UCaaS
Bring users, locations and communications tools together with a solution that fits how your organization works. LAVA helps compare UCaaS options against requirements, user experience, integration needs and commercial terms.
Overview
LAVA is an enterprise technology consultant for UCaaS, unified communications as a service. We walk through your current environment, define your requirements, compare cloud phone systems, Microsoft Teams calling, meetings and SIP trunking side by side, and run an RFP so providers compete for your business.
Then we help negotiate the contract, project-manage the deployment and support you for the life of the agreement.
At a glance
300+
Providers in our portfolio
75+
UCaaS providers
Common challenges
Most UCaaS projects start with one of these.
Calling
It replaces the on-site PBX or key system. Calling, voicemail, auto attendants, call queues and apps are delivered from the cloud, your numbers move with you, and moves, adds and changes are managed centrally instead of site by site.
Business phone service delivered from the cloud: calling, voicemail, auto attendant, call queues, mobile and desktop apps, messaging and usually meetings.
When it fits: An aging or end-of-support PBX, multi-site or hybrid workforces, consolidating after a merger, or a move to an operating-expense model.
What to weigh
Voice connectivity delivered over IP to an existing phone system, session border controller or Teams. It replaces PRI and analog trunks without replacing the phone system.
When it fits: Keeping a PBX that still has useful life, feeding Teams Direct Routing or a contact center platform, high-volume or international calling, or a first step before full UCaaS.
What to weigh
Moving your existing numbers to the new service (porting) and making sure emergency calls carry a dispatchable location for every user and site.
When it fits: Every migration, especially multi-site moves and teams with remote workers.
What to weigh
Microsoft Teams
Yes. Adding phone service to Teams lets people make and take regular calls in the app they already use for chat and meetings. There are three common ways to connect it, and the choice usually comes down to control versus simplicity, the equipment you already have, international needs and analog devices.
A provider’s SIP trunks connect to Teams through a certified session border controller, which the provider can host and manage.
When it fits: You want the most control, already own session border controllers, or need analog and legacy devices to keep working.
What to weigh
A provider’s calling service is switched on from inside the Teams admin center, and the provider manages the connection behind it.
When it fits: You want simpler provisioning and day-to-day management, with fewer components to run.
What to weigh
A UCaaS platform’s calling appears inside the Teams client, so users get that platform’s phone features without leaving Teams.
When it fits: Organizations that need features a UCaaS platform offers, such as advanced call handling, while keeping Teams as the everyday app.
What to weigh
Standardized on Microsoft 365? Some Teams calling services can be bought through cloud marketplaces and may count toward existing cloud commitments. We check this as part of the comparison.
Meetings & messaging
In LAVA’s model, meetings, video and messaging are part of UCaaS. The question is whether the platform that runs your calling also covers how your teams meet and chat, or whether a separate tool is the better fit.
Scheduled and instant video meetings, screen sharing, webinars and recordings, joined from a browser, the desktop app or a phone.
When it fits: Hybrid work, consolidating overlapping meeting tools, and regulated meetings that need encryption or retention.
What to weigh
Room and huddle-space systems that let shared spaces join meetings from certified devices.
When it fits: Office refreshes and hybrid meetings where people in the room and remote attendees need the same experience.
What to weigh
Persistent team chat, file sharing and presence, so people can see who’s available and move from a message to a call or meeting.
When it fits: Teams that work across sites, shifts or time zones.
What to weigh
How it fits together
Most organizations land on one of three patterns, all running on the network underneath. These are the common designs and the paths organizations take to get there.
01
One UCaaS platform for calling, meetings and messaging, with one admin portal and one support path.
02
Teams for meetings and chat, with phone service added through Operator Connect or Direct Routing, backed by SIP trunks.
03
A retained PBX at some sites on SIP trunks, with UCaaS at the others, migrated in waves.
04
Voice and video need enough bandwidth, quality of service and a backup path at every site. See Network & Connectivity.
On-site PBXUCaaS
Inventory lines, numbers, devices, analog endpoints and call flows, plan porting and emergency calling, pilot one site, roll out in waves, then retire the PBX maintenance contract.
On-site PBXTeams Phone
Confirm Microsoft 365 licensing, choose Operator Connect or Direct Routing, plan analog devices and attendant consoles, port numbers and decide where the contact center lives.
PRISIP trunks
Keep the PBX for now: SIP trunks replace PRI lines and prepare for a later move to UCaaS or Teams.
Analog linesPOTS replacement
Fax, alarm, elevator and door-phone lines that can’t move to the cloud are handled as a separate POTS replacement project.
Contact center
Many organizations run Teams or a UCaaS platform for employees and need a contact center that works with it. Check for a certified Teams integration with presence sync, transfers and consults between agents and employees, shared numbers and carriers, and unified reporting.
One platform for both means one vendor, one admin and shared analytics. Best-of-breed gives you the strongest capability in each area, with more integration work. We compare both, because one answer doesn’t fit everyone.
Spend & contracts
Start with a clear inventory of users, licenses, lines and contracts. Technology Expense Management keeps it visible after go-live, Network Spend Optimization reviews the connectivity underneath, and Awesome as a Service is the ongoing strategic and execution relationship that can draw on both when they are in scope.
Helps organizations reduce costs, improve efficiency and gain visibility into their technology services, from inventory and invoices to reporting and bill payment.
A full review of your network, connectivity and wireless services: invoice and contract analysis, a market rate comparison and RFP, then a phased plan to consolidate providers and lower spend.
Your technology strategy. Our team behind it. An ongoing consulting and execution program combining technology strategy, optimization, sourcing and project follow-through. Engagement scope is agreed with each client.
Comparing proposals? Read how to evaluate UCaaS cost per user. Audits, project management and implementation coordination are scoped by engagement. See Professional Services.
How we work
01
We walk through your current environment, including lines, numbers, devices, analog endpoints and call flows, and build a timeline unique to your project.
02
We define the target, bring forward providers that meet your requirements and run an RFP that weighs price, vendor financials, compliance and infrastructure.
03
We help with contract and final price negotiations, then project-manage the deployment from number porting to cutover.
04
The services we deliver are supported by LAVA for the life of the agreement.
Quick Assessment
Answer a few questions and get a clear read on where your network, security and communications stand, plus next steps from a LAVA advisor.
UCaaS, unified communications as a service, delivers calling, messaging and meetings from the cloud as one service. A traditional phone system is a PBX on site that you own and maintain. With UCaaS there’s no PBX hardware to look after, and changes are made centrally.
It depends on how standardized you are on Microsoft 365, which features you need, such as attendant consoles, analog devices or a contact center, and the experience your users expect. LAVA compares both. If you also need a contact center, see CCaaS, CX & AI.
Direct Routing connects SIP trunks to Teams through a session border controller and gives you the most control. Operator Connect switches on a provider’s calling from the Teams admin center, so it’s simpler to manage.
Yes, if you keep a PBX, use Direct Routing or bring your own carrier to a contact center platform. Usually not, if you move to an all-in-one UCaaS platform.
Usually, yes. Numbers move to the new service through porting, and LAVA helps plan the port timing to avoid downtime.
Many UCaaS and Teams calling services support analog devices. Lines that can’t move are handled as a separate POTS replacement project.
Requirements gathering, a side-by-side provider comparison and RFP, contract support, project management of the deployment, and support for the life of the agreement. Start with a quick assessment or talk to us.
Work with LAVA
Schedule a meeting to learn more about how we can help your company’s unique needs.
