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The UCaaS Buyer’s No-Nonsense Toolkit
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To replace an image, select the png or jpeg on the canvas or in the layers panel and click the "Replace image" button, which is next to the image thumbnail in the design panel. Any applied animation to the original image will carry over to the new one.
To make a video auto play in the background. Select the video in the layers panel or on the canvas. Next to the video thumbnail in the Design panel, select the setting gear icon to view the video settings.
Template - Landing Page Template
1280px x 5000px
The grid background is pinned which means it is fixed to a specific point in the viewport. Pinning an object allows you to keep the objects always visible on the canvas, regardless of where the user scrolls on the canvas.
Note: Pinned objects do not currently work on full-height embedded experiences; only standalone experience and scrolling embedded experiences.
To unpin select the group, next to the X,Y coordinates click the pin icon.
Hover interactions allow you to reveal or hide folders, objects, or groups when the user hovers their mouse over your specified trigger.
To add a hover interaction, draw a hotspot over the area you want the user to hover. Select the hotspot and navigate to the Interaction tab in the Inspector Panel. Select “hover” as your trigger and specify the action, which can be: show, hide, show and stay visible, or hide and stay hidden. Finally, choose the folder, object, or group you want to reveal or hide.
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The Ultimate UCaaS Buyer’s Guide
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01.
INVESTIGATION
Pick Finalists from Candidates
EXPLORATION
02.
Get Ready to
Demo Finalists
PREPARATION
03.
Put Finalists Through
the Paces
DEMONSTRATION
04.
Pick a Winner from
the Finalists
IDENTIFICATION
05.
Make the
Best Choice
SELECTION
06.
INVESTIGATION
01.
Website
Feature-heavy, benefit-light technical descriptions say something about a vendor — and it’s not good! Short and sweet — that’s how a great vendor gets their value across.
Three third-party things solid vendors want you to know about: industry awards, security seals, and customer logos. Watch for ’em. Because the vendor who’s got ’em, shows ’em.
Some UCaaS vendors think a landing page is their first shot at stating their product’s value. What it does. What it doesn’t do. Why it’s a must-have. Those vendors are right!
Blog Articles
Want proof a UCaaS vendor values collaboration, mobility, productivity, and more when making and improving their product? It’ll be obvious in their blog.
Third-party, industry-leading websites frequently invite great vendors to syndicate their content. The best thought-makers love to give cameo spots to the best product-makers.
A vendor’s success depends on yours, so great ones will be passionate about showing you all the amazing things UCaaS can do. They’re into tastemaking, not sales-pitching.
Whitepapers, Ebooks, and Reports
Best practices, fresh stats, big benefits, and workplace advantages. From in-house experts and analyst partners. Great vendors will be brimming with ideas for upleveling your UCaaS game.
Analysts don’t take just ANY UCaaS vendor sponsorship. That vendor logo on an analyst’s report? That means the vendor’s brand promise aligns with the analyst’s findings — a great sign!
Tech buyers consistently cite “big rock” content as the collateral that established the expertise and authenticity they expected to see before choosing a UCaaS provider.
Webinars
Are notable tech analysts often involved? They can provide great insight, and when they add their name to a UCaaS vendor’s webinar, consider that an upvote for the vendor’s legitimacy.
Product managers for great vendors will deliver enthusiastic answers to tough questions LIVE. Make a note of that enthusiasm — it’s inspired by the quality of the vendor’s product.
A sense of “UCaaS drives business” should resonate throughout a webinar. Thought leadership, timely advice, best practices — those ALWAYS prop up that one big idea.
Case Studies
Everyone loves talking about a customer reaping benefits. But a worthy vendor talks challenges, too — specific pain points. Expect those tidbits. It means they’re listening to feedback!
Inspiration! Expect it from a UCaaS vendor. UCaaS solves business pains, yes, but it should prompt users to imagine MORE. The spirit of innovation should be palpable in customer stories.
Yes, you SHOULD read industry-specific ones. No, don’t limit yourself to those. Why? A story from the same SECTOR — but a different INDUSTRY! — can be instructive, too.
Customer, Colleague, and Analyst Reviews
Customer reviews on third-party sites do more than help you decide which vendor to go with. They help you get a sense of how a vendor HANDLES less-than-savory reviews, too.
Analysts whose bread and butter is to provide analysis on UCaaS — get your hands on their reports. They’re filled with answers to questions you understandably won’t know to ask.
Poll colleagues about UCaaS vendors they worked with in previous roles. Experienced teammates can provide a GOLDMINE of anecdotal information you won’t find anywhere else.
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EXPLORATION
02.
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Enthusiasm
The first call’s a chance to wow you. But does it feel like they’re not exactly EAGER to put UCaaS through the paces for you? Why? What past demo fails are they hoping to avoid repeats of?
