2023 was a challenging year for businesses around the world. Between widespread economic disruption and huge swings in customer needs and demands, it was hard to drive growth and maintain loyalty. But for many organizations, CPaaS technology has helped improve their business outcomes by increasing operational efficiency and cutting costs.
At a time when engaging customers with relevant offers and services is more important than ever, CPaaS solutions have enabled organizations to interact with their customers—when and how they want it.
Looking ahead, there’s a lot to be excited about in the CPaaS world. Here are my top four predictions for what 2024 will have in store for CPaaS customers and our market at large.
As organizations adopt new capabilities to meet rising customer demands, CPaaS will keep them focused on the big picture
We’ve long spoken about customers wanting frictionless, conversational messaging experiences wherever, whenever, and however they choose to engage with your business.
Those experiences have now become a basic expectation. Year-on-year, we are seeing increases in conversational messaging volumes, and the recent Black Friday/Cyber Monday events saw unprecedented growth in outbound messages. When you contact them, customers expect personalized, relevant, and secure experiences conveniently delivered through their preferred channel.
Moreover, organizations must recognize that every one of their communication channels needs to coexist within a multi-modal environment. They must think holistically rather than just focusing on the latest and greatest technology and capabilities. Every new touchpoint or experience must integrate with the rest of their communications estate to support seamless, multi-channel journeys.
That said, the AI-based (and generative AI) opportunity can’t be ignored. Generative AI is here to stay, and it’s going to help all of us make automated, self-serve interactions better, faster, and more cost-effective.
Now is the time for organizations to invest in building up the data, machine learning, and AI capabilities they need to understand their customers at a granular level so they can optimize every interaction they have with them across every channel.
As organizations take steps to integrate AI into multi-modal communication environments and journeys, I have seen interest in CPaaS platforms rise significantly. The advantages of AI extend beyond enhancing the customer experience through features like chat summarization and improved automated interactions. Developers also reap significant benefits by accelerating build and deployment processes through the automation of routine tasks and standard code.
This automation results in substantial gains in terms of resources, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Such efficiency becomes especially critical in an environment where retaining or finding expert developers presents a considerable challenge. Looking ahead, I expect this trend to continue and mature well into 2024.
AI has already transformed how organizations and customers interact. But what we’ve seen is just the beginning
Generative AI dominated technology headlines throughout 2023—this isn’t set to change. Many organizations are already witnessing the impact that AI-powered, automated communications can have on CX and customer interactions, and many more are experiencing this for the first time as it becomes more accessible, quicker, and cost-effective.
But what they’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. AI is an enabler, allowing many different parts of the business to more efficiently perform their functions. From conversational interfaces to experience creation and from analytics to content creation, AI will accelerate how your business transforms your customer experience.
AI-accelerated creation is one of Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2024. As AI finds its way into more areas, including CPaaS solutions, we’re set to see a huge increase in both the quality and quantity of rich content we receive through messaging platforms.
