Move over functionality, there’s a new kid on the block.
Simplicity, it seems, will provide the next big step change in the rapid acceleration of the world’s unified communications journey.
Not so much the powerful hyper-scale of the cloud’s connective nuts and bolts, but more the super-fast, minimal-touch nature of NextGen user experience.
Fanciful future-gazing?
Well, not when considered in the context of where all the R&D is currently focused.
And also not when you try and think of where the current functionality actually CAN go in the absence of any game-changing new invention.
After all, the cloud is currently the cloud, the internet is currently the internet, and 5G is currently (at least for now) 5G.
In that context, it IS easy to see why simplification is the new innovation – and how it can be a potent differentiator in a competitive market packed full of function-rich solutions.
In short, it’s not enough that it all works.
Now we want it quicker and slicker.
“The sophistication levels of enterprises and their customers have grown exponentially in recent years, accelerated massively by the pandemic,” says Jeffrey Singman, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at global cloud communications provider Kandy, and one of the sector’s leading thinkers.
“The ability for enterprises to communicate with their customers, partners and their own people anywhere, at any time, on any device and via any channel is kind of old news.
“It used to be all about the network, but today the network edge has all but vanished. Today, the network is the cloud, so there is no edge.
“We have all grown used to the brilliance and convenience of cloud-based, real-time communication.
“The actual core functionality is a given. It’s an expectation all of us have, whether in our personal or our work environments.
“Simplifying that core functionality is where the juice is.”
In a B2B setting, that translates to relevance, ease of access and cost-effectiveness.
Check those three boxes – as Kandy’s white-labelled UCaaS, CPaaS and CCaaS solutions do – and you’re ensuring that your end user customers are driving a new wave of innovation as opposed to riding an old one.
Relevance: as in the reason for a communication (displaying the customers’ identity, location, status, buying habits etc.)
Ease of access: as in fully-integrated, minimal-touch user interface.
Cost effectiveness: as in, well, cost-effectiveness.
“Our solutions layer-in all of that functionality to an organisation’s system,” says Singman.
“It’s about driving efficiency and productivity whilst simultaneously enhancing the user experience.
“It’s likely that new, huge technological advancements will eventually come – just like the cloud and the smartphone came. But in the meantime, our partners and their end user customers have opportunities to leverage the simplicity of our solutions now in ways which will promote long-term growth and success”
Not that ‘simplicity’ is an abstract concept.
Simplicity has the potential to evolve and iterate just like any other driving force.
‘Integration’ is another current key word.
Combine the two – like Kandy have begun to do – and, well, you really are differentiating.
“We are converging our UCaaS, CPaaS and AI-enabled contact centre offering onto a single, multi-service platform accessible via an easy-to-use portal,” says Singman.
“That kind of super-simplicity is where we are all headed.”
Of course, vendor organisations often possess other, more nuanced differentiators too.
In Kandy’s case, they are part of the AVC Technologies group; they invest heavily in R&D; they own their own IPR; and their solutions come with baked-in carrier-grade reliability.
But thankfully, culture still matters too.
“First and foremost, we are customer first,” says Singman.
“That applies to our reseller partners AND their end user customers.
“We want them to succeed and grow, and we invest heavily in all kinds of ways to ensure that is the focus.
“Right now, this is an amazing industry in which to be involved.
“The global technological revolution that is going on all around us is transforming the way we all operate.
“We are in a great position to help our partners support that transformation”
To learn more about how Kandy’s white-labelled solutions can help grow your and your customers’ businesses, visit www.kandy.io
