CaaS Week in Review

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

The field of communications-as-a-service (CaaS) offers up a variety of new possibilities for us to consider on a regular basis. There are new products emerging, as well as new services, and refinements of older products arriving. But figuring out the best in the field, not to mention where the field is going, is a tall order under the best of circumstances. With a weekend now at hand, it's a good time to take a step back and consider the bigger picture in CaaS; so let's have a look at the biggest events in the week with our Week in Review coverage!

First, we got a look at how Windows Azure and Level 3 were looking to combine to produce a new breed of cloud service geared toward the global enterprise-scale user. This in turn should offer businesses access to a new way to put cloud computing to use, for things like storage, remote functions, and both secure and virtual networks. The combination of the two firms, meanwhile, is set to deliver a final product with the kind of overall reliability and functionality that businesses need.

Next we had a look at Zultys (News - Alert)' entry into the cloud-based unified communications (UC) market with Release 9.0 of the MX software system. With MX R9, as it's called, users get access to a variety of new functions, as do administrators, but there's also a substantial push into cloud UC. The new release is timed to work with the MXvirtual virtual appliance, so it becomes clear that the company is readying a complete solution for potential users. The releases also bring flexible pricing structures, advantages for channel partners, and the ability to bundle some features.

The growth of unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) figured prominently into the next news item, as we took a look at how this field was looking to grow. A study from MarketandMarkets suggested an estimated CAGR of 24.8 percent between 2013 and 2018, but what was going into such growth? Fields like enterprise telephony were set to play a major part, but so too was an increase in video technology used, along with collaboration solutions that use components of both of these in overall operations.

Then we got a look at Twilio's expansion in Europe and Asia, offering up a new set of new phone numbers in these regions that come complete with SMS capability. Now, users in those regions—commonly businesses—can use Twilio (News - Alert)'s API to allow text messaging, both sending and receiving, with local phone numbers in the regions in question. That improves customer connection, and allows businesses the ability to gain access to new features all from a Web-based tool.

Finally, Voxox made a push into the Vietnam market by joining forces with VTC Intecom. The two companies together were set to bring out a version of Voxox's multi-platform application system that's offered up under both firms' brand. Said application system offers several different UC services over a variety of distribution channels, and allows for easy communications between users using either a VTC login or a Facebook (News - Alert) login to launch the app.

That was the week that was in CaaS, and there was plenty going on in the field. The frequent combinations of businesses' efforts to roll out new products to new markets made for quite a bit going on, and our global online community was right in the thick of it, getting all the best news out for us to consider. So be sure to join us back here next week for all the latest CaaS news, and every weekend for our Week in Review coverage!