Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Unified Communications Architect

💰 $ - $

Information TechnologyTelecommunicationsCloudNetworking

🎯 Role Definition

The Unified Communications Architect designs, builds, secures, and evolves enterprise voice, video and collaboration platforms across on‑premises, hybrid and cloud environments. This role owns architecture and deployment strategies for VoIP/SIP, contact center integrations, PBX migrations, cloud UCaaS (Teams, Zoom, Webex), Session Border Controllers (SBCs), PSTN connectivity, QoS and resiliency. The UC Architect partners with networking, security, applications, and vendor teams to deliver scalable, cost‑effective collaboration solutions that meet business SLAs, compliance and user adoption targets.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Voice / VoIP Engineer
  • Collaboration Engineer / UC Engineer
  • Network Engineer with voice experience

Advancement To:

  • Senior Unified Communications Architect
  • Director of Collaboration Services
  • Head of Voice & Collaboration / VP of IT Infrastructure

Lateral Moves:

  • Cloud Architect (UCaaS & Communications)
  • Contact Center Architect
  • Network or Security Architect (with UC focus)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead end‑to‑end architecture and technical strategy for enterprise Unified Communications solutions (voice, video, messaging, presence and meetings) across on‑premises, hybrid and cloud platforms, ensuring alignment with business objectives and IT roadmaps.
  • Design and document scalable, secure UC reference architectures that include SIP trunking, Session Border Controllers (SBCs), media gateways, PSTN connectivity, PBX/UC migration paths, and UCaaS integrations (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, RingCentral).
  • Architect and manage migrations from legacy PBX systems (Avaya, Cisco CUCM, Mitel, NEC) to modern UC platforms including Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, Cisco cloud, or third‑party UCaaS providers, minimizing service disruption and optimizing costs.
  • Define QoS, VLAN, codec, jitter, latency and bandwidth profiles; design network and WAN changes (SD‑WAN considerations) to deliver predictable voice/video performance and SLA compliance across global sites.
  • Specify, deploy and tune Session Border Controllers (SBCs), ensuring interop with SIP trunks, encryption (TLS/SRTP), NAT traversal, SIP normalization, and high availability configurations for secure PSTN/UC connectivity.
  • Create and enforce UC security standards: secure signaling/media, SBC hardening, certificate management, encryption, anti‑toll fraud controls, identity federation, and integration with SSO/IdP solutions such as Azure AD.
  • Lead interoperability testing, acceptance testing (UAT) and pilot programs for new UC services and devices (softphones, conferencing systems, desk phones, video endpoints), and validate codecs, media paths and call routing logic.
  • Collaborate with network, security, endpoint management and endpoint procurement teams to standardize device images, provisioning (Zero Touch Provisioning), firmware lifecycle and device inventory for desk phones, video endpoints and conferencing hardware.
  • Define monitoring, alerting and dashboard requirements for UC health, call quality (MOS/R‑factor), trunk utilization and service availability; deploy analytics, call detail records (CDR) ingestion, and reporting solutions.
  • Drive disaster recovery and business continuity planning for UC services including geo‑redundant SBCs, PSTN failover strategies, automated rerouting, and runbook creation for voice/video outage scenarios.
  • Create detailed migration plans, cutover strategies and rollback procedures; schedule and manage voice/fax cutovers, number portability, and coordinated change windows with minimal business impact.
  • Optimize telephony costs via number and trunk rationalization, least cost routing strategies, contract negotiation with carriers and telco providers, and cloud calling plan evaluation.
  • Integrate UC platforms with enterprise systems: contact center (Genesys, NICE, Cisco UCCE), CRM (Salesforce), workforce management, directory services, and telephony APIs for bots and workflows.
  • Develop automation, provisioning and self‑service workflows (PowerShell, REST APIs, Terraform where applicable) for user provisioning, dial plan changes, and device assignment to reduce manual work and accelerate onboarding.
  • Ensure regulatory compliance and lawful intercept capability (CALEA and local regulations) for voice services and maintain audit trails for PSTN, recording and CDR retention policies.
  • Drive vendor selection and RFP/RFI processes for UC hardware, software and services; evaluate solution fit, perform vendor POC comparisons and recommend platform investments.
  • Mentor and upskill UC engineering teams, create runbooks, standard operating procedures and knowledge base articles to institutionalize UC best practices and ensure operational readiness.
  • Participate as technical lead in cross‑functional projects (M&A integrations, office moves, remote workforce enablement) providing UC impact analysis, timelines and technical mitigation plans.
  • Manage change control, capacity planning and lifecycle management for UC infrastructure (SBCs, media servers, gateways, conferencing MCUs/cloud bridges) to prevent service degradation.
  • Implement call recording, compliance, and quality assurance integrations with legal and compliance teams; onboard recording solutions and define retention policies.
  • Evaluate and pilot emerging collaboration technologies (WebRTC, cloud telephony services, AI for voice analytics, transcription and real‑time translation) to improve collaboration efficiency and user experience.
  • Establish SLAs and KPIs for UC services, and own reporting to IT leadership and business stakeholders on uptime, call quality, adoption metrics and cost savings.
  • Coordinate with the endpoint UX and training teams to drive adoption, distribute user guides and run workshops to improve utilization of voice and collaboration tools across the organization.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad‑hoc troubleshooting of cross‑domain issues by collaborating with network, security and application teams to identify root causes impacting call quality or meeting stability.
  • Assist procurement and contract teams with technical evaluations and statements of work for UC vendors and service providers.
  • Participate in vendor escalation calls and coordinate firmware/software upgrade plans, regression testing and emergency patches for UC platforms.
  • Contribute to change management and communications plans for UC feature rollouts, decommissioning legacy platforms and introducing new workflows to end users.
  • Provide technical input for office redesigns, remote worker onboarding and conference room AV designs to align UC capabilities with physical space requirements.
  • Perform routine audits of dial plans, numbering ranges and trunk configurations to detect anomalies, orphan numbers and potential cost savings.
  • Maintain a roadmap of UC technology debt and recommended upgrades; justify technical investments with ROI, TCO and risk analysis to leadership.
  • Build and maintain lab/test environments for UC POCs, firmware validation and interoperability testing before production deployments.
  • Act as on‑call escalation for major UC incidents and lead post‑incident reviews to define corrective actions and system improvements.
  • Collaborate with HR and training teams to create role‑based UC training curricula for admins, helpdesk and end users to reduce support tickets and accelerate adoption.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert knowledge of SIP, RTP, SRTP, TLS, SDP, SIP trunking and PSTN interconnect models.
  • Deep experience with Session Border Controllers (SBCs) — design, high availability, SIP normalization and security (vendors: Oracle/Acme, Ribbon, AudioCodes, Cisco).
  • Strong background in Microsoft Teams architecture (Direct Routing, Teams Voice, Operator Connect), Skype for Business migrations and Microsoft 365 telephony integration.
  • Hands‑on experience with Cisco Collaboration stack (CUCM, CUC, UCCX/UCCE, Webex Calling) or Avaya/Nortel/Mitel PBX systems and migration strategies.
  • Voice network design skills including QoS, VLANs for voice/video, traffic shaping, WAN design, jitter/latency mitigation and SD‑WAN integration.
  • Familiarity with contact center technologies and integrations (Genesys, NICE, Cisco, Amazon Connect) and CTI/CRM connectors (Salesforce/SAP).
  • Proficiency in network/security technologies: routing, switching, firewalls, NAT, VPN, load balancers and certificate management.
  • Experience with UC monitoring, telemetry and analytics tools (CDR, MOS scoring, Call Quality Dashboard, ELK/Prometheus, vendor monitoring suites).
  • Automation and scripting skills (PowerShell, Python, REST APIs, Terraform/ARM templates) to automate provisioning and configuration tasks.
  • Knowledge of cloud UC services (Teams, Zoom, Webex, 8x8, RingCentral), carrier integrations, and cloud security models.
  • Telecom regulatory and numbering knowledge, number porting processes, billing models and carrier contract negotiation experience.
  • Familiarity with VoIP device provisioning and management (Zero Touch Provisioning, provisioning servers, DHCP options).
  • Experience implementing disaster recovery and high availability architectures for UC solutions.

