Here are some of the standard security measures you can expect:

  • Data centers that are physically monitored 24/7
  • Multi-layered security controls to protect the infrastructure such as formal policies for authentication and configuration standards for firewalls
  • Monitoring controls to identify potential security threats quickly
  • Use of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection to further safeguard network security

They should also use data encryption to protect sensitive customer and call data. For a higher level of security, look for a provider that encrypts data both in transit and at rest.

More than one-third of senior technology executives say that cybersecurity risks have gone up as the majority of employees started working from home. Chief technology officer for Nationwide, Jim Fowler said about the uptick in cyber threats, “Businesses should anticipate that bad actors will assume people aren’t manning the gates, providing them with an opening.”

One way small businesses can combat this increased risk is to only adopt technologies that they know are safe. As your Unified Communications solution is the hub of business communications, choose a provider that takes security and data protection very seriously.

UCaaS Is a Win for Small Businesses

This is true in the current business climate. It’s also the case for the future of work. Whether your teams are working remotely or not, UCaaS solutions empower teams to be more productive and more efficient.

Elevate UC, EarthBend360’s’s popular Unified Communications as a Service solution, comes with a 99.999% financially-backed uptime service level agreement and relies on state-of-the-art technologies to monitor for and protect against malicious intruders.

You can also embed your communications into your everyday business apps. EarthBend360 Elevate UC Unite integrates with Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, G Suite, NetSuite, Salesforce, Slack, and other leading CRM, sales, and collaboration applications. Learn about how you can take your business to the next level with EarthBend360 Elevate UC.