They’ll focus on your UCaaS goals, yes. But a vendor who deserves to demo will speak to how THEY use UCaaS THEMSELVES. Ask for collaboration stories. Listen to what’s said — and NOT said!
The vendor worth considering for a demo knows a relationship calls for a deep-dive on the benefits and building rapport. They know just offering free trials and test drives won’t cut it.
Service-Level Agreements
Demo with a candidate willing to put skin in the game. Great ones KNOW they’ll live up to their SLAs, so it’s not unusual for them to offer SLAs that include compensation if they don’t.
Why will a good candidate offer a generous SLA, one its customer didn’t even ask for? Maybe even offer it STANDARD? Because they’re confident their customer won’t need it.
Relationships between IT and the broader team — that’s what SLAs REALLY protect. Assures IT they won’t be blamed for outages. Assures everyone those outages have never been less likely.
Call Center Functionality
Triaging the fallout of a badly routed customer call can be costly. IVR, virtual receptionist, and more — a great demo candidate will boast these call-handling chops.
If they got UCaaS, they might have contact center software (CCaaS) too. Only demo with vendors who have call center functionality to see if it’ll do. Who knows? Maybe you need CCaaS too!
Some of your team knows things others don’t. With skills-based routing, callers get the BEST-available associate, not the MOST-available. Great vendors have this game-changing feature.
Features
Three features a demo candidate MUST have: (1) video collaboration, (2) a tool for managing texts and Facebook DMs in one place, and (3) AI for voice-enabled customer self-service.
You deserve features you don’t even know to ask for. Features for training purposes, emergency situations, and more. Got a candidate eager to show you everything? That’s gold!
A dozen features is good. But several dozen is great! Want to nurture CX according to your specific business goals? Give the vendor with dozens — plural! — a chance at a demo.
Integrations
Expect big ideas on how UCaaS can give a CRM fresh mojo. Automated call logging. Click-to-dial. Screen pops. The goal of a great demo candidate, however, will be to SHOW you how — ASAP!
Hesitant about picking a new CRM or productivity app? Ask candidates about their integrations — tools embedded in the app your team will “live” in. That’ll inspire your pick.
UCaaS vendors love integration suites — sometimes TOO much. Remember: Less is more. Demand just ONE connector interface for integrating multiple applications from ONE application.
Toolkit
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Uptime Reliability Must-Haves
Get set on demanding 99.999% uptime reliability. Listen for something like, “You’ll have, on average, no more than 26 seconds of downtime per month.” Resolve to confirm it during the demo.
What about DETAILS of reliability? Of multi-level fail-safes? Distributed architecture? 24/7 network ops? These make uptime-reliability claims believable at all. Be ready to expect them.
Great vendors use third-party uptime-monitoring services to disclose statuses and incidents on live, publicly accessible webpages. 99.999%? Don’t just take their word for it!
Scalability Requirements
Think about what your future business needs will be as you grow. More lines? Capacity? Resources? Bandwidth? You won’t want to revisit this process in another year or two.
Predicting your needs? Tough. Failing to satisfy them? Brutal. The right vendor knows this. Will respect that you’ve thought about it. Be ready to watch for that.
Got plans for going global? Be ready to share that. A great finalist will assure hassle-free set ups for ALL locales. Disruption-free porting of existing numbers. All on a single bill, too.
Security Demands
Security and privacy measures? Compliance certifications? What can you ask for at the demo? Maybe a UCaaS that boasts independent tests and audits? One that quashes hazards from the get-go?
Global privacy standards — they’re important! Be ready to mention if you’ll need to respect standards like GDPR. “But we’re not an EU company,” you say? Doesn’t matter!
Great UCaaS vendors take a security-first approach — always. Will you need them to demo their security tools, processes, and talent, too? To know exactly how tight their ship is?
Vital Statistics: Usage
Every company’s unique! Figure out your usage. Minutes per month. Calls per month. Minutes per call per month. High-volume days. Peak seasons. What’s particular about your traffic?
Figure out your growth goals. Know your roadmap. To a vendor, these details will have value. To get you prepared to adapt. To tackle what’s up ahead.
Great UCaaS vendors will take notes on your — and your sector’s! — demands. So get ready to speak up at the demo. Your success depends on it.
Vital Statistics: Physical
You’ll need to prep for your finalists’ demos. Just a bit. Get the stats on your headcount. Number of offices? Remote employees? High-speed internet availability? Get ready to share.
There’s no such thing as TMI when prepping for a UCaaS demo. Expect upcoming changes to your hardware profile? An acquisition? In a month? In a year? Your finalists need to know that.
Sharing stats is simple AND complex. Yours should inspire and prompt a vendor. About everything from UCaaS’s potential for you specifically, to minimum reqs you’ll have to shore up.
PREPARATION
03.
Toolkit
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Red Flags, Green Flags
Few support articles covering the most common UCaaS topics? Bad technical content — and no good explanation when you ask about it during the demo — is a hallmark of a bad finalist.
