Prioritizing Security is Important While Opting A Video Conferencing Solution

Unified Communications & Collaborations (UC&C) were mostly used as a solution by sales and marketing teams before this pandemic. As work from home (WFH) has become mandatory, companies have begun to see UC&C solutions as mission-critical tools that enable managers and executives to communicate with their employees so that they can adhere to normal business operations.

All things being equal, it would be good for companies to use or upgrade their existing infrastructure for video conferencing. These licenses have likely been purchased and it makes sense to continue using products that people have already been trained for.

In recent weeks, as the pandemic is still spreading and different countries have ordered work from home, there has been a lot of news showing that not all UC&C solutions are created equal. This is not to say that some solutions are "bad," but I think it is fair to say that some have different priorities in the essential part of the software life cycle.

There are many more important factors to be taken care of before choosing a video conferencing solution with security.

Before choosing the best solution, understanding its features is important. This may be the most important factor by far, but it is also a "table stakes" criterion. The solutions are best when it is conducted without errors, latency, and delays (this was an important issue for many, if not most, providers immediately after the start of WFH and virtual classes). Call recording, screen sharing, and recorded conversation are all needed, as are presenter controls and dial-up options.

If things are easy to use, people love to work on that interface. In the same way, a good video conferencing solution must be easy to use on any device. There are people who are new to this digitization world, so it is imperative to keep everything in mind. The interface should be intuitive, and the client should be available on each platform. Most solutions claim that they can be used on any device through their web portal. This is true, but most solutions require the customer to use all of the solution's features, and a web-based or web-only solution may have security issues.

There are commonly two types of pricing: free and licensed costs. Pricing for licensed solutions is based on the number of participants in the meeting, the geographic scope (paying for international dial-up numbers), the meetings' length, and the number of users in the company. Many licensed solutions offer a free or trial version with limited features, attendees, meeting lengths, and very little support.

Last but not least, the security of the UC&C solution is very imperative. After going from the checklist of standard features (in which the main solutions have almost in common), security is the most important thing when choosing a UC&C solution.

Discovering a UC&C solution that preserves your employees and your business is the best way to limit the below-mentioned list:

• Secured Out of the Box: Many solutions on the market focus on user experience and interface at the expense of security. And when they prioritize security, it's because of fixes and patches that require updates and procedural changes. Look for a solution with experience as a security leader in this field, with a platform of millions of secure installations and a commitment to focus on security first.
• Support is critical: many UC&C solutions offer little support, and free solutions generally do not. The ready-made UC&C solution for the company should be proven, and with superior support that would be able to answer inquiries. When considering mission-critical UC&C solutions, examine a company's ability to respond to vulnerabilities and response time to address their vulnerabilities.
• Dealing with data privacy: How is the data transmitted and transmitted during the session stored, maintained, and used? Our conversations kept private? Is the information encrypted when saved? Is the session encrypted? Can anyone just "boom" an open session? As IT professionals, we are all aware of the need to maintain data security and privacy, and many companies had participated in data privacy projects and campaigns before the pandemic broke out. Businesses cannot abandon their data protection efforts due to a pandemic and must ensure that their UC&C solution is consistent with their data privacy objectives.
• Newer is not better: There are many UC&C solutions on the market today, but some are literally in their infancy as the installation base and bugs develop, while many have been industry leaders - in some cases before that, there was industry. When investing in mission-critical infrastructure, it is always worth considering solutions that are confident of success and stability. In addition, it provides convenience to management and managers, knowing that they are choosing a proven solution.

Never before has a UC&C solution been so critical to a company's success. Understandably, there is an immediate need to choose and implement this type of solution to meet business needs and for companies to keep their doors open during a crisis. But security and IT managers would do well to choose your UC&C solution carefully, focusing on the security that the solution offers instead of signals and whistles.