With another acronym added to the communications world, you may be wondering if you should incorporate CPaaS into your business or not be concerned with it at all. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about CPaaS, so you can decide whether you should be adding this service to your client offerings.
Developer-Focused
First of all, Communications Platform as a Service is not a standard service for a local managed service provider. The platform is for businesses that have hired a developer to build an omnichannel customer experience connected to their back-end contact center tool.
The developer chooses where they need to connect with their customer -- voice, text, Facebook Messenger, What’s App – and then integrates those directly to the single platform used by customer service.
Communications platforms generally focus on the front-end connection with the customer while streamlining communications on the back end.
Flexibility
In the digital age, customers expect to reach out to your business from every platform at any time. Without a centralized location for these messages, even a team of CSRs will miss something. Through the many API options, all the messages will be connected to a single back-end platform, so no company misses an opportunity to serve their clients.
Because of the flexible options, the developer can build out an entire solution or just fix one element of their communications depending on business goals.
Automation
Another great element of CPaaS is the endless automation options through triggers throughout the system. Because everything connects to the one back-end platform, customers can receive text messages about their order status or appointment reminders on whatever platform they use most without extra effort on the service team side.
Developers also build security triggers for one-time passwords, two-factor authentication, and other account tools by simply adding the appropriate API.
Chatbots
One great feature of a streamlined communications platform is using chatbots and still having that information connected to the back-end user account. The bot can help direct the customer to the correct department through a series of questions without wasting anyone’s time.
The bot can also answer basic questions, so the customer team can focus on making more sales instead of simple support requests.
And of course, the bots can be used on Facebook Messenger, the company’s website, or SMS messages, but everything stays secure and linked to a customer account for reference later if necessary.
Cost-Efficient
With that flexibility comes the cost-efficiency of only using the triggers and APIs that the company wants to use instead of purchasing an all-in-one package with features they don’t need. But at the same time, a CPaaS has each element ready to go.
In order to build an app or add bots to their website, a company won’t need to hire an entire team of developers and start from scratch. They can be up and running quickly with the team they already have.
How It Differs from UCaaS
Ultimately, CPaaS focuses solely on the customer experience by integrating APIs and triggers. Modern customers expect to reach their favorite businesses through any app they use frequently, and companies need to adapt to this demand.
UCaaS always has a contact center components with reporting and tracking but is a built-for-you package for internal communications. Unified communications allows for chats and video conferencing between colleagues, phone lines for each desk, and typically a browser-based workspace accessed from any device.
If you’re a developer (or have a developer on your team) and want to build out streamlined communications for any business, get started with Viirtue’s affordable CPaaS program today.