What’s the Difference Between CCaaS and UCaaS?

If you work in tech, you’re no stranger to acronyms. Some are commonplace (it’s pronounced “gif”) some are redundant (SD-WAN network) and some sound so obscure you need to google them just to be sure what they’re even describing.

And if you work with cloud technology? Well – RIP. There are a lot of acronyms that sound the same but describe vastly different apps.

Case in point – CCaaS and UCaaS. These acronyms are just one letter apart, but hugely different in terms of function. And yet… UCaaS and CCaaS apps can integrate with each other in a number of different ways. It’s easy to get the two confused. Let us break them down.

How are UCaaS and CCaaS Similar?

They’re both:

• cloud platforms that host a suite of tools and services to support your business’s communication needs.
• able to replace on-premise infrastructure that hosts legacy apps.
• Software as a Service. This means you pay for them monthly, typically through a license-based subscription model.
• housed and managed by vendors, who frequently update the solution, add functionality, and manage issues

How are UCaaS and CCaaS Different?

UCaaS

UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a Service. It’s a suite of tools that allows your company to communicate both internally and externally. UCaaS replaces things like POTS lines, faxes, and chat tools.

Some of the most common UCaaS features include:

• Active Directory
• Phone service
• Chat
• Video conferencing

The key word in UCaaS is “unified.” UCaaS allows you to integrate all of these technologies, allowing you to seamlessly switch between them, and communicate more effectively. With UCaaS, your tools work together to provide a cohesive communication strategy. Unifying your communication tools gives you add functionality that you might not otherwise have.

• The ability to see if someone is currently in a meeting, on a call, away from their computer, or available for a call/chat (also known as “presence”).
• View people’s calendars and schedule meetings in any application.
• Click-to-Call functionality allows you to make calls directly from your browser.
• Send voicemails directly to email for your review.
• Single sign-on allows you to quickly access all apps at once.
• Move from chat to video call to conference call all with just a few clicks.

CCaaS

CCaaS stands for “Contact Center as a Service.” CCaaS is a platform that hosts all the tools you need to effectively run a contact center. CCaaS takes your on-premise applications housed in your data center and moves them to the cloud. Some of the key features of a CCaaS platform include:

• ACD/IVR
• WFM and Workforce Optimization
• Call recording and storage
• Data and analytics
• Omni-channel capabilities (integrating chat, voice, social media, and email channels)
• Transcription services

CCaaS gives you a load of benefits you can’t get with an on-prem contact center solution. Moving to the cloud is the best way to leverage new technology to improve your customer experience. By using CCaaS, you get:

• Improved reliability: a cloud-based app gives you improved redundancy and a 99.999% uptime guarantee.
• Easy integrations: APIs and vendor engineering resources mean you can integrate your CCaaS platform with your CRM, your preferred apps, and yes, even your UCaaS tools.
• Cutting-edge technology: With a CCaaS platform, vendors are constantly releasing updates and leveraging new technology. Things like AI, sentiment analysis, and WFM tools are available to you.
• Omni-channel: All the major CCaaS vendors provide an omnichannel experience, improving both customer experience and agent productivity.

Can CCaaS and UCaaS be Used Together?

CCaaS platforms can integrate with UCaaS apps, allowing your users to make calls, chat with customers, and respond to emails in the applications they’re already using. You can also use CCaaS technologies to make call trees for front desk lines and internal support numbers. By combining the two, you give your agents the ability to work reliably anytime, anywhere.

Want to learn more?

Moving to the cloud gives you huge benefits, but it can be confusing. No matter where you’re at in your journey to CCaaS or UCaaS, we can help you sift through the glut of online info and find what’s relevant to you.