Implementing UCaaS: Best Practices

Carry out a Network Assessment

Can your network support the new system? Look at your current network architecture and identify any potential issues that may impact the performance of your new UCaaS solution. You can do this yourself or work with an IT expert. We recommend analyzing bandwidth, latency, jitter, and packet loss. You’ll also want to look at your network hardware and software, including firewalls and switches, to ensure compatibility with the new UCaaS solution. Before implementation, you’ll need to test the network with a pilot deployment to rule out any performance or connectivity issues. Completing a thorough assessment will ensure that your new UCaaS solution is deployed on a network optimized for performance and reliability.

Determine the Number of Users and Role Types

Having a head count of users is necessary for securing your system licenses. You’ll also want to consider what role types are available in your system and how you’ll assign those based on user needs. Common role types include super admin, admin, user, or guest.

This is also an excellent time to consider what endpoints each user will require. Do they need desk phones, softphones, or mobile devices?

Establish an Integration Plan for Other Business Systems

Integrating UCaaS with other business systems can be hugely valuable and also very complex. When creating your integration plans, it’s essential to clearly define your goals and requirements for the integration ahead of time; ideally, you’ll have done this when evaluating providers to ensure that the solution you choose can meet your needs. Once implementation time rolls around, you’ll want to be on the lookout for any potential issues or roadblocks early on, so you can plan accordingly. Ensure your integration plan includes a test phase before pushing live to guarantee everything is running as intended.

Create a Migration Plan to Transfer Data from the Existing System

A UCaaS migration can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months. The length of time depends on several factors, including the size of your company, the complexity of your existing infrastructure, and the overall scope of the migration. Your migration plan should include detailed timelines for each step, from the initial assessments to the final implementation. These timelines can vary depending on your company’s needs and current systems.

Establish Security Policies and Procedures to Protect Business Data and Communications

Although UCaaS providers have their own security policies in place, it would be wise to plan how to further protect your data with internal security policies and procedures. Consider access controls, authentication tools, encryption, and network security elements you can implement for your UCaaS solution. Keeping employees informed on how to spot security risks can also help reduce the risk of incidents, along with regular security assessments to help identify and address security vulnerabilities. If your team doesn’t have the capacity or knowledge to support these, you can always engage a managed security services provider (MSSP) like One Source to help protect your organization from cybersecurity threats.

Monitor and Optimize

You’re not quite done once your new solution is up and running. To ensure that your system consistently performs efficiently, you’ll need to track and analyze its performance regularly. This can include monitoring bandwidth usage, call quality, server performance, and system availability. It may also involve setting up alerts and notifications to identify and address potential issues proactively. Regular reporting can help provide valuable insights into system performance and identify opportunities for optimization.