Highlights –

  • Unified Communication as a Service is a cloud-based platform combining various communications channels, such as messaging, video conferencing, and cloud calls, into one interface.
  • Contact Center as a Service is a cloud-based platform that combines communication channels with contact center tools, such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and advanced analytics, into one interface.

Organizations consider cloud services such as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) as an alternative to on-premise systems as it helps consolidate an organization’s enterprise applications into a single cloud-based platform. It improves communication and collaboration and enhances the employee and customer experience (CX). Although these tools – UCaaS and CCaaS – have similar functionalities, they are used by different departments for different purposes.

It is obvious to compare them for differences, but they complement each other as they have similar functionalities yet different purposes. These cloud-based communication platforms became popular alternatives to on-premises systems and experienced increased adoption amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

This article will help you understand the concepts of UCaaS and CCaaS and the differences between them. Let’s begin understanding these tools first; then, we will move on to the differences.What is UCaaS?

Unified communication as a Service (UCaaS) is a cloud-based platform combining various communications channels, such as messaging, video conferencing, and cloud calls, into one interface. Organizations typically purchase UCaaS software to streamline communication and collaboration among their employees.

UCaaS users don’t need to purchase hardware; hence, they typically pay lower upfront costs than companies with on-premises unified communications systems. The ability to consolidate multiple types of digital communications like video, messaging, voice, and conferencing into a single space is a primary benefit of UCaaS. It also enables users to access the software from any location. Features like conference bridging, voicemail-to-email transcription, virtual receptionist, and call routing and forwarding help support interoffice collaboration.

Benefits of using UCaaS

The primary benefit of UCaaS is linked directly to its ability to help people work together, and organizations of all sizes can benefit in the following ways:

  • Enabling increased worker mobility
  • Enhancing cross-department collaboration and removing silos
  • Increasing efficiency
  • Facilitating better synchronization of organizational and departmental goals.

What is CCaaS?

Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a cloud-based platform that combines communication channels with contact center tools, such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and advanced analytics, into one interface. This software can promote inbound and outbound communication between contact center agents and customers. Organizations generally invest in CCaaS to enhance CX and boost sales performance.

As vendors cover maintenance and hardware expenses, CCaaS users benefit from lower upfront and overhead costs compared to on-premises contact centers. CCaaS also supports remote work, as the contact center agents can access the platform from any location. A CCaaS solution offers businesses features like skills-based routing, customer authentication, AI-powered voice analysis, and split recording — solutions used by organizations to offer customer-facing services and features, thus enabling stronger, smarter, and more thorough data analysis.

Benefits of using CCaaS

CCaaS have a few more features and is, hence very useful. Here are some of the benefits –

  • Lowers and simplifies your IT expenses
  • Offers better flexibility to grow and scalability as per business needs
  • Provides faster connections and hence, faster resolution of problems
  • Faster and better-quality service helps in a better customer experience.

Difference Between UCaaS and CCaaS

Although both UCaaS and CCaaS are cloud-based platforms that integrate communication tools, they differ in the aspects such as purpose, features, integrations, and vendors.

Purpose: UCaaS enables an organization’s employees to connect with each other. On the other hand, CCaaS allows customer service and sales representatives to connect with the company’s customers.

Organizations may embrace UCaaS to replace existing private branch exchange phone systems since UCaaS provides more channels than just cloud calling. UCaaS also streamlines inter-organizational communications into one interface and enables remote collaboration. Typically, an organization’s IT department supervises the implementation of UCaaS.

On the other hand, CCaaS helps organizations provide better customer interactions. Organizations with high inbound and outbound call volumes may adopt CCaaS to streamline customer service and sales communication channels. Other organizations which need to support a remote contact center or sales team may also consider CCaaS. Usually, service and sales leaders supervise the implementation of CCaaS.

Features: Although both UCaaS and CCaaS include call routing. However, CCaaS has some additional features, such as automated call distributors, IVR systems, skill-based routing, customer authentication, customer survey tools, call center analytics, and call whispering. With these additional features, contact centers can manage high call volumes and provide quality assurance for customer service interactions.

Integrations: Organizations usually combine UCaaS software with calendar applications and productivity. Employees can schedule meetings with each other with the help of calendar integrations. Organizations can improve workflows by integrating UCaaS with productivity apps like DocuSign.

On the other hand, organizations commonly integrate the CCaaS platform with a CRM. Since CCaaS allows representatives to interact with customers, a CRM can track all these interactions. Organizations can also combine CCaaS with UCaaS platforms and help desk tools.

The combination of UCaaS and CCaaS software enables agents to contact subject matter experts within their organization, thus reducing the problem resolution time.

Vendors: Some of the leading UCaaS vendors are Fuze – an 8×8 company – Nextiva, Vonage, RingCentral, and Zoom. In contrast, some top CCaaS vendors are Avaya, 8×8, Salesforce, Five9, and Talkdesk.

Similarities between UCaaS and CCaaS

No matter the differences, UCaaS and CCaaS platforms adopt a cloud-based payment model and offer streamlined communications. Furthermore, both can include call routing that can easily integrate with CRMs and other apps. The vendors for both platforms are common as the markets have begun to merge.

Conclusion

Organizations could prefer bundling these two software to get the best results. Those who rely on effective communication and collaboration to get their job done – such as remote sales agents, contact center staff, office employees, and other arms of the business – may not always communicate with each other, but the tools they use should.

To get the best of both tools from a single cloud-hosted partner, organizations should combine UCaaS and CCaaS. It results in a single point of contact for billing, fewer expensive hardware installations (or maybe even none), and one point of contact for any questions aroused.