The business unit will also sell RingCentral’s contact centre service, starting in the UK
Vodafone Business and its partner RingCentral are offering the operator’s cloud-based, unified communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) platform. It combines voice calling, video conferencing and instant messaging. The services will be offered initially in 20 countries globally with plans to extend to more than 30 in early 2025.
In addition, Vodafone Business is adding Contact Centre-as-a-Service (CCaaS) to its unified communications (UC) portfolio, based on RingCentral’s RingCX contact centre solution.
The advantage to multinational businesses is they can more easily connect new locations and employees using these services, and adopt hybrid working models worldwide according to Vodafone Business, which will be their a single point of contact.
Vodafone Business also says the new offers “provides customers with one of the largest global UCaaS footprints, and Vodafone Business will also work with them to cover additional countries if specified”.
Unified comms
The Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral can replace traditional switchboards, cables, and IT systems with a secure and scaled cloud-based platform, according to the press release.
Customers can combine and customise messaging, video meetings, file sharing and virtual phone systems via a single user interface accessible on any internet-enabled device, mobile or fixed. The package comprises PSTN (voice) calling, numbering, UC devices, meetings and collaboration tools. It allows employees, regardless of location and device, can be set up quickly and given access to the same set of services, regardless of whether they work in an office, at home or in the field.
Marika Auramo, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Business, said: “Our expanding portfolio of unified communications services is ideal for customers looking to expand geographically whilst maintaining agile and sustainable hybrid working models.
“By switching to the cloud from rigid fixed systems, customers can add services when required, paying only for what they need. We estimate this will save many of them up to 30% in operating costs by reducing administrative costs and IT operational expenses whilst boosting productivity and collaboration.”
Contact centre too
The CCaaS, Vodafone Business Contact Centre with RingCentral, is designed to make it simpler for companies to establish and operate contact centres by equipping agents with AI. This includes call summaries, transcripts, automated scorecards, conversational insights and coaching.
Vodafone Business Contact Centre with RingCentral offers data insights plus voice and more than 20 digital channels including web, messaging and social media channels. Roll out will start in the UK, followed by Germany later this year, then progressively to other markets.
“With Vodafone Business Contact Centre with RingCentral, we’re empowering businesses with an all-inclusive contact centre solution that is simple to deploy, easy to use and manage, and comes with robust AI capabilities,” said Homayoun Razavi, EVP, Chief Business Development Officer, RingCentral. “Our comprehensive feature set ensures businesses can meet their customers wherever they are in their journey, while also driving operational efficiency to best position their business for success in today’s digital-first world.”