In an age of digital transformation (DX), more customers than ever before in the enterprise and start-up space are beginning to consider AI options like chatbots and what they could mean for the future of communications. However, though chatbot APIs are certainly becoming more accessible, there's still work to be done before these solutions are widely adopted by organisations around the world.
To learn more about chatbot implementation, and the industries most likely to embrace the AI revolution, I spoke to the president of Nexmo, Tony Jamous, about their channel-specific APIs, designed to help companies retain happier customers.
Tony became the president of the Vonage API platform after Nexmo was purchased by Vonage around a year and a half ago. He told me that since the acquisition, Nexmo has been growing significantly, with triple the number of customers they had before the buy, new products, and new services to offer. Nexmo and Vonage believe that chatbots could be the key to improving customer relationships - all today's businesses need to do is figure out how to use them to their advantage.
What's it Like Being a CPaaS Vendor in Today's World?
In a disruptive and highly-transformative period, I was interested to learn more about what Nexmo considers the biggest growth drivers to be in the /unified-communications/cpaas industry. Tony told me that today's start-ups and successful organisations are building digitally-native companies using the best platforms on the market. It's not about building from scratch anymore, but maturing the existing APIs that can deliver the most benefit to your business.
"Enterprises from every industry are adopting new technologies that change the way they interact with their customers. People want to be more engaged, reach new clients, and deliver better experiences. Every sector is re-thinking the way they approach communication, becoming more agile so that they can evolve with the needs of the times. It's this attitude that's helping to develop the CPaaS industry."
Are Chatbots a Reality for Modern Customers?
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The chatbot market continues to grow[/caption]
As companies search for new and improved ways to connect with their customers, I was interested to learn whether Tony, Nexmo, and Vonage are actively seeing businesses embrace the chatbot revolution, or whether the AI era is still slightly out of reach. Tony told me that while they're seeing a lot of businesses "talking" about using these technologies, they aren't being implemented as much as they could be.
"It depends on how you define AI and chatbots to some extent. We're seeing more people looking for applications that are based on narrower, more refined AI solutions. For instance, Staples created a button that can be pressed to automatically order supplies for a business environment. Our technology is the only thing on the market right now that's giving developers access to these simpler, real-time solutions."
Tony acknowledged that the "narrow" AI solutions available from Nexmo and Vonage are essentially the next stage of IVR, in a time where people need solutions more customised to their needs.
