2016 is set to see increased competition between cloud APIs and carriers
Editor’s Note: With 2016 now upon us, RCR Wireless News has gathered predictions from leading industry analysts and executives on what they expect to see in the new year.
2016 promises to bring even bigger change, faster to the telecom space than 2015. Why? Because the mobile user, for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business, has officially set the standard for user experience and that means the way we do everything needs to catch up, and fast.
The cloud APIs and carriers prepare to collide
Because the mobile phone customer’s appetite for more and better features at lower cost is growing by the day, the battle between traditional carriers and software-based service providers is rapidly coming to a head. Fast-rising Silicon Valley-based API companies continue to challenge established carriers like Telefonica, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom in the voice text messaging market. So the race is on: will the big carriers and network operators be able to adapt to a new culture in which expensive, long-term commitments, complicated integrations, little transparency and gaps in service are no longer tolerated? We’ve seen them starting to try (Cisco’s acquisition of Tropo; AT&T’s API offering; etc.). Or will the cost advantage of the cloud API being embraced by the new wave of disruptive service companies enable them to run away with the voice and text messaging market, and use that to deliver a new hybrid offering that combines nimble development and billing models with reliable carrier services? You can guess where I come out on this. But regardless, it will make for some fascinating watching in the year to come.
Usernames and passwords’ days are numbered
We can all rejoice in the fact the old login and verification models are going away. By the end of 2016, organizations employing usernames and passwords will look like something out of the Stone Age. Instead, mobile verification through text message will overtake the username/password mode of account activation and login because it’s both easier to use – no more tearing one’s hair out to remember a password – and it’s more secure. Obtaining a mobile phone number typically requires an ID check, so that’s one big safety advantage over the Web. It’s also harder to intercept a text message than to hack into someone’s email and reset a password. We’ve seen the adoption of this pick up with greater speed in the latter half of 2015, with companies such as Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook and Google already making the move. Next year this trend will have fully run its course.
Voice call analytics get crazy good
Prepare for sales and customer service call tracking and analytics to get a whole lot more powerful. With new abilities such as dual-channel (stereo) recording in the cloud, which enables call analytics services to isolate the disparate voices in a two-way conversation. This allows for the most accurate data capture that empowers businesses to analyze, evaluate and score customer calls quickly to optimize performance and make adjustments on the fly. What was once considered an offline behavior will receive the same analytical scrutiny that is put into online engagements, leading to more strategic and effective marketing, higher quality customer support and a more level playing field for businesses of all sizes – not just enterprises – to amass and react to critical data.
Even the public sector becomes telephonically adroit
As a sure sign of the true democratization of sophisticated voice and text messaging applications, public sector usage will quickly catch up to the private sector in 2016. From real-time alerts to broadcast recorded calls, these capabilities will become the norm, changing the nature of how even the smallest, most rural municipalities, public universities and public service organizations communicate with their constituents. The upcoming election year promises to leverage telecom on a greater scale than we’ve ever seen before.
Each passing year provides a clearer picture of how our mobile world will evolve and which technologies will be deemed too expensive or cumbersome to survive long-term. In 2016, the application economy will continue to create businesses based almost completely around customer demand and those businesses will demand access to secure, global, real-time communications at a price that is sensible. Only time will tell if the traditional providers can pivot appropriately or if the newer cloud-based services are up to the task.
Venky Balasubramanian is Co-Founder of Plivo and a leading voice and text messaging API and carrier network innovator. Balasubramanian brings more than a decade of industry experience with multinational telecom companies including Huawei Technologies, Subex Ltd. and Narus Networks. His company has helped more than 40,000 businesses of all sizes in 230 countries build popular voice and text messaging applications, including call centers, conferencing, two-step verification, call tracking, mobile notifications and much more. His mission is to take the complexity out of enterprise telecommunication and drive quality in voice and text messaging capabilities up and costs down.
