February 2021 Summaries

According to Mordor Intelligence, nearly six in ten UK contact centers will operate in the cloud by 2022, up from 39% in 2018. This growth is driven by the adoption of Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), which offers cost and operational benefits over traditional on-premise solutions. While CCaaS has become mainstream, it continues to evolve with innovations such as instant provisioning, global reach, centralized service management, automated telecoms, and accelerated scale. The next major innovation for cloud communications is expected to be a fully interoperable open ecosystem, which will improve market access and adoption of innovative products.

The importance of Customer Experience (CX) in defining brands is becoming increasingly clear to contact center managers. Changes in the call center industry, such as increased call volume and complex calls, have led many businesses to consider switching from on-premises setups to a cloud-based Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) model. This approach enables rapid scaling of voice capabilities, differentiates businesses through CX, and saves costs by automating functions that would otherwise require manual overhead.

AT&T's deployment of its 10DLC solution has created uncertainties for mobile engagement solution providers. The rapidly shifting business text messaging landscape can be challenging to navigate, but there are suggestions on how to keep businesses shipshape. Resisting hype and focusing on established mediums like short code or toll-free can provide safer options with rock-solid results. Businesses need to evaluate their use cases that rely on local messaging and consider adjusting timelines, resources, or customer expectations accordingly. Additionally, staying informed about industry changes and exploring reliable alternatives such as toll-free SMS can help businesses maintain effective communication strategies.

Spending on communications is expected to account for 36% of total IT budgets in 2021, according to Gartner's recent update. The pandemic-induced shift to remote work has complicated the management of unified communications costs. Companies that have migrated to the cloud and embraced decentralized solutions can navigate this new reality more effectively. To lower the total cost of ownership for unified communications, businesses should eradicate hidden costs, drive greater collaboration with cost-effective connectivity, and consolidate vendors. These measures will improve communication experiences for users and customers while reducing expenses.

The concept of a 'hybrid office' is emerging as the new norm due to increased usage of collaboration tools and remote working during the pandemic. This model combines working from home with time in the office, requiring high-quality and secure connections for both internal and external communications. As businesses adopt more cloud-based tools like contact center solutions, video conferencing, and internal comms, costs are increasing due to margin stacking from multiple SIP providers and resellers. Bringing your own carrier (BYOC) can help reduce these expenses by allowing a single network supplier to handle all platforms, improving control over call routing, extending coverage to more markets, ensuring connection quality, and reducing maintenance costs.

Text messaging over SMS has been around for nearly 30 years, with the first message sent in 1992. Since then, there have been significant advancements such as the introduction of QWERTY keyboards, intercarrier messaging support, and the launch of smartphones. Business messaging on toll-free phone numbers has grown rapidly, and new guidelines for A2P or business messaging traffic have been established. The future of text messaging is expected to continue evolving with advancements in technology and communication strategies.