In the coming year, technological advancements in global collaboration and enhanced end user experience will flourish.
For telecoms, the cloud remained a pivotal disrupter throughout 2019. In the fast-paced enterprise communications market, forward-thinking businesses and communication service providers (CSPs) raced to diversify and strengthen product portfolios by integrating cloud-based communication capabilities. Utilizing the cloud empowered CSPs to deliver greater value to customers - through reduced costs, seamless voice and text services and enhanced mobile accessibility - while enabling them to surpass competitors.
As this year comes to an end, industry leaders are looking to the coming year for what trends and innovations will shape 2020. In 2019, the growing global remote workforce and customers’ heightened expectations of their communications services led to numerous technological advancements in both global collaboration and enhanced telecom customer experience. We anticipate these technological advancements will accelerate and mature in the coming year as businesses strive to deliver enhanced value to a widening and more diversified customer audience.
Outlined below are three enterprise communication trends we predict will empower further business growth and industry disruption in 2020.
#1: Voice and calling features will take center stage
The size of the global remote workforce is continuing to grow with more than two-thirds of people around the world working away from an office at least once a week, according to researchers. The expanding remote workforce has drastically changed the traditional “workplace” and the tools employees need to effectively collaborate with each other from disparate locations. The shift toward an increasingly remote workforce has also made it critical for businesses to provide quality and secure voice and messaging services that facilitate real-time global collaboration among both employees and customers, regardless of their location.
The impact of this changing workforce can be seen in the rising popularity of cloud-collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack, which help teams stay organized and connected by providing real-time communications support and improved access to corporate documents and files. Additionally, these tools are cost effective, easy to deploy and require little to no maintenance outside of regular software updates.
Dan Hastings,
Director,
Enterprise Solutions,
Flowroute
Due to the significant business benefits and the growing trend of employees working away from the traditional office, we predict businesses that adopt such collaboration tools will be able to better compete in the global economy, as well as retain their employees as a result of supporting and providing flexible work environments. Going into the new year, enterprises must prioritize moving internal processes and external communication offerings to the cloud to support the changing needs of employees and customers around the world.
#2: CSPs will partner with cloud providers to engage customers
Although the cloud played a pivotal role in enterprise communications in 2019, in many ways the cloud-communications movement is still in its infancy and has a lot more maturing to do. For example, the U.S. is currently one of the leading countries in the adoption of cloud-based communications, yet it only has a market penetration of 18 percent. This presents a tremendous opportunity for CSPs in 2020.
As businesses look to evolve strategies and gain market share, partnering with a cloud-based CSP provider that offers global IP-based services will help them reach new customers and optimize engagement. In the coming year, we predict that momentum for cloud and “as a service” providers will build as more enterprises establish partnerships with CSPs that offer global cloud-based services.
To remain competitive, we predict CSPs will evolve their strategic partnerships with cloud providers to offer international numbers which help customers collaborate in the global business network.
#3: Customer service will rely on cohesive omnichannel models
In 2020, enhanced customer service will be top of mind for businesses looking to gain market share by increasing brand loyalty and attaching new customers. For example, modern consumers are increasingly using a variety of communication platforms and touch points (apps, websites, social media platforms) to engage with their favorite brand online to buy a product, and businesses will need to adopt a cohesive omnichannel at-the-edge strategy to engage their customers at every point of service.
Historically, businesses have provided consumers with access to the brand via multiple touch points, which was perceived as sufficient for a “quality” customer experience. However, as modern consumers become more tech-savvy and Generation Z grows into a formidable customer market, it will become expected that a business’ touch points should have a unified appearance for consumers. Businesses can achieve this by evaluating point of service touch points with their customers and ensuring that their communication platforms provide a unified and personalized experience for consumers.
Contact centers must also ensure that all touch points are interconnected and facilitate consistent real-time communication instead of appearing outwardly disjointed, which consumers can perceive as sloppy and unprofessional. Further, as the significance of an omnichannel at the edge customer communication strategy grows, we forecast that more businesses will invest in telecom APIs, WebRTC and other supporting communication technologies to enhance consumer touch points and improve overall customer experience.
Consumers’ preferences and behaviors will ultimately drive and shape the evolving telecom industry. Enterprises and CSPs that continue to optimize cloud-based solutions within their communications portfolio, prioritize voice and calling features and invest in omnichannel at the edge communication strategies will be able to forecast and develop solutions that will meet their customers’ needs in 2020 and beyond.
