Brightlio Blog

In today’s fast-paced, digital world, smooth and efficient communication is key. That’s where Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) come in. Individually, these technologies offer impressive benefits. When paired together, they’re a game-changer for business communications. This blog post explores why SD-WAN and UCaaS are better together, unlocking new levels of productivity and performance.

Why Should You Use SD-WAN for UCaaS Deployments?

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions are revolutionizing the way we communicate.   Unified Communications tools integrate voice, video, secure chat, file sharing, and contact centers into a single platform, making it easier to collaborate and communicate.  UCaaS technology also extends corporate telephony features and security policies to mobile devices, desktops, and laptops for remote users. 

Real-time voice and video communications are extremely sensitive to latency, jitter, and packet loss, which degrade voice and video quality.  These issues are especially prevalent where users are dispersed in many locations with varying types and speeds of network connectivity.  Proper provisioning of bandwidth across multiple locations is critical to the success of unified communications solutions.  This is where SD-WAN comes in.

SD-WAN (or software-defined WAN) is a software-based networking technology that uses virtual WAN architecture to connect users to applications securely.  SD-WAN aggregates broadband, DIA, LTE, point-to-point, and MPLS services to create multiple secure paths for data to flow.  It identifies traffic by application and appropriately routes it for the best Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoEx).  This allows us to build alternatives to traditional MPLS networks that are more cost-effective and flexible.

The Benefits of SD-WAN for UCaaS

There are many reasons why SD-WAN and UCaaS are better together.  Here are a few of the most compelling:

Better Voice and Video Quality

Combining SD-WAN with UCaaS ushers in a new level of voice and video quality for businesses. SD-WAN optimizes network traffic, intelligently routing voice and video data over the most efficient path available. This not only minimizes packet loss and latency issues, which are the common culprits behind choppy video and unclear voice calls, but also ensures bandwidth is used effectively.

Furthermore, SD-WAN can prioritize voice and video traffic over less critical data, ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience. By incorporating UCaaS, organizations benefit from integrated communication tools like VoIP and video conferencing, which are designed to work seamlessly over such optimized networks. Together, SD-WAN and UCaaS create an environment where voice and video communications are clear, reliable, and smoothly integrated with other business processes.

Improved Reliability

SD-WAN can bond multiple links together to enable an active/active topology.  This allows your UCaaS application to stay up in the event of an internet connection failure.  Also, SD-WAN solutions can automatically reroute traffic around problem areas, leading to improved uptime. 

On the other hand, a UCaaS solution delivers a cloud-based platform, freeing businesses from the worries of hardware failures or site-specific issues that could affect communication services. The combination of SD-WAN’s intelligent routing and UCaaS’s cloud reliability provides a robust, resilient communication system that keeps businesses connected no matter the network’s challenges.

Cost Savings

SD-WAN is typically cheaper to deploy than traditional MPLS networks.  The savings can be meaningful, especially with companies with unified communications users in many locations.  Additionally, SD-WAN allows users to leverage lower-cost broadband connections or combine a dedicated internet circuit with a broadband connection, saving costs. 

UCaaS shifts the traditional capital expenditure associated with maintaining physical hardware and infrastructure to a more predictable operational expense. It offers a pay-as-you-go model, meaning businesses only pay for what they use, and can easily scale up or down based on demand. Additionally, since both services can be managed, businesses save on the cost of IT staff needed for setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Together, the two technologies offer a powerful cost-effective solution for modern enterprise communication needs.

Improved Security

SD-WAN allows you to segment your voice and video traffic keeping your UCaaS application safer from cyber-attacks.  SD-WAN features are frequently included with a firewall, providing SD-WAN plus a next-generation firewall for the cost of the firewall.

Fortinet is an example of a network security provider that combines the technologies in a hardware model.  Cato Networks is an example of a provider that offers a software-as-a-service approach combining SD-WAN and security with SASE, SSE, ZTNA, and other technologies. 

Compliance

SD-WAN helps organizations meet compliance requirements like PCI, GDPR, and HIPAA through improved security and redundancy. Many SD-WAN solution providers offer architectural guides that walk you through how to deploy their solution against a specific compliance framework. This helps businesses simplify compliance with an SD-WAN deployment.

Better Monitoring

SD-WAN and UCaaS combined offer a significant advantage when it comes to network monitoring and management. With SD-WAN technology, businesses gain deep visibility into their network performance. It provides real-time analytics, allowing IT teams to quickly identify and resolve issues, monitor usage trends, prioritize traffic, and even predict potential problems before they occur. This intelligent monitoring extends to application performance, ensuring that crucial business applications get the necessary network resources.

UCaaS offers tools for monitoring the quality and usage of communication services. It provides detailed insights on call quality, usage patterns, and user activity. When integrated, SD-WAN and UCaaS create a comprehensive, end-to-end monitoring solution, giving businesses complete control and visibility over both their network and communication services, improving decision-making and proactive problem-solving.

How to Purchase SD-WAN and UCaaS

Purchase SD-WAN and UCaaS solutions together or separately. The choice is yours.  Some UCaaS providers, like Vonage, offer their own SD-WAN service.  This can be purchased with the unified communications suite for an integrated solution. 

Other UCaaS providers, like RingCentral, prefer to partner with industry leaders in the SD-WAN space, like VMware and Fortinet.  Are you ready to learn more about SD-WAN? The team at Brightlio can help you to identify which solution package is suitable for your needs. 

Why Brightlio for your SD-WAN and UCaaS needs? 

The team at Brightlio are expert in SD-WAN and UCaaS.  As telecommunications brokers, we partner with the technology leaders in both spaces.  We will work with you to determine the best solution for your needs and budget. 

Brightlio is committed to being your most trusted and responsive IT solutions provider.  We want to enable the success of your SD-WAN, UCaaS, and other IT initiatives. In addition to network connectivity and unified communications solutions, we also offer colocation, cloud, advisory, and other services.

There is never a cost for quotes or solution designs.  Engage Brightlio today!