It’s not what you do, it’s the way (and why) you are doing it.
That’s a phrase so often true when coined in many varied contexts.
Not normally associated with the world of communicative technology; it’s perhaps a stretch to do so, even for the most ardent fans of all things esoteric.
But is that really the case?
Communication methods, systems and platforms have recently proved they have more strings to their bows than simple connectivity
The nuts-and-bolts of back-end capability are surely a given, but it’s how the functionality is deployed which can differentiate.
How do organisations’ teams and customers want to communicate?
Are their platforms sufficiently intuitive?
Are they able to easily integrate them with the latest applications?
And, most importantly, do they provide the optimum user experience?
These are the NextGen questions which speak to the ‘why’ as opposed to the ‘what’.
And, importantly, the answers could prove to be a potent catalyst for businesses looking for ways to drive game-changing growth and efficiency.
“Communication should now be an experience, not just a process,” says Shimon Detwiler, integrations and innovation leader at fast-growing cloud telephony provider Net2Phone, which is blazing a trail in this space.
“For businesses, communication should be intuitive and tailored to meet the specific demands of their customers. Those businesses should be designing their platforms around how their customers prefer to communicate.
“It should be about providing an exceptional customer experience by empowering the end user.
“Different types of customers want to communicate in different ways. Businesses should be responding accordingly, and their service providers should be enabling them to do so.”
Part of the Net2Phone strategy is to provide its customers with a super-secure Application Programming Interface (API) within which to co-design and develop.
If a customer’s customer wants to integrate a new app, or add sophistication to its communication channels, or just scale up existing functionality, Net2Phone’s internal and external innovators are able to provide the support to do so.
Crucially, they approach their work exclusively from the end user’s perspective.
They create an experience with their customer’s customer in mind.
“We prefer to know what an organisation is looking to achieve before we suggest a way forward,” says Detwiler.
“We desire to provide a result not necessarily a technology.
“It’s our job to get out of the way and listen to what an organisation’s customers are asking for.
“How do they want to communicate most efficiently? Deploying what type of technology? Via what channel? Through which app? And most importantly what is the actual result they are trying to accomplish.
“Our platform is then able to deliver the most appropriate, integrated solution which satisfies a very specific set of requirements”
“The connectivity is no longer where the differentiators lie. The connectivity just works. It’s the how and the why businesses connect with their customers which now matters most.”
Example: a dental surgeon wants its patient communication experience to set it apart from its competitors.
It provides an app through which an appointment can be booked; it confirms with an SMS, an email, or both; it follows up ahead of the appointment with an automated reminder.
It then checks the patient in when they arrive; it triggers the sending to the patient’s smart phone of supportive information relevant to the procedure they are about to undergo; it follows up later with a feedback form.
Finally, it offers booking options for the patient’s next visit.
All of this must be supported by a robust communication platform for a smooth cross-app client experience.
All automated. All seamless. All very efficient.
“That is a set of communications very specific to that vertical sector, and maybe even to that individual business,” says Detwiler.
“We want to understand what experience each of our clients wants to provide and give them the communication tools to provide it.
“For a different sector and a different business, the best possible user experience may well be delivered in a wholly different way.
“That’s what we mean by understanding the end user and designing communication around them.
“We encourage out-of-the-box thinking.
“Businesses’ creativity shouldn’t be limited by technology. Pretty much anything is possible. We are no longer living in a time in which people are impressed by technology, we aim to impress by the experience. This is our ‘Communications as an Experience’ philosophy.”
Great news for end users everywhere, then.
And – with the right partner at hand – huge opportunity for providers too…
