The race to make Communications and Collaboration smart and automated.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Aragon Research, Inc., a leading technology research and advisory firm, today released its Aragon Research Globe for Intelligent Unified Communications and Collaboration (iUC&C), 2026. The report identifies the key players and highlights a profound transformation of the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) market, moving beyond integrated messaging, voice, and video to become a central hub for intelligent automation.

This evolution is fundamentally driven by the maturation of generative AI and the urgent enterprise need to enhance productivity by automating routine tasks. With AI agents now emerging as active participants in business workflows, the unified iUC&C platform has become a strategic necessity.

“We are entering an era of a new, hybrid workforce where both AI agents and humans collaborate within a single, integrated platform to get work done,” said Jim Lundy, CEO and Lead Analyst at Aragon Research. “The primary implication for enterprises is that the UC&C platform has become a strategic asset for communication and collaboration. Selecting a provider now requires a deeper analysis of their AI roadmap and their platform’s ability to support a growing ecosystem of specialized agents.”

Key Findings from the Report

Intelligent Assistants as Foundation: Intelligent Assistants are now a foundational part of leading iUC&C platforms, augmenting human capabilities by automating fixed tasks such as summarizing meetings, managing call settings, and providing real-time notes.
The Rise of Specialized AI Agents: The market is shifting from general-purpose assistants to specialized AI agents , such as the AI Receptionist (AIR). These autonomous digital workers are capable of executing entire, complex business processes and workflows.
Security and Deployment Flexibility: Despite the public cloud trend, a growing demand exists for hybrid and sovereign cloud options. This is a strategic imperative for large enterprises in highly regulated industries that need greater control over data residency, privacy, and security.

The Aragon Research Globe for iUC&C, 2026

This ninth annual Aragon Research Globe for Intelligent Unified Communications and Collaboration evaluates 13 key providers.

The providers evaluated in this year’s Globe include:

8×8, Avaya, Cisco, Dialpad, GoTo, Google, Intermedia, Microsoft, Mitel, Nextiva, RingCentral, Vonage, Zoom

Aragon Research delivers high-impact visual research, consulting, and advisory services to provide enterprises the insight they need to make better technology and strategy decisions. Aragon Research serves both vendor and buyer communities with a proven team of veteran analysts. For more information, visit aragonresearch.com.