UCaaS, CCaaS, CPaaS: The Definition, Similarities & Differences

Businesses are quickly shifting from on-premise communication models to cloud-based communication models. These models are designed to give different types of services for business communication.

Basically, there are 3 popular types of “as a Service” models presented in the cloud-based communication systems: UCaaS, CCaaS are CPaaS.

UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS share similar attributes but differ in terms of their services and functionalities. They are quickly taking over the communication market but their similar acronym is still confusing for people to understand.

In this article, we will briefly learn about each one of them separately, their similarity and differences.

What is UCaaS?

UCaaS is the abbreviation of Unified Communications as a Service. UCaaS Vendors are responsible to streamline and unify different types of communication channels into one single platform in the cloud. Voice, conferencing, SMS, and chat applications are general areas focused on by UCaaS vendors.

These vendors provide platforms and software in the market to handle multi-channel business communications. UCaaS is hosted in the cloud that means users require an active internet connection to use the service. It eliminates the need for additional hardware or infrastructure. 

It assists users and teams in giving a better customer experience via different communication channels. Agents can also access various enterprise tools and data without having to switch between applications to provide customer services.

UCaaS platforms are growing more popular as customers desire to communicate with businesses via their preferred channel. That’s why businesses are seeking a solution that allows them to handle different channels from a single interface.

Benefits of UCaaS

• Brings all the communication channels in one single platform to eliminate the need of going back and forth between different applications. 

• All customer data and call history are stored in one centralized database which saves valuable time for team members for productivity and better customer service.

• Team members can easily collaborate in tasks and exchange data with one another using different communication channels.

What is CCaaS?

CCaaS is the abbreviation of Contact Center as a Service. CCaaS Vendors are responsible to develop different products on Application Programming Interfaces (API) that are run on different operating systems and web browsers. 

The platform and calls are hosted by CCaaS providers. These providers have to keep the software up-to-date. Similar to UCaaS, CCaaS is hosted in the cloud that means users require an active internet connection to use the service. It eliminates the need for additional hardware or infrastructures. 

Customers get a better support experience with UCaaS since it allows them to communicate with your company via their preferred mode.

In the meanwhile, agents may use more company tools and data to assist consumers without having to switch between apps.

UCaaS platforms are becoming more popular as customers desire to communicate with businesses via their preferred method, while businesses seek a solution that allows them to manage numerous streams from a single interface. It resembles UCaaS but it plays a distinctive role than UCaaS platforms.

Generally, CCaaS include some of the following capabilities:

• Automated Call Distribution (ACD)
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• Advanced analytics and reporting
• Call recording
• Live monitoring and agent coaching
• Inbound and outbound dialing

Benefits of CCaaS

• Improves the quality of customer service experience by answering queries of customers through any communication channel.

• Provides various functionalities to automate the task to make employees more productive.

• Allows integration of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications to manage and share data between platforms. 

What is CPaaS?

CPaaS is the abbreviation of Communication Platform as a service. It refers to cloud technologies that allow companies to integrate real-time communication features into their existing business operations.

CPaaS vendors are responsible to provide you with various APIs and code snippets to add to the environments of the cloud-based platforms.

CPaaS provides different platforms with prebuild features and communication channels so that you don’t need expert hands to add APIs and code snippets.

But you also can completely modify your communication stack with CPaaS. If you already have CPaaS software then you can easily integrate the communications channels and features as per your needs.

You can opt to add the following CPaaS functions to your communications stack:

• Outbound voice calls
• Text messages
• Inbound call routing
• On-demand SIP trunking
• WebRTC-based calling
• Social media messaging
• Multimedia and video messaging
• Number masking 

Benefits of CPaaS

• Customizes the communication stack on the basis of the needs and demands of businesses.

• Integrate different kinds of APIs with the software that you are currently using.

• Incorporate with various cloud-based services and communication channels for better working and customer experience.

Similarities: UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS

UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS have different definitions to differentiate from each other but there are some key mutual points that are common in all 3 of them. Here are some of the similarities between them.

