As the communication environment continues to evolve to meet the user and customer demands of the modern age, companies are beginning to recognise the value of "as a service" offerings. CPaaS is one of the most innovative cloud technologies on the market today, allowing businesses to integrate real-time communication functionality into their pre-existing applications with ease.
Though many new entrants in the UC field are starting to explore CPaaS, the brand leading the way is Twilio - a San Francisco-based communications company founded in 2008. This fantastic company offers enterprises and developers a platform of API solutions facilitating messaging, voice, and video communication - among other things.
Since it began, Twilio has been deconstructing and rebuilding the concept of embedded communications services, with a CPaaS strategy that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. Today, we're going to take a deeper look at what companies can accomplish with Twilio's communications API.
Review: Unlocking CPaaS with Twilio
Twilio has essentially taken the concept of a global telecom network and transformed it into an API that allows companies to embed the solutions they need into their existing communications stack. After all, conversations and connections are simpler when you don't have to add extra features to your back-end. The Twilio CPaaS portfolio includes three different options:
- The Programmable communications cloud: A comprehensive suite of cloud communications APIs, typical of the CPaaS offering
- The Super Network: A unique globally-connected software solution powering futuristic communication environments
- The Engagement cloud: Providing a complete end-to-end communication solution for customer experience
Features of the Communications Cloud
The Twilio Communications Cloud is what most people think of when they imagine a CPaaS offering. It's a system that allows you to add communication facilities like messaging, video, voice, and authentication into your existing stack through simple APIs. As a developer, you can decide what kind of communication channel you want to implement, and then take advantage of the unique building blocks that Twilio has to offer to bring your system to life. The Communications Cloud includes:
- Intuitive global-intelligence APIs
- Programmable SMS APIs
- Programmable Voice APIs
- Programmable Videos SDKs and infrastructure
- Programmable Chat SDKs for web and mobile chat
- Programmable fax
- Programmable Wireless for IoT connectivity
The flexibility and simplicity of the communications cloud ensures that modern companies can enjoy a more tailor-made solution for their communications, where they can pay exclusively for the applications they need.
Features of the Twilio Engagement Cloud
The Twilio Engagement cloud is where the brand starts to set itself apart in the CPaaS sector. This selection of APIs is designed to support the growing demand for greater customer experiences (CX) in the business space. As experience emerges as the only real way for today's organisations to differentiate themselves, the Engagement Cloud helps companies to embed the customer interaction solutions they need into their existing communication stack. The Twilio Engagement Cloud features:
- Twilio Flex: A new cloud contact centre platform complete with omnichannel functionality, screen sharing, social messaging apps, and fax
- Twilio Studio: A drag and drop visual builder for the Twilio communications experience
- Twilio Notify: An alerts system that coordinates notifications across multiple channels
- TaskRouter: A contact centre system that enables skills-based routing
- Authy: A secure login facility for transactions and accounts
- Verify: Identity verification options to prevent account fraud
- Proxy: Phone number privacy system for voice and text conversations
- Understand: An AI-empowered way to analyse your conversations with natural language understanding processors
The full range of features on the Twilio Engagement Cloud includes some of the most compelling and disruptive features in the UC and contact centre marketplace today, including natural language understanding and skills-based routing for better analytics and customer service.