Demos should be candid exhibits of strengths and weaknesses. A vendor with integrity will cite weaknesses they’re working on AND strengths they’ve perfected. What does hearing BOTH mean?
Great UCaaS vendors won’t hesitate to provide disclosures of tech limitations in the context of the demo. They want to deliver quality business communications AND manage expectations.
Question Costs
Cool: asking about specific costs during the demo. Not cool: a vendor not knowing them. Things like phone hardware, professional services, carrier fees, etc. Great finalists got numbers.
Great vendors have no interest in competing with bargain UCaaS platforms. They compete by delivering high performance and strong relationships. You’ll sense this in the demo.
It’s fair to assume a UCaaS vendor has lots of customers with profiles similar to yours — seats, demands, etc. Ask during the demo for identity-redacted copies of a few customers’ bills.
Question What You See
Ask about downstream costs in the context of the demo. What common ones do customers report? Yes, the opportunity UCaaS creates may skew those costs. But WHAT costs, exactly?
Your questions get answered. What else? Expect demos of features ADJACENT to what you’re pre-sold on. “Record a call, eh? How about EVERY call?” Shoot for the moon, settle for the stars.
Scenarios that show UCaaS’s value. The day-to-day successes. How it solves problems. That’s what you WANT. To KNOW you chose well. To say, with a smile, “The demo made me do it.”
Watch Out For
Some vendors don’t want you to grab the wheel. They want an audience. They got a script to follow, not excitement to share about their UCaaS’s ease of use. Refuse. Grab the wheel anyway!
Owning up to a lousy demo of a feature: Shows character, sure. But do you give it a pass? Is the feature cutting edge or old school? If old school — really? And the demo was STILL lousy?
Software glitches, operator errors, bandwidth issues — they happen … IN THE REHEARSAL! Mediocre finalists will make excuses and beg your pardon. But if a vendor fumbles now, what’s next?
Stress Test
UCaaS can’t balk at challenges. So throw curveballs at your finalist. “How does a Facebook message on a specific topic get to an SME who can answer it?” Tough doozies like that.
Expect chilling use cases shared in-demo. Like a disaster-recovery scenario during a peak season. The courage to make you consider the unthinkable — what does that say about a vendor?
Can the vendor demo how to, say, escalate a group chat to a full-featured video meeting? WITH lots of participants? WITHOUT distracting them? UCaaS shouldn’t choke on that sort of thing.
DEMONSTRATION
04.
Toolkit
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Vendor Financials
Money’s tight for some vendors. But not a winning vendor backed by a STRONG parent company. That’s a vendor with the resources to uphold SLAs, retain talent, and support products FOREVER.
Reputable UCaaS vendors welcome reviews of their financials. Why? Having great financial fitness — IF they’ve got it! — is an easy win! Ask for their latest report to shareholders, too.
You deserve to know you’re choosing a healthy outfit. But should you take their word for it? No! Get a full report from a business credit bureau. Have your CPA review it.
Rollout Approach
A winner will explore risk–cost trade-offs of big bang versus phased. Their rationale behind their recommended approach will be based on your needs, not merely their preference.
Bad rollouts cost time and money. It’ll take more of both to make it right. Reputation, political capital — both will get damaged. Remember: GREAT UCaaS + a BAD rollout = BAD UCaaS.
Rollouts follow a classic life-cycle plan: initiation, planning, execution, and closure. A winning vendor will be ready to map clear objectives and measurable outcomes to these stages.
Check References
Your instinct may be to seek GOOD opinions from references. To confirm your good feeling. But watch for hints of doubt from references. Read between the lines. Still sound like a winner?
It’s understandable to be wary of references who will go on record singing nothing but praises. So talk to at least two. Three, if possible. Compare answers. Do they align? Contradict?
You’ll get the most insight from users at same-size customers in your sector (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.). Stick to process questions. Gather facts. Weigh opinions.
Value-Added Services
Without having to ask — that’s how you want value-adds. Training. Ongoing support. Exciting upgrades. A winner will give you the sense they’ll always jump at the chance to enhance.
Do you get a sense of passion for driving satisfaction? A sense that they want to deliver the tools to create never-before-seen opportunities? Winners have that.
The tech can look good as-is. But a winner will give you a firm handle on the frequency of new releases and innovations, details about their product and service roadmaps, and more.
Resources Commitment
Even a winning UCaaS vendor will need a resources commitment on your end. Are they asking for a little? A lot? Are you comfortable about what you’ll be expected to provide?
At some point, you’ll know your vendor’s timetable for implementation, onboarding, spinning up new offices, and more. But a winner will give you estimates BEFORE you award your business!
It’s OK to question THEIR resources commitment. Do you feel they’ll honor it? Are they specific on how they’ll provide professional services? Or is it all merely implied?
IDENTIFICATION
05.
SELECTION
06.
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