Have You Written a Comms App Yet?Have You Written a Comms App Yet?
Leverage the transformational power of CPaaS.
March 6, 2018
Communications platform as a service (CPaaS) will be a hot topic at Enterprise Connect 2018, coming next week. (There's still time to be there. Click here to take $500 off the price.)
Every EC18 keynote speaker represents a company that offers a developer program to use its cloud-based communications platform. Cisco will likely emphasize Spark, for team collaboration, with Spark Boards and Spark Rooms; Spark has APIs, for sure, and Cisco also offers its Tropo platform. Microsoft will likely emphasize Microsoft Teams in Office 365, which has options for cloud-based communications developers, and also offers the Azure environment. Amazon Web Services, Workplace by Facebook, and Slack will likely lead with their respective collaboration or contact center products, but each sees its offering as a developer platform, including communications capabilities.
The Industry Visionary Addresses will likely have a CPaaS sub-theme, as well. Vonage Business, with its Nexmo business unit, is an industry-leading CPaaS provider. 8x8, Google, and RingCentral have API-rich environments. Avaya and Mitel may still represent the IP-PBX approach, whether on-premises or as a managed service in the cloud, yet both likely will emphasize the openness of versions of their IP-PBX software as a communications platform (see my No Jitter post, "Which CPaaS Do You Use Now?" on this topic).
The APIs and & Embedded Communications track will highlight the CPaaS theme, with both analytical presentations and customer testimonials. Speech tools are very much part of the CPaaS ecosystem, too, as we're sure to see in the new Speech Technologies track and the speech tech-focused Innovation Showcase.
By the way, you might notice that CPaaS isn't very different from the wave of applications for IVR and auto-attendants a few decades back. We in telecom have credibility in CPaaS, if we will use it. The media have changed from voice PSTN to diverse Internet protocols, but the methodology is still similar: Find annoying, delaying, or costly steps to be transformed.
OK, all that is well and good, but what should you be doing about it in your enterprise?
First, get your feet wet. There's essentially no cost to get started. You can sign up with one or more of the CPaaS providers, get an account, and start learning. Sure, if you want to make and receive phone calls or send and receive SMS messages, you'll need a CPaaS phone number, but those can be had for $1 to $5 per month. You must have room in your department budget for that! If you don't have access to a website or other platform for your apps, then try out the CPaaS sandbox service -- most have one available at no charge.
Then, use the tutorials, sample apps, and other aids. With a small investment of time, you'll begin to see what's possible. Maybe you won't personally end up writing the CPaaS calls or apps for your organization, but you'll know more about how to recruit qualified talent to help you.
Hey, that's not much different than how we got started with IVR.
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Second, go on a scouting trip around your enterprise. UniComm Consulting offers suggestions to almost all our customers about where to look. This sponsored white paper has a rigorous structure for where the opportunities are for communications-enabled business processes (CEBP), and CPaaS is precisely the toolkit needed for successful transformation of communications-intensive business processes.
We also suggest functional ideas such as those listed below. A few examples are offered, but please, please don't take this as a complete list. You can find hundreds of transformative ideas in every vertical industry sector. Find these opportunities by looking at the business processes and at the usage profiles within those processes (list at bottom of this link):
Notifications and interactions -- Think Uber, airlines, shipping updates, payment updates, project due dates, all sorts of reminders, and much more. These can make your users happier, can help avoid process delays or waste, and can reduce human protocol conversions (i.e., someone reading information to another person from a screen).
Process or workflow monitoring -- This is standard practice in a network operations center, but what about all the rest of the business units or departments? Are sales being booked at the forecasted rate? Is production running at targeted levels? What is the average patient wait time in the clinic? How many shoppers are in your stores at this time (at least those with your app on their phones, but even those who can be counted on the security cameras (i.e., where is your attention required, right now)?
Streamlining the highest-volume or highest-value business processes (because those are the two cases that use up the most human resource and capital) -- 1% improvement in your highest-volume process is worth a lot of money; 50% improvement in a low-frequency but high-value process can be worth a lot, too. - Instant messaging bots have been winners for years. These are now even smarter and especially good for internal processes. Check inventory and even get replenishment with a bot. Find an expert or an approver instantly with a bot. Check out your prospect's profile before your call with a bot. So much here! - SMS-based or even speech-enabled bots are the new lode. Here's where you think Uber, as a CPaaS-based business model. Any industry with mobile employees -- field or on-premises -- or with retail customers has opportunities.
CPaaS plug-ins or connectors to the departmental business applications -- In many cases this can eliminate the need for a PBX license for that user. For example, connect your field service app to CPaaS so that calls or SMS texts come from the app, not the IP PBX and so that customers call or contact the field service rep through the ticket interface on a Web page or mobile app. Just ask the IT applications director for a list of the SaaS apps that your enterprise is using and figure out which have useful, valuable CPaaS or API connectors.
Support trends toward mobile devices -- Eliminate desk phones and PBX numbers, using mobile-only options. Well, this one has been on the table for a decade, but now feasible and economical. Take a look, and ask department heads who they see as mobile-only candidates -- you may be surprised.
Hmmm, this seems just like how IVR apps were found and proliferated through department discussions.
Third, make a business case for the best ideas you find in the most receptive and cooperative business units. If you find the ideas are pervasive, then you may want to push CPaaS forward as an IT strategic initiative. But, usually, it's best to have a track record of tactical successes as the proof point of the strategic proposal.
Also, the economics may be exceptional. Now that communications functions have been broken down into small, flexibly usable pieces, you no longer need to think about a major capital investment. The barrier to innovation is very low. This means that if you can find great improvements for your business, you're sure to have a very high ROI on your project.
Yep, you guessed it -- same as with IVR.
Hope this is interesting to you. If so, enjoy building your app (I am), enjoy your CPaaS explorations at Enterprise Connect, and then enjoy transforming your organization's workflows (and your job and career). See you there!
Learn more about APIs & Embedded Communications at Enterprise Connect 2018, March 12 to 15, in Orlando, Fla. Register now using the code NOJITTER to save an additional $200 off the Regular Rate or get a free Expo Plus pass.
