Artificial Intelligence (AI) and small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are projected to play a significant role in driving rapid growth of the communications platform-as-a-service market in the next seven years, global cloud Communications Company Infobip revealed.
The communications platform-as-a-service Growth Outlook 2023 report shows that the global market for cloud-based communication platforms is poised to surge, reaching $100 billion by 2030. This forecast marks a substantial increase from the current valuation of $20 billion.
“We’re seeing CPaaS technology helping organizations of all sizes with an efficient way to reach, communicate and retain their customers via very efficient tools. The fast-moving pace of the world driven by digital transformation is leading Ugandan businesses to be more agile, flexible and scalable by meeting the customer where they are,” said Infobip Key Account Executive Duncan Mochama.
The report by CPaaS Acceleration Alliance (CPaaSAA) in collaboration with influential analysts and key industry players, suggests that in the next three years, about 90 percent of global enterprises will strategically harness CPaaS as a vital IT skill set. CpaaS is a cloud communication platform as a service that empowers organizations and developers to seamlessly integrate communication functionalities into their applications.
Through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs), these platforms offer the ability to seamlessly embed voice, video, chat, and messaging into applications and services. The versatility of CPaaS permits businesses to effectively utilize various communication channels such as SMS, voice, or popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and Messenger. This adaptability facilitates the adoption of new communication channels in line with shifting customer preferences.
Examples of CPaaS-driven messages include order confirmations, shipping updates, marketing communications, appointment reminders, password reset notifications, notifications for new device account logins, and voice authentication among others. These SMS messages can be either scheduled or triggered.
“AI seamlessly integrates with CPaaS due to its maturity. Speech recognition, chatbots, and image recognition have achieved remarkable accuracy levels, enabling crucial workflows via phone, chat, and messaging,” Mochama added.
Mochama highlights the growing trend of AI-powered chatbots serving customer and agent support needs, in addition to workflow automation that employs AI to detect and address potentially risky or non-compliant scenarios.
Mochama says that unlike in the past, now the customers want to feel valued by being heard.
“Customers are seeking personalized messages, motivating businesses to tackle this challenge by adopting technologies like CPaaS. With Internet Penetration across the region coupled with ease of access to features and smart mobile phones, personalized experience to end users is no longer an option in all verticals (BFSI, Travel and Hospitality, E-Commerce and Retail, Healthcare),” he said.