The CPaaS market experienced remarkable growth in 2023. Discover the three themes that helped define a landmark year in connected customer communications.
As we ease into 2024, now is the ideal time to reflect on the trends and achievements that defined the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) market in 2023.
Last year saw significant industry growth as many businesses invested in CPaaS to help meet rising customer demand for rich, personalized, and seamless experiences on their preferred communications channel. We also saw generative AI enter the mainstream in a big way, defined by its ability to create and optimize content. While it’s true that businesses worldwide are still feeling the pinch of socioeconomic disruption, such innovations unlocked new cost-saving efficiencies and routes to customer loyalty.
The year started on a high for Webex as we received gold awards for “CPaaS Provider of the Year” and “Best RCS Initiative” at the 2023 Telco Innovation Awards. Later in the year, we were named a “Leader” in the IDC MarketScape assessment for Worldwide CPaaS, and a “Visionary” vendor in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant
for CPaaS.
It’s been quite the ride—and in case you missed any of it, here’s a roundup.
The world continued to embrace digital channels
Did you know that 70% of customers say connected processes, including contextualized omnichannel journeys, are very important to win their loyalty?
In response, brands are using CPaaS to orchestrate app-like interactions across multiple digital channels, including personalized notifications, flexible checkout options, and automated self-service options. Read on to learn more—including how to get it right.
Report: State of US Messaging 2023
We carried out research to learn what makes US consumers tick, including how and where they want to connect with brands. Discover why 64% of US consumers believe that brands have lost the art of human connection, and how CPaaS centralizes customer visibility to help you create proactive digital journeys at scale.
Blog: Navigate the shift from paper to digital with CPaaS
Learn how to make a compelling business case for paperless interactions and why the best digital communications are built on flexible integrations with backend systems. You’ll also see how we helped a UK healthcare provider reduce its postal costs by 57% through instant patient correspondence using digital channels.
Case study: oneSource enhances customer engagement
oneSource is a leading UK debt resolution service for the public sector. Learn how the firm used CPaaS to improve customer visibility, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) to boost payment rates by 30% in 2023.
AI paves the way for new process efficiencies
2023 saw many brands experiment with AI, including LLM tools like ChatGPT, to help optimize content, automate routine interactions, and drive better conversations. It was a year of exploration and ideation, with generative AI leading the charge.
Here are a few ways it helped power CPaaS innovation in the last 12 months.
Blog: Webex Connect embraces AI innovation
In March, we shared the latest updates to Webex Connect, our enterprise-grade CPaaS platform. These included two new AI capabilities that have since gone live.
Our “summarize text” node uses generative AI to quickly summarize long-form text which agents can action at any point in the customer journey using our low-code flow builder. Likewise, our “evaluate” node lets flow builder users describe the function they want to perform and have generative AI interpret and code it automatically.
Blog: How will ChatGPT transform the way customers and brands interact?
Since its launch at the end of 2022, ChatGPT has consistently made the headlines as both a threat and an opportunity. While the generative tool is no substitute for human intelligence and creativity, its LMMs do have the potential to help knowledge workers boost their own productivity by automating simple tasks.
In this blog, you’ll learn why it’s fast becoming the go-to tool for answering search-like queries, writing and editing basic code, and enhancing the conversational chatbot experience.
Blog: What is the future of AI in healthcare?
The healthcare industry faces immense pressure to deliver fast, proactive care and 24/7 patient correspondence. Many providers are turning to AI-powered virtual assistants to help alleviate the burden on service staff and meet patient expectations.
In this blog, you’ll learn how virtual assistants help healthcare providers automate appointment rescheduling, field routine patient queries, and provide instant access to accurate medical information—all within the latest digital communication channels.
Security remains a top priority for CPaaS users
Today’s customers are wising up to scammers, making them more critical of who they engage with online. In fact, 88% say they won’t use a brand they don’t trust with their data.
This makes security a pivotal business concern, especially for brands that want to deliver the highly personalized interactions that customers expect.
So, how do you nurture trust and keep customers protected while delivering rich, data-driven experiences? Let’s take a look.
eGuide: The five pillars of cloud communications security
Not all CPaaS platforms are built the same—especially regarding security. In this guide, you’ll learn how Webex Connect can help you win customer trust and loyalty.
You’ll see how our five pillars of CPaaS security work together to give brands peace of mind: protecting customer identities, verifying every engagement, delivering network transparency and resilience, and simplifying regulatory management.
Blog: CPaaS and security: key considerations for IT leaders
With spear-phishing and authorized push payment (APP) fraud on the rise, IT leaders must work proactively to minimize their organization’s attack surface. So, how do you minimize the risk that comes with more connected comms and deeper integration?
In this blog, you’ll learn how to evaluate a CPaaS provider’s security credentials, including their platform security, approach to network monitoring, and fraud mitigation strategies.
Discover Branded Text
More than 70% of consumers were signed up to receive business texts in 2023—and as we reported in December, SMS dominated the conversation this Black Friday and Cyber Monday with traffic hitting record levels.
To ensure your SMS interactions make a splash in 2024, be sure to use branded texts to help earn customer trust and counteract rising communication fraud.
Thank you for reading
That’s all for 2023. It’s been an honor to have you along for the ride and we can’t wait to see what this year delivers. In the meantime, why not read our predictions for 2024 and get a heads up on all the latest CPaaS market innovation.
Learn More:
- Webex by Cisco and AWS announce two new synergies for collaboration and customer experience
- Building Rich Customer Connections in a Changing World
- Three rules for messaging your customers, based on new research
- Webex CPaaS Solutions Homepage
The post CPaaS Trends 2023 | Generative AI, Cloud Security, and More first appeared on Webex Blog.