CPaaS technology seems to be everywhere these days. It is set to exceed the $10 billion mark in revenue in 2022 as more companies are turning to Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) to create new customer experiences, improve processes, and solve business challenges.
Throughout the pandemic, businesses increasingly relied on automation through digital channels to improve customer communication, accelerating the growth of CPaaS. One size does not fit all in communications, and CPaaS provides flexible and scalable solutions.
The future of CPaaS looks bright, and it is one that businesses should watch. Read on to learn what businesses should know about CPaaS and how you can leverage it for your business.
What IS CPaaS?
Communication Platform as a Service is a cloud-based omnichannel platform.
It is made to provide new customer experiences, solve business challenges, and improve processes. It allows businesses to add real-time communication features to their already existing business applications like custom CRM, web chat, and social media. With CPaaS you can deliver customized experiences that improve productivity and enhance customer engagement.
CPaaS offers omni-channel automated engagement capabilities, integrating seamlessly into your existing applications and business workflows. It also provides actionable analytics and insights into your customer interactions, employee productivity levels, and much more.
Difference Between CPaaS and UCaaS
Although CPaaS and UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) appear similar in the sense that they are technologies that work toward a common goal, their root functions are different.
UCaaS solutions traditionally leverage a cloud-based architecture for the hosting of key internal communication tools across the enterprise. Gartner defines the functions of UCaaS into six key areas of communication; Enterprise Telephony, Meetings (audio, video, & web conferencing), Unified Messaging, Instant Messaging & Presence, Mobility, and Communications enabled business processes.
CPaaS is a powerful omni-channel cloud-based communication platform that is designed to be deployed either as stand-alone or over-the-top (alongside existing UCaaS solutions), leveraging a suite of customized API integrations and automated workflows to solve business problems, simplify customer experiences, and improve processes. In either deployment model, CPaaS is designed to support rapid deployment and is fully customizable to the unique needs of the enterprise.
One key take away when considering the differences between CPaaS and UCaaS is that it isn’t a “one or the other” solution. While there is some overlap, both technologies inherently serve different functions with a shared objective of enabling businesses to communicate more effectively.
Key Functions of CPaaS
There are many functions CPaaS to take into consideration for how it can be leveraged to drive value for your organization, read on to find out more about a few key areas.
Automated Outbound Messages
CPaaS can be leveraged to provide automated outbound voice and SMS alerts and notifications based on pre-populated conditions from a business workflow, automated scheduling, or manually based on a unique event. The outbound messaging capabilities from CPaaS include text to speech, customized recorded audio, and even language transcription. Automated Outbound Messaging is a great way to keep customers engaged with critical information with no human intervention.
Advanced Inbound Routing
Manage incoming voice calls and SMS interactions with advanced routing features including geo-routing, time of day, customer profile, and more. The advanced inbound routing capabilities from CPaaS can be leveraged as a supplement to UCaaS solutions if your existing systems are not setup to handle omni-channel interactions currently.
You can take this a step further and setup two-way messaging, so your customers can respond and recieve additional information. Two-way messaging through CPaaS is easy to configure with pre-populated responses based on tonality, phrases, words and questions. It additionally can be configured with conversational AI as well as API integrations into customer software to provide unique and meaningful information instantly without a human resource.
The automated self service capabilities of CPaaS are increasingly more important to the new age of consumers however at Beacon we always recommend allowing the customer an option to connect to a live agent as an alternative throughout the interaction.
Actionable Insights
CPaaS platforms offer real-time analytics and reporting tools to ascertain SMS delivery status and call usage data. You can access all of this information on one platform.
Leveraging actionable insights empowers your team to identify what is working, what isn’t, and easily make the appropriate adjustments.
Omnichannel Automation
CPaaS allows you to put in place different channels of communication seamlessly into your existing workflow and customer experience. Because CPaaS provides an easy-to-use platform, it is easy to deploy and integrate with external software and applications.
CPaaS Use Cases
There are many ways you can implement functions of CPaaS into your business. Let us look at examples.
Appointment Confirmations
Sending out appointment confirmations and reminders is simple with automated voice and SMS functions. CPaaS can help reduce the number of missed appointments and improve customer satisfaction. You also don’t have to worry about sending manual reminders.
Automated Customer Interactions
You can offer customers answers in a self-service manner with CPaaS. Chatbots use conversational AI to answer questions based on information the customer provides or questions they ask.
By offering these interactions on the same platform as all other interactions, you can provide your sales and customer support team with relevant information. If they speak with the customer later, they will have all of the data they need.
You can also prepare messages to respond to customer texts and calls automatically and send post-call surveys.
Privacy-Focused Messaging
You can communicate safely and privately with customers with CPaaS. Credit card delivery notifications, process payments, provide claim updates, and policy renewals need to take place on safe platforms. CPaaS offers that.
If your business handles sensitive information on a daily basis, CPaaS is vital.
CPaaS help with fraud and abuse mitigation by adding an extra layer of security. You can send text messages to customers with one-time passwords, two-factor identification codes, and more.
Scalable Voice and Messaging
You can add voice calling and messaging to your customer-facing applications with CPaaS. Customers can then contact you at important moments.
They will be able to reach you when planning a visit to a physical location. They can also contact you when buying a product or service or when checking their account and purchase history online.
You can offer the answers your customers need by deploying voice calls and messaging at scale.
Improve Customer Experience and Productivity With CPaaS
According to a study conducted by Nemertes Research in 2020, they found that companies who leveraged CPaaS into their contact center were able to improve their overall CX (Customer Experience) ratings by 31%, increase revenue by 28%, and decrease costs by 53%.
The applications for how CPaaS solutions can be used to enhance CX are endless and really only limited by your imagination.
While CPaaS solutions are quick and easy to deploy, they do require expert help to make them work for you and your business.
At Beacon Telecom, we are here to help you implement the unified communication solutions you need to make your business succeed. We have a diverse client base which includes law firms, medical institutions, high tech, financial institutions, government and more. There is no company too big or too small that couldn’t benefit from CPaaS to solve challenges and we are here to help.
Contact us today to learn more!
