2018 is over, and we’re all looking forward to innovations and transformations in 2019. Already, there’s plenty of evidence in the unified communications market to suggest that 2019 will be an exciting year. Whether you’re interested in the rise of artificial intelligence, or new “as a service” offerings, we’re sure to see some industry-changing updates in the months ahead.
To start 2019 on the right foot, Masergy’s Vice President of Global Technology, Ray Watson, has told us what he expects to see this year. Masergy is well-known for its global delivery of state-of-the-art managed security, SD-WAN services, unified communications, and customer service solutions.
2019 and the Age of Collaboration
One common trend we all saw during 2018, was the rising demand for collaboration tools that could serve an increasingly dispersed and globalised team of employees. As things like remote and flexible working become more common, Masergy and Ray Watson believe that 2019 will deliver a new level of collaboration applications intended to take productivity to new heights.
According to Watson, applications capable of providing virtual project workspaces will come to the forefront, giving employees access to disruptive tech via a cloud environment. “Team collaboration will be formally adopted and supported by IT departments.” Masergy feels that in 2019, collaboration will fully saturate the enterprise space, and provide businesses with the resources they need to ensure excellent work.
IPaaS Unleashes Innovation
Another prediction that Watson made about 2019 centred around the introduction of new “as a service” solutions in the communication space. Masergy believes that this year, organisations will begin to see the potential of agile application integrations, and the value of placing self-service IPaaS systems into employee’s hands.
According to Watson, the new evolution of IPaaS technology will address some of the more complicated enterprise needs, giving executives the confidence that they need to provide high-level employees and process managers with the correct tools. “More workers will be empowered to automate the enterprise, meaning that innovation will start to be unleashed, trickling down to lower levels for a deeper and more significant impact.”
A New Era for Predictive Customer Service
Finally, Masergy suggests that predictive customer service will become more critical in 2019, as enterprises begin to adopt new solutions for managing customer support, like cloud contact centres with analytics engines and real-time voice recognition.
Watson notes that in 2019, the modern enterprise will begin to take advantage of the flexibility and potential of cloud contact centre solutions. In the cloud, the contact centre can connect data analytics services with real-time voice recognition to provide more personalised customer service options. Watson told us:
“Expect predictive customer service and contact centre agents supported by digital assistants that will pre-emptively provide relevant information to the agent’s desktop.”
According to Masergy, the development of new and intelligence service interactions will begin to transform the way that customers feel about interacting with service departments. If customers know that they’re going to get a customised experience every time, they may be less likely to avoid contacting companies.