Soft Skills

  • Strong stakeholder management with ability to translate business needs into technical requirements and justify architectural decisions to non‑technical leaders.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills for cross‑functional collaborations, vendor negotiations and executive reporting.
  • Leadership and mentoring: can lead small to mid sized engineering teams, run architecture reviews and upskill junior staff.
  • Problem solving and analytical thinking, with a structured approach to root cause analysis and post‑incident remediation.
  • Project management discipline: planning, risk mitigation, milestone tracking and ability to deliver under tight cutover windows.
  • Customer advocacy mindset: prioritize user experience while balancing performance, security and cost constraints.
  • Change management and training aptitude to drive adoption and reduce operational friction during technology transitions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline (or equivalent professional experience).

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Telecom, Network Engineering, Computer Science, or an MBA for senior leadership tracks.
  • Relevant vendor certifications (Microsoft Teams Administrator/Voice, CCNP Collaboration / CCIE Collaboration, AudioCodes, Ribbon, ITIL, PMP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Telecommunications
  • Computer Science / Information Technology
  • Network Engineering
  • Electrical or Electronic Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–12 years of progressive experience in voice/UC design and operations, including multi‑site enterprise deployments and carrier integrations.

Preferred: 10+ years with demonstrated leadership of UC migrations (on‑prem to cloud), SBC and SIP trunk rollouts, and vendor evaluations — plus certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Teams Voice Engineer, CCNP/CCIE Collaboration or equivalent practical experience.

Explore More Careers