As business and work models evolve, unified communications, or UC, remains at the heart of the conversation. With 2024 winding down, it’s time to look ahead to 2025 to see what UC automation trends are on the horizon and how UC user provisioning software will continue to play an essential role in unlocking value.
Now more than ever, UC platforms are central hubs that connect messaging, voice, video, and workflows for companies with distributed teams. Staying up to date with the latest UC trends will be crucial to staying agile and competitive. By embracing emerging trends we expect to see in 2025, organizations can improve employee engagement, create new efficiencies and ensure they are well-positioned for the future of work.
The 5 UC Trends We Are Predicting for 2025
As we move into 2025, we will continue to see many trends that have dominated the UC industry over the last few years. Hybrid work environments will continue to grow, and interest in applying the latest technologies, like generative AI, will remain a driving force in how enterprises choose their UC vendors. With that in mind, let’s break down the top five trends for 2025.
#1. UC platforms will push a more mature version of generative AI.
Generative AI will continue to be a hot topic and a technology that many UC platforms will lean on as they continue to iterate and innovate. However, unlike the previous couple of years, when UC providers touted the addition of AI to all facets of their offerings, providers will likely take a more selective approach to applying these technologies to refine further and mature their offerings.
For business leaders and UC teams, that selective approach means you will have a much clearer idea of AI’s practical applications in your UC environment, and the business benefits will be much more tangible. Tools like AI-powered virtual assistants, real-time transcriptions, and translations can help companies become more efficient in their communications. On top of that, AI-powered analytics and sentiment analysis will help contact center teams further refine their customer communications. Overall, the conversation around AI’s application in UC environments will solidify in 2025.
#2. The shift to cloud-based UC solutions will continue.
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions will continue rising as more businesses move from on-premises systems to cloud-based UC. UCaaS offers greater flexibility by allowing organizations to scale communication tools according to their needs. Cloud UC is better equipped to handle everything from hybrid teams to rapidly expanding operations by eliminating the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades. As we enter 2025, many more organizations, even across more regulated industries like the public sector and healthcare, will realize the benefits of cloud-based UC and begin the process of migrating to cloud-based UC.
#3. Enterprises will further consolidate their UC environments.
Part and parcel with the continued shift to the cloud, organizations will look to consolidate their UC environment onto one platform. This means many companies converge UC for inter-company communication with contact center environments for customer communication.
This convergence does two things:
- It reduces training costs and the administrative work associated with training end-users for two platforms.
- It eliminates barriers between frontend employees and back offices in responding to inquiries, problems or opportunities.
#4. Integrations will jump to the front of the line.
Interoperability and integration with business applications will be key in 2025. In many ways the success of a UC platform in an organization will largely depend upon its ability to integrate with other business-critical applications. Businesses are moving away from siloed communications, and as such, integrations with CRM, ERP and service management systems will be crucial deciding factors in how businesses ultimately select a UC platform.
Another factor at play here is automation. Many organizations invest in low-code and no-code platforms to build custom automated workflows and applications tailored to their needs. For instance, with these tools, UC systems can trigger automated action items that then feed into project management software as soon as a meeting ends. As UC platforms continue to evolve in 2025, businesses will increasingly prioritize systems that can integrate communication tools directly into workflows, fostering faster decision-making and delivering a more cohesive experience for employees and customers alike.
#5. UC security will get more serious.
Underpinning all of these trends will be the need for more robust security around UC platforms, especially as businesses and organizations in heavily regulated industries begin to switch away from on-prem systems. Compliance will be a key driver in UC platform adoption as businesses navigate a more complex landscape of data regulations as well as industry-specific requirements.
UC platforms will take note and offer built-in compliance tools to help organizations manage data governance and secure archiving and retention policies. This will ensure the businesses that need to can stay ready for any type of audit while responding quickly to data requests or any regulatory changes.
Finally, as cyberattacks grow more sophisticated UC platforms will continue to iterate their security capabilities with advanced security frameworks that not only protect data but also offer proactive monitoring and incident response capabilities. But a balance will need to be struck between strong security measures and user experience to ensure that employees can collaborate efficiently without compromising safety or compliance.
As UC Changes, Efficient User Provisioning Remains a Problem
As the industry continues to shift its focus to AI-powered, highly integrated, cloud-based UC platforms, one problem remains. Users still need to be provisioned in those new platforms, and UC teams need the tools to automate tedious and time-consuming provisioning work.
That’s where automated UC user provisioning software comes in. Whether on-prem or in the cloud, hybrid platform or consolidated, adding UC user provisioning software can help UC admins speed up provisioning work while ensuring accuracy, giving them the time they need to focus on strategic improvements to your UC environment to meet the challenges of 2025.
Automation is always in style. No matter the trend, automated UC user provisioning saves time and resources. Schedule a demo of Akkadian Provisioning Manager to see how it works.
