Why Government Agencies See Value in the Broadvoice & NASPO ValuePoint Proposition

Government generally moves at a pace that isn’t conducive to rapid change. But the latest cloud-based technologies – and a public cooperative called NASPO ValuePoint – promise to challenge that maxim in 2018.

Cloud private branch exchange (cloud PBX), virtual contact center and hosted unified communications (UC) solutions, in particular, are poised for adoption in the public sector because their benefits are too compelling overlook. With hosted UC, for example, workers can connect to powerful voice, messaging, and collaboration tools at any time, from anywhere, on any device. These offer tremendous advantages as hosted UC.

7 Reasons Government Agencies Are Moving to Cloud PBX

1. Drives efficiency and productivity. Users can share data and documents with colleagues instantly across various departments and branch offices. They can send instant messages and have voicemails automatically forwarded to their email accounts. They also have the ability to integrate their phones with Outlook or their organizations’ customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
2. Requires minimal IT support. Unlike the complex traditional phone systems that sit in a closet, hosted UC requires very little IT support or training to administer. Through a simple user interface, it’s easy to quickly add users, delete users and enable additional features. System management is intuitive and easy.
3. Future-proofs communications systems. With cloud solutions, there is no hardware to upgrade in order to take advantage of new features and technologies. Because the service is outsourced, upgrades are provided via software updates that happen automatically in the background. This ensures that state agencies benefit from the latest advancements on an ongoing basis.
4. Increases ROI. Hosted UC solutions do not require heavy capital expenses for phone systems, servers and storage, providing a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). They also increase return on investment (ROI) by enhancing efficiency and productivity (see above).
5. Enhances continuity. If a building is flooded or an ice storm or other calamity knocks out power, operations continue. Since no physical box resides on the premises – service is located in redundant and secure datacenters – customers can still connect with the organization and employees can stay productive from remote locations.
6. Scales easily. Hosted UC allows government agencies to deploy gradually or quickly, and scale up or down depending on their needs. They also can ramp up or scale back features on an as-needed basis, with users paying only for active services.
7. Reduces costs. With little or no up-front expenses and an affordable, pay-as-you-go subscription model, hosted UC is relatively inexpensive. The solution combines data and voice applications over the same system, which lowers the cost of on-site communications infrastructure. Also, admins can easily add and delete users, adjust options and features, and change plans to ensure the best ongoing match between need and cost over time.

Enter NASPO ValuePoint for Cloud PBX, Virtual Contact Center, & UCaaS

NASPO ValuePoint (NVP), a public cooperative contracting organization and non-profit subsidiary of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), has made it a lot easier and less expensive for public sector agencies to procure industry-leading cloud solutions that can help them more effectively deliver services to their constituencies.

NVP essentially provides government agencies with a vetted list of cloud solution providers and competitively-sourced contracts with optimal pricing, terms and favorable conditions. This gives them easy access to battle-tested cloud solutions and an easier path to procurement.

Michael DeAngelo, Washington State’s Deputy Chief Information Officer and one of the CIO advisors for NVP, says that this new cloud solutions marketplace “represents a major leap forward in enabling governments to partner with cloud providers to more effectively deliver services to citizens.”

Public sector agencies can start leveraging NVP to procure cloud solutions as addendums are signed between individual states and participating cloud solutions providers. Broadvoice, for example, has active contracts in California and Florida, and will soon be active in Illinois, Missouri and other states.

More information about NVP is available on the NASPO ValuePoint website. Of course, as always, we at Broadvoice are happy to help if readers need any additional guidance. We have government sector specialists in-house.