Convergence: A top priority for Service Providers and Technology Providers
The Communications Convergence Working Group had the second highest level of interest from CPaaSAA members in 2023.
And for three good reasons:
The CX Transformation Wave: Converged solutions enable platforms to support rich CX use cases. These use cases will unlock large revenue opportunities as enterprises increase CX spend in 2024.
Revenue Expansion: Siloed UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS solutions limit providers to specific business buyers. With converged solutions providers can sell to multiple enterprise buyers including CX, Operations and IT leaders.
Competition: The UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS markets are hyper-competitive. Providers are searching for ways to stand out against the competition and gain market share.
Top area of focus? CX Transformation.
This working group is focused on supporting CX Transformation. CPaaSAA analyst partner Metrigy highlights why this focus is so important for service and technology providers:
The clock is ticking
The next 12 months are critical for providers who want to ride this CX transformation wave.
Enterprises are choosing preferred partners to deliver their CX transformation projects today.
Providers who aren’t talking to customers about CX transformation may miss out on significant growth opportunities this year.
Getting ahead of the curve
The Communications Convergence Working Group is uniquely positioned to move fast this year.
We are leveraging the combined success and expertise of our members to introduce 4 sellable CX solutions in 2024.
These solutions will include five key components that speed time to market, decrease up-front investment and increase sales success:
Relevance
They will address high-priority CX challenges that enterprises are facing today.
Adjacency
They will deliver incremental use cases on top of existing UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS deployments.
Ease of Implementation
They will include recipes for building, partnering and licensing solution components.
Marketing Resources
They will include marketing resource & proof points for engaging and informing customers.
Sales Enablement
They will include resources that support sales and implementation teams.
Benefits for Service Providers
These solutions will reduce much of the research, development and guesswork that come with new offers. We expect these solutions to improve overall agility and efficiency of new product development within the communications industry.
Here are the top three benefits this working group will create for service providers:
Lower development cost
Service providers will find options to buy and partner with existing platforms rather than building these solutions from scratch. Technology partners will often integrate directly the service provider’s existing systems for seamless deployment and billing.
Faster time to market
These solutions will focus on use cases that are already succeeding in the market. This means that service providers will have access to existing market proof points, training material and delivery models.
Increased market success
These use cases will remove the guess work on target market, buyer personas and sales models. Marketing teams will be able to leverage ready-made content. Sales teams and partners will have access to pre-built enablement resources.
Benefits for sales partners and consultants
As trusted advisors, technology consultants must have a deep understanding of the solutions they are delivering.
The challenge: CX-focused solutions have historically had a large learning curve. This has made it difficult for consultants to learn, sell and support CX-focused solutions at scale.
This working group will simplify the learning curve of these solutions for technology consultants. They will be able to leverage the technical, marketing and sales outputs from this working group to:
- Identify and engage prospects that will benefit from the solutions
- Clearly articulate and position these solutions in the sales process
- Ensure the successful delivery of these solutions to their customers
Benefits for enterprises
This working group will craft solutions that address high-priority challenges and initiatives for enterprise customers. Through insights from participating providers, consultants and analysts, we will present real-world examples and benefits for these solutions.
Insights provided by our analyst partners have already shown significant benefits for enterprises that implement converged CX solutions, including:
- Improved customer and employee experiences
- Increased revenue
- Improved brand loyalty
- Reduced total operations cost
How do these solutions work in the real world?
United Airlines, a US-based airline, offers an exciting example of converged solutions working together to deliver a seamless customer experience:
A personalized welcome
A CPaaS-powered automated agent identifies the caller based on their phone number. It prompts the caller with timely information: “Thanks for calling Mary. I see you have an upcoming trip to Chicago. Are you calling about that trip?”
Easy connection to a live agent
The caller may say they want to speak to a representative about an issue. The CPaaS-based automated agent transfers the caller a live agent via a CCaaS platform.
No need to answer the same question twice
The live agent sees everything that the automated agent learned about the caller. They then help the caller without asking questions the caller has already answered.
Bringing in experts who can help
At some point the live agent works with other United Airlines employees via UCaaS to resolve a complex issue.
Closing the loop with a post-call survey
Once the call is complete, the CPaaS-based automated agent reconnects with the caller to take them through a post-call survey. The automated agent posts the survey results into the CCaaS system for reporting purposes.
Working Group Leadership and Participants
Working Group Chairs
Two industry leaders are chairing the CPaaSAA Converged Communications Working Group:
- David Spindler, CDO and SVP of Operations for SIPPIO
- Jon Brinton, CRO for Crexendo
Working Group Participants
The following CPaaSAA members are participating in the working group:
- iotum
- KPN
- SpeechLogix
The following industry analysts and experts are participating in the working group:
- Beth Schutlz, VP of Research & Principle Analyst at Metrigy
- Robert Galop, Partner & CMO at CPaaS Acceleration Alliance
How to Join CPaaSAA Working Groups?
Accelerate Membership
CPaaSAA Accelerate Members have an exclusive opportunity to create and lead CPaaSAA industry working groups.
Grow and Connect Membership
CPaaSAA Grow and Connect Members can participate in and contribute to CPaaSAA working groups of their choice.
All CPaaSAA members have access to output from these working groups. This output includes specifications, white papers, marketing collateral and sales enablement content.
View our membership options for more information. We look forward to pioneering the future of communication with you!
What are UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS?
Here are some basic definitions if you are new to these terms:
- Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a cloud-based delivery model offering a range of communication and collaboration applications and services. These services replace traditional Business Phone Systems or PBX services and expand that offering to include various additional communication methods like collaborations, messaging etc.
- Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a cloud-based solution designed to help companies support their customers. Modern CCaaS solutions allow companies to interact with customers via voice, web-based chat, SMS, email and social media.
- Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) enables organizations to integrate real-time communication capabilities, like voice, video, and messaging, into their applications. Also known as programmable communications, CPaaS solutions streamline interactions by embedding communications capabilities in a variety of delivery mechanisms to deliver purpose-built functions.
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