Al,SMEs to drive rapid growth of CPaaS market

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 (CPaaS) market in the next seven years, global cloud communications company Infobip has said.

The ”CPaaS Growth Outlook 2023” report shows that the global market for cloud-based communication platforms is poised to surge, reaching Sh14 trillion (USD 100 billion) by 2030. This forecast marks a substantial increase from the current valuation of Sh2.8 trillion (USD 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 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 platforms as a service that empowers organisations 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 utilise 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, voice authenticationamong 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. Mr 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),” said Mr Mochama.

Artificial Intelligence(AI)

The fusion of AI and CPaaS can streamline processes such as generating automatic post-call transcripts, which are then stored in customer records. This enhancement optimizes agent productivity between calls.Insights from the ”Infobip Messaging Trends 2022” report revealed that majority of customers – 68 percent – want to do business or buy from fintech companies that offer messaging-based communication. Forecasts indicate the fintech market is poised for nearly a twofold expansion by 2027.

Covid-19 Pandemic Acceleration of Digitalization

The Covid-19 pandemic, according to the report, expedited existing trends in mobility and digitalization for numerous companies, largely facilitated by CPaaS communication channels, connectivity, and automation. A notable example is the surge in popularity of telemedicine services, where patients access medical consultations remotely through video and messaging.

In recent years, in-app communication has increased in popularity, leading to a reduction in traditional telephone SMS and voice call traffic.

According to Kenya’s Economic Survey 2023, the total volume of domestic telephone traffic decreased from 80.1 billion minutes in 2021 to 78.3 billion minutes in 2022. The international SMSs sent and received declined by 29.2 percent and 3.7 percent, resulting to 19.8 million and 34.7 million, respectively.

“So generally, when you wake up in the morning and when you sleep all this time,you’re interacting with a CPaaS provider.And as Infobip, we try and make that communication as easy as possible so that businesses can reach you with information that is relevant; and so that you can make your purchases and send the lovely messages to the people that you love just in a very seamless way,” said Mr.Mochama.