CPaaS is quickly becoming one of the most valuable tools in the business landscape. This versatile solution provides an excellent and flexible way for organisations to add new functionality to their communication stack. Rather than having to rip and replace your technology every time you want to upgrade, you can simply add the capabilities you need at a pace that suits you.
Of course, just like any innovative technology in the modern marketplace, making the most of CPaaS also means finding the correct provider. The right CPaaS vendor is the one that can deliver the versatile features you need, alongside excellent security, reliability, and more.
Today, we’re going to examine some of the things that you may need to consider when choosing a CPaaS provider that you can trust.
1. The API Selection
CPaaS, or Communications Platform as a Service, is a solution that thrives on access to the correct API functionality. With APIs, you can embed all kinds of communication technology into your existing platforms and tools. The range of API offerings that your CPaaS company provider can say a lot about their commitment to the industry.
When checking for the right combination of APIs, think about not just your current needs, but the future of your business too. While right now you may just need an API to enable SMS and online chat, the future might give way to more demand for video, and AI investments too. As your business evolves and the demands of your customer base continue to change, you don’t want to have to switch to another CPaaS provider just to get the functionality you need.
If your CPaaS vendor can keep up with the changing trends in the marketplace and regularly add new capabilities to their portfolio, you’re on the right track.
2. Community and Developer Access
CPaaS is all about transforming your communication stack with access to new functionality through APIs. To deliver innovative new tools and experiences, a CPaaS solution generally needs a thriving community, filled with developers that can offer feedback and even extra tools. The right community around your CPaaS vendor could mean that you have faster access to some of the most innovative tools you need in the future of communication.
What’s more, good community and developer access also mean that the CPaaS provider is more likely to gather regular feedback from their people. This ensures that the technology you access through your CPaaS system is constantly improving and evolving to suit new demands.
Communities can also be incredibly useful when you’re having issues with your CPaaS or API functionality, and you need a little extra help. Many developers can share documentation and insights that may assist you in overcoming common problems by yourself, so you don’t have to reach the CPaaS vendor for additional support.
3. Support and Guidance
Implementing CPaaS solutions into your business landscape is extremely straightforward. One of the biggest benefits of CPaaS is how easy it is to evolve your environment to suit your changing needs. You can access a huge range of capabilities using the existing tools that your vendor provides, which means that you shouldn’t need to spend a fortune on things like professional developers.
However, any company embracing new technology should know that there can be some initial growing pains to implementing tools. You want to make sure that your vendor can be on-hand to help you when things get tough. Although having a great community can help to reduce the amount of extra assistance you need, direct support from a vendor is always a good thing to have.
Make sure that any CPaaS provider you work with can walk you through the process of building the communication stack that suits you. A vendor with a lot of prior background and a great reputation in the industry should be able to deliver excellent customer support.
4. A Reliable Infrastructure
If you’re using your CPaaS solution for your SMS or outbound calling activities, then you need to ensure that your vendor can provide a reliable and consistent service in the region that’s right for you. Coverage is critical here, and it’s important to think about the steps your vendor might take to deliver better reliability and consistency for your brand.
Look at the kind of service levels that your CPaaS provider can promise you, and whether they can assure you that your risk of downtime and disruptions will be as low as possible. It’s also worth noting that if your CPaaS vendor partners with a larger number of carrier networks, the more likely it will be that you can find the right communications performance.
To ensure good reliability, it’s also worth checking your vendor has a strategy for constantly monitoring and optimizing the connections offered to your business. This will ensure a better level of redundancy if one carrier network has an issue.
5. Security and Peace of Mind
Finally, you need your CPaaS provider to deliver the right peace of mind for both your business and your end-user. The best CPaaS vendor doesn’t just give you a reliable and consistent strategy for communication within your application. These companies also ensure that you don’t have to worry about any compliance or regulation issues.
Look for a provider that can give you the confidence you need that your data is well protected and secure. Measuring the potential of your vendor based on their ability to comply with things like GDPR and ISO 27001, or SOC2 is a good start. However, don’t forget to consider the other regulations that are specific to your business and industry.
Some market-leading CPaaS vendors on the market today can combine new features and innovation with extra tools for security and privacy management. They may even have a dedicated fraud prevention strategy in place, and a monitoring system for ensuring that their platform remains protected against common attacks and issues.
Good luck finding the CPaaS provider that’s right for you.
