The convergence of open networks, programmable communications, and AI-based media analytics is having a profound impact on the way enterprises and service providers operate. This guest blog explores the rising popularity of APIs in the telecom community, the role of programmable communications and 5G applications, and some innovations seen in recent hackathons.
The Programmable Communications Market: Accessibility and Ease of Use
The programmable communications market has been rapidly growing in recent years, with new applications driven by features that go beyond simple voice and messaging. This market began around 20 years ago with the release of open-source telecom application service, but it has taken us several decades to get here. The emergence of open-source projects enabled software companies to get into the market, exposing APIs and building employee and customer communications platforms at a fraction of the cost of traditional vendors. Programmable communications has enabled many workflows to be automated, making it easy to embed in different software packages or websites.
In the communication space, an emerging trend called the API economy is driving innovation. This trend translates well to traditional IT services, where telecom providers have started to invest in APIs and application marketplaces, to monetize new customer services. Many new programmable capabilities are made accessible through these tools, including conversational AI, video analytics, and computer vision technologies.
The Role of APIs in the Communication Space: The Emergence of the API Economy
The term API economy has shifted the market focus to the technology when the service is the most important piece. APIs aid programmability, but equally, they can be a software development toolkit, a no-code graphical user interface, or any number of other tools.
Increasingly, customer-driven demand is an important factor that drives vendors in the programmable communications market. The rise of no-code graphical user interfaces has simplifiedprogrammable communications for programmers and businesses. This approach allows enterprises or developers to generate revenue faster by shifting the focus from technology to problem-solving for the business customer,. For example, Radisys’ low code/no-code Engage Digital Platform (EDP)solution provides all the APIs for conversation intelligence and computer vision while simplifying the business workflow-building process. EDP is easily accessible by anyone, enablingbusinesses to open their networks to the innovation of AI, speech analytics, and much more to create unique applications that attract and retain consumers and enterprises.
APIs allow businesses to expose their services and data to other businesses, developers, and customers, which can lead to new revenue streams and increased customer engagement. For example, telecom providers can expose their network capabilities, such as voice and messaging, through APIs, which can be used to create new applications and services.
More Innovations Coming – AI Driven
APIs are not just limited to traditional telecom services. With the emergence of AI-based media analytics, businesses can create new applications and services useing AI-based media analytics APIs to analyze customer interactions, sentiment, and behavior, and use this data to personalize customer experiences and improve customer engagement.
Moving forward, the convergence of open networks, programmable communications, and AI-based media analytics is driving innovation in the telecom industry, and changing the way enterprises and service providers operate. In addition, 5G will continue to enable faster and more reliable video streaming, crucial for applications including remote surgeries, virtual reality, and augmented reality. With the emergence of 5G networks and the Internet of Things (IoT), there are increasing opportunities for businesses to leverage programmable communications and APIs to create new products and services.
Overall, the convergence of open networks, programmable communications, and AI-based media analytics is changing the way businesses operate, and the rising popularity of APIs is driving innovation in the telecom industry. We’re at the start of a whole new era in communications!
For more information on this topic, listen to Episode 1 of Radisys’ Let’s Engage podcast. To learn more about Radisys’ Engage Digital Platform, visit www.engagedigital.ai.
Al Balasco
Al Balasco is the Head of Media, Core and Applications Business. Prior to his current role, he was the Sr. Director of Product Management for the Media Server business. Before joining Radisys in October 2010, Al was the Director of Product Management in Avaya Inc.’s Unified Communications business unit where he was responsible for the delivery of a variety of collaboration solutions and partnerships. Prior to Avaya, Mr. Balasco was the Vice President of Product Management at Spectel and was instrumental in defining the company’s VOIP conferencing and collaboration strategy. He also served as Director of Marketing for Sonexis Inc. and Director of Product Management at Brooktrout Software. Mr. Balasco has over 25 years of product management, business development and marketing experience in the telecommunications industry and has an MBA from Northeastern University in Boston.
Comments are closed