Unified Communications: It’s Time to Rethink the Way We Connect

In This Blog 

• We’ve Modernized Everything Else. What About Communication?
• What Counts as Unified Communications?
• The Market Is Moving Fast
• Four Trends That Explain What’s Happening
• How Microsoft Is Approaching UC
• What Azure Communication Services Does Differently
• Making Contact Centers More Useful (and Less Painful)
• Where UC Actually Helps, Industry by Industry
• The Real Cost of Hanging Onto Legacy Systems
• How We Can Help
• Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve Modernized Everything Else. What About Communication?

Some of the biggest slowdowns in a company’s day-to-day work aren’t caused by broken systems. They’re caused by everyday communication friction: missed calls, unclear handoffs, scattered tools, and failing to connect with the right people in the right way at the right time. This friction often stems from relying on outdated phone systems and disconnected apps. For many organizations, cloud-based unified communications platforms offer a way to bring everything together more seamlessly. 

We touched on this at our recent CIO breakfast, where leaders shared how they’re making real progress on cloud adoption, data, and automation. Yet when it comes to how their teams communicate, many still feel stuck with tools that don’t match how work actually happens today. Teams are distributed, customers expect quick replies, and hybrid work isn’t going away. The way we talk to each other, internally and externally, needs to reflect our current reality. 

What Counts as Unified Communications?

When people think of Unified Communications (UC), they may immediately think of chats or video calls. But a comprehensive platform covers a lot more. 

Here’s what UC brings together: 

In short, it’s everything you’d expect in a modern workplace, pulled into a single platform that people can use without jumping between different apps. 

The Market Is Moving Fast

The numbers are hard to ignore. The global UC market is expected to grow fivefold over the next decade. In the U.S. alone, it's worth more than $50 billion right now. 

Microsoft Teams alone grew from 75 million users in early 2020 to over 320 million in just a few years. Hybrid work played a big part in that, but now it’s about long-term flexibility and cost. 

Despite this growth, less than 30% of companies have fully moved to cloud-based UC platforms. That means most businesses are still relying on older, patchworked systems, even though better options exist. 

Four Trends That Explain What’s Happening

Four things are pushing organizations to revisit how they handle communication: 

Within hybrid work, there’s another layer: the in-office meeting experience is still catching up. But it’s improving, with teams adopting new habits and best practices to create a more balanced dynamic between in-person and remote participants.  

How Microsoft Is Approaching UC

Microsoft has taken a clear stance: Teams is no longer just for meetings. It’s a hub for all communication and collaboration. 

The platform includes: 

What’s smart about this setup is that it all sits on top of Microsoft 365. So, if your company already uses Outlook, Word, or SharePoint, you’re already most of the way there. 

Teams Phone, in particular, gives organizations real flexibility when it comes to voice. There are a few different ways to deploy it, depending on your needs. For some companies, everything can live fully in the cloud, managed entirely by Microsoft. Others might choose to bring their own telecom provider through Operator Connect, or use Direct Routing to integrate Teams Phone with an existing phone system. 

Here’s a simple visual showcasing how Azure managed phone calls connects to Teams: 

Source: learn.microsoft.com

Whichever path you take, Teams Phone makes it easier to move forward from traditional PBX systems, without sacrificing the voice features your business still relies on. 

What Azure Communication Services Does Differently

Not every communication need fits neatly into a Teams meeting. That’s where Azure Communication Services (ACS) comes in. 

It gives developers access to the same chat, video, and calling infrastructure that powers Teams, but in the form of APIs. This lets you build things like: 

What makes ACS stand out is how it connects communication to real business processes. 

Take ServiceNow, for example. Instead of calling a help desk number, users can chat or start a call right from Teams. No need to manage separate systems or bounce between platforms. 

This is where UC is headed. Communication and collaboration are becoming part of the same workflow, built right into business processes. 

Making Contact Centers More Useful (and Less Painful)

Contact centers are a great example of where ACS shines. You can build workflows where a customer clicks a help icon in your app, starts chatting with a bot, and gets handed off to a human agent, all without leaving the app. 

Behind the scenes, that might mean Teams is handling the voice call, ACS is managing the chat, and bots are guiding the initial questions. From the user’s point of view, though, it’s one seamless conversation. 

It’s a lot better than waiting on hold, only to get disconnected. 

Here’s a simple visualization of using ACS to power a call center: 

Source: learn.microsoft.com

Where UC Actually Helps, Industry by Industry

Here are some high-level opportunities showcasing the potential of UC across different industries. 

In manufacturing: 

In healthcare: 

In financial services: 

In professional services: 

The Real Cost of Hanging onto Legacy Systems 

Plenty of organizations still use traditional PBX systems, and many work just fine. But the trade-offs are getting harder to ignore: 

Over time, these systems stop being a good investment.  

How We Can Help

If your communications platform is starting to feel behind the times, we can help you modernize it in a way that works for your team. 

At Emergent Software, we work with clients to: 

Whether you're just exploring or already deep into planning, we can meet you where you are and help build something that transforms the way you communicate.  

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Microsoft Teams Phone compare to a traditional phone system? 

Functionally, Teams Phone does just about everything a legacy PBX can, but with more flexibility and a stronger link to your digital workplace. You still get call queues, auto attendants, voicemail, and forwarding features. The difference is, it’s fully cloud-based and integrated with your Microsoft environment. 

That means your team can take calls from their laptops, mobile phones, or desk phones, wherever they’re working. You’re also not locked into a single provider. Microsoft offers a calling plan, but you can also use your existing carrier through Direct Routing or Operator Connect. 

For companies embracing hybrid work, Teams Phone is a modern solution that reduces overhead and simplifies management, while giving users a better overall experience. 

Can Azure Communication Services replace our current contact center software? 

In many cases, yes, and with far more flexibility. Azure Communication Services (ACS) is built on the same infrastructure as Teams, but it’s designed for developers who need to build communication directly into their apps or workflows. 

Say you want a customer support flow that starts with a chatbot, escalates to a live agent over video, and keeps the entire experience within your platform. That’s where ACS shines. It allows for custom experiences without relying on a boxed-in contact center product. 

It’s especially useful for companies in industries like healthcare or finance, where conversations need to be secure, personalized, and tightly integrated into existing systems. 

Is Microsoft Teams secure enough for regulated industries? 

Yes. Microsoft Teams was built with enterprise security and compliance in mind. It includes encryption, multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, and DLP tools out of the box. 

From a compliance perspective, Teams supports HIPAA, FINRA, GDPR, and other major standards. You also get audit logs, retention policies, and eDiscovery tools to manage regulatory needs. 

If you're using Azure Communication Services to build custom communication features, those same protections extend to your applications as well. With the right setup, Teams and ACS provide a secure, compliant foundation for any organization working in a regulated space.