Comparing UCaaS and
CPaaS for cloud-based
communications
2
CPaaS and UCaaS platforms are growing, as organizations move
from on premises to cloud. Learn what capabilities these options
offer and how they fit into your enterprise communications.
As enterprises make the move from on-premises to cloud-based
communications platforms, they will have to choose which cloud-based
model best suits their business needs. Both unified communications as a
service, or UCaaS, and communications platform as a service, or CPaaS,
offer many of the core communications services.
UCaaS and CPaaS provide similar capabilities. However, they diverge on
how they provide service. UCaaS is reminiscent of a traditional on-
premises platform, where all functions and applications reside inside the
platform.
CPaaS takes more of a build-your-own model, with open APIs that allow
enterprises to customize and embed communications within existing
business applications.
What services are available with CPaaS and UCaaS?
Cloud-based communications models include many of the same features and
applications as traditional on-premises communications. UCaaS features include
enterprise messaging, team collaborations apps, telephony and video
conferencing.
CPaaS offers many of the same functions, but it relies on delivering capabilities
such as voice, video and messaging as separate services often through APIs. APIs
offer a higher level of customization and integration that make CPaaS an
attractive option for organizations looking to embed communications into their
apps.
Even UCaaS vendors have shifted toward incorporating CPaaS into their
offerings as a way to make UCaaS options more customizable. The combination
of UCaaS and CPaaS together make it easy for enterprises to meet all of their
communications needs through a single vendor.
How do CPaaS and UCaaS handle internal and external
communications?
CPaaS and UCaaS beat on-premises options when it comes to both internal and
external communications due, in part, to lower infrastructure costs. The external
nature of cloud networks also makes UCaaS and CPaaS desirable for enterprises,
as they are built to communicate across network boundaries. CPaaS platforms
can offer a more seamless external communications experience than UCaaS due
to the customizability of APIs.
Cloud-based systems are also adept at delivering internal communications, with
only a few potential pitfalls. UCaaS and CPaaS can run into trouble if deployed
in a highly restrictive network. All unified communication services, however, are
designed to handle internal communication, regardless of whether they reside on
premises or in the cloud.
How are UCaaS and CPaaS converging?
The cloud-based communications market has seen an explosion of vendor
offerings, making it difficult for individual vendors to stand out. To differentiate,
UCaaS vendors are incorporating sought-after features like open APIs and
CPaaS, as well as AI and contact center integrations-Micah Levine asks:
How do UCaaS and CPaaS fit into your
communications roadmap?
Join the Discussion
Adding open APIs and CPaaS within UCaaS offerings allows enterprises to
integrate more functionality into an established platform. Capabilities like click-
to-call, for example, can be added into customer relationship management
applications to streamline workflows. Many vendors are developing CPaaS that
will work alongside UCaaS either in-house or through a third party. The addition
of CPaaS provides more flexibility than UCaaS alone, so enterprises can use one
vendor for all applications and services, rather than using multiple vendors to
provide features not included in their UCaaS platform.