• Cloud-based

At first glance, the most notable similarity among UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS is all that of their services are hosted in the cloud.

They use VoIP technology to provide different calling capabilities in the platform. They require an active internet connection to use their services and solutions, unlike traditional communication technology that needs a copper wire connection.

Being cloud-based models, now companies have the luxury to adopt remote work. Regardless of the location, employees and employers can use the cloud-based phone systems (using UCaaS, CCaaS, or CPaaS) from anywhere as long as they are connected to stable internet.

Another plus point of being cloud-based is that it eliminates the need for additional physical infrastructure and devices. This reduces the cost of implementing UCaaS, CCaaS, or CPaaS based platforms.

• Communication channels and features

UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS are all responsible for providing different kinds of communications channels and features. Their method of offering communication channels like voice, conferencing, SMS, etc., and features like call recording, CRM integration, call routing, IVR, etc may be different but they do provide those capabilities one way or another.

• Purpose

The main purpose of UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS is to provide communication channels and functionalities for businesses.

In a way, all their applications converge in one single point to provide the necessary solution for different types of businesses to manage the internal and external communication of companies.

They are responsible for providing features that allow users to provide a quality customer service experience.

Differences: UCaaS vs CCaaS vs CPaaS

Although UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS seem similar, they have different roles in the communication world. These three models offer a range of services and capabilities that can be utilized in different business areas depending on the needs of the type of business.

Many businesses are familiar with the concept of UCaaS and CCaaS but CPaaS is relatively newer than the previous two. So it is extremely important to understand the differences before implementing one.

UCaaS focuses on internal communication between team members of a company. It packs all the communication channels in one single platform so that users don’t have to play with multiple platforms to communicate and handle data. It provides flexibility and support to employees with team collaboration. 

UCaaS is recognized as an all-in-one cloud-based platform that evolved from the previous on-premise Unified Communications (UC).

It consists of voice, texts, video conferencing, voicemails, etc. Users can interact and cooperate with coworkers, partners, suppliers, and customers using UCaaS platforms through a front-end interface.

CCaaS is similar to UCaaS but it focuses more on customer interaction than internal communication. Its main purpose is to serve as a contact center model for businesses to improve customer service experience.

CCaaS present omnichannel in the call center. Omnichannel allows customers can choose how they want to communicate with you through different channels but their identity is not lost across channels.

Different customers communicate via different media like voice, email, social media, SMS, website, and chats. That means  CCaaS does need UCaaS in a certain way to manage communication channels but when it comes to providing services CCaaS uses different kinds of functionalities.

Call Routing, Call Queuing, Predictive dialer, integrations, workforce engagement management like scheduling patterns, and speech analytics are some of its functionalities. 

CPaaS is similar to UCaaS but it has its differences. CPaaS focuses on customizing the communication stack whereas UCaaS focuses on streamlining all communication channels in a single platform.

Here instead of buying fully configured solutions and predefined features, you can integrate different communications channels with the software you are currently using. 

It lets you choose from a range of APIs like voice, team messaging, SMS, fax, and more. It enables all kinds of real-time communication through different APIs.

This means you can add features to your communication stack without any need to build an entirely new backend for your software.

UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS: Which one to choose?

UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS all serve in enhancing the experience of communication depending upon the needs and demands of the business.

Among them, UCaaS stands out the most in the market because it powers a variety of virtual cloud phone systems that are powerful, flexible, affordable, scalable, and reliable. 

The best thing about UCaaS based platforms is that all the communication channels and advanced features are bundled in a single platform. On top of that, most of these platforms today are closely linked with CCaaS as they also provide cloud center capabilities.

Talking about platforms powered by UCaaS, KrispCall is one of the most popular cloud telephony systems. It offers top-of-the-line features and services that give businesses the best communication solutions at a very affordable cost. It also offers cloud center software that assists your employees to provide a quality customer service experience. 

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Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.