Communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) is future of messaging

Communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) is a modern-age technology that helps enterprises to transform the way they interact with their customers by simplifying communication integration like voice, SMS, enhanced business messaging solutions and email, etc.

Enterprises are inclined towards learning more about communications platform as a service more than ever to enhance their customer experience (CX), and pave the way for greater accomplishments in the way brands engage with their customers. Today, CPaaS is rapidly evolving in the areas of machine learning and AI and helping enterprises to drive forward. In the current business scenario, it is very evident that reacting quickly to any market changes is the key to survival. Along with this, it is essential to meet the customer's expectations.

Engage with customers over broad range of digital touchpoints
CPaaS has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. Initially, the only way channel brands would majorly prefer to connect with its customers was via efficient messaging services. Now, businesses need a more comprehensive portfolio to sustain value creation. AI-powered chatbots, RCS Business Messaging, WhatsApp Business Platform, A2P messaging, are just few of the many CPaaS platforms that enable brands to communicate and engage with customers over a broad range of digital touchpoints.

During these challenging times, CPaaS has proven to be the ultimate problem solver by helping enterprises to maintain continuity and sustainability. With time, CPaaS has also enabled brands to meet the heightened customer demand by allowing them to integrate new features and helping them provide a positive experience. The service helps brands adapt to changing needs quickly, while saving money and time.

CPaaS also offers systems that automate communications to specific people or groups, ensuring that customers are informed at all times. What’s more, other features such as response monitoring, scalable messaging, and delivery statistics help firms measure the success of their outreach. It provides all of a company's important messaging features while allowing them to swiftly scale up using their existing phone infrastructure.

CPaaS = Less Investment + Real-Time Analytics + Global Reach + Better CX
Just like technology, customer needs and expectations are also constantly evolving. Gone are the days when consumers would wait on a toll-free line to get their issues addressed. They now want businesses to be available at all hours and to adapt to their tastes.

CPaaS integrates communication features into a brand’s app. It is faster to do so and even viable, allowing the brand to engage with customers directly without requiring considerable development and investment.

This allows brands and enterprises to avoid the complexities of deploying, maintaining and upgrading separate systems and meet their business needs in a cost effective manner.

With the support of automatic API scaling, CPaaS can even help brands take their business intelligence (BI) to the next level, with real-time analytics that is easily accessible and provided through a user-friendly dashboard. Since CPaaS is a cloud communication platform, it provides instant access to hundreds of carriers all across the globe, allowing companies to expand their global reach. Businesses can communicate with their customers in the local language and tailor its responses for each audience type. Basically, CPaaS skips all the hurdles and empowers global enterprises to provide a local experience.

Tool for rapid growth
For all existing customers, an automated messaging system can be set up to provide them with the most up-to-date information of the products, promotional offers, and discounts, among other things.

With relevant SMS marketing, brands can take their branding to the next level and speed up their processes. SMS and WhatsApp capabilities provide end customers with easy and pervasive access to fulfill simple functions in a self-service manner, which then reduces the number of customer inquiries reaching agents in a contact center.

CPaaS not only gives a brand the freedom and assurance to connect new tools to your existing technology but is also considered by various enterprises as the progression from unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS).

The world of convenient and contextual communications will soon become the norm and not the exception, as CPaaS has achieved market acceptance with both its market size and its growth rate. According to recent research, it is predicted that the CPaaS market size can reach up to US $17.2 billion by 2023 and this consistent growth is evidence that communication trends are constantly changing, and the technology to address these unmet needs is also emerging at an equally rapid pace.

Customer Experience, or CX, is also an important area of business to focus for today’s brands and enterprises of all sizes. Experts in this field are guiding organizations to plan and execute their customer engagement strategy and integrate appropriate CPaaS platforms with existing systems to ensure seamless, end-to-end customer journeys across multiple communication channels.

-- Rajdip Gupta

The author is the MD and Group CEO of Route Mobile Ltd.