Top 5 cloud telephony trends for 2019

It’s no more a hidden fact that quality of voice calls have degraded a lot due to the telecom turmoil that has been going on

The year 2018 has seen a remarkable increase of cloud telephony sector in terms of responsiveness and acceptance. Demand for cloud telephony services such as IVR, virtual number, call data analytics has grown more than ever before. This surge in adoption of cloud telephony services has inspired many cloud telephony companies to emerge both in Indian and global market. As we embarking in new year, let us, now, take a look how cloud telephony trends will shape in 2019.

Inclination of enterprises towards call data analytics

This is a major change that cloud telephony sector is experiencing. Earlier, enterprises preferred traditional PBX system over hosted PBX. Reason for this was their capability to make one time heavy investment, and their fear about data security. Now, with the advancement in technology and more awareness, enterprises are sure that their data will be perfectly secure even on cloud. They are aware that they can get a full-fledged call management system in very less investment as compared to what they incurred on traditional PBX.

Factors that are attracting enterprises more is availability of call data analytics, and enhanced customer experience with cloud telephony. The coming year will note more demand from enterprises as their complete business call data will easily be accessible to them with the help of live dashboard. Call data analytics will become even easier, which in return, will significantly enhance customer’s on-call experience.

Emergence of cloud telephony as a medium for better call quality

It’s no more a hidden fact that qualities of voice calls have degraded a lot due to the telecom turmoil that has been going on. Businesses are facing severe issues because of the same. They are finding it hard to rely on conventional phone number if they want to deliver superior customer experience.

In such a scenario, virtual number has come up as a reliable option if businesses want to ensure better call quality and zero network disruptions. Cloud telephony services have become a credible and reliable substitute over a conventional business number.

Adoption of cloud telephony by small businesses

Small businesses have already started realising the benefits of cloud telephony services and the coming year will witness adoption of the same. Entrepreneurs are willing to invest in cloud telephony technology even at the early stage of their businesses. Few major reasons for their inclination towards cloud telephony is IVR, automated database, unlimited minutes, and call recording facility.

Small businesses have fewer employees and limited funds. Cloud-IVR facilitates these businesses to route their business calls in a systematic manner, and attend all business calls even if there are fewer number of employees. Moreover, one of the most important things for a startup to sustain its marketing activities is customer database. Cloud-based call management system gives businesses automated database of all the callers. Also, call recordings helps the company to understand buyer persona and know their target audience in a better way.

Acceptance of cloud telephony by PSUs and government bodies

The number of calls that PSUs and government bodies get in a single day is huge. One of the major issues that they have been facing is efficient call management. Cloud telephony is, gradually, emerging as the best and most effective solution to resolve this problem.

Cloud telephony is gaining trust of PSUs and government bodies in terms of data security and better call quality. Managing calls of multiple departments and several branches of PSUs requires a centralized virtual number and IVR, and the year 2019 will see higher demand for the same. Keeping a track if all the calls are being attended and maintaining a callers database is also a need for government bodies which will be fulfilled by cloud-based call management system.

Rapid expansion of cloud telephony market in South Asian countries

Cloud telephony market is not just expanding in our country, it’s expanding in South Asian market as well. Policy changes and technological awareness in countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok have given this sector a boost. Also, mobile phone penetration and fast speed internet are possible reasons for wider acceptance of cloud services.

Various tourism and event companies catering to customers in South Asian countries have begun to demand virtual number and IVR to cater customers in different time zones and in their local language. The year 2019 will see huge demand coming from these countries as a result of overall technological advancement in these geographies.

Be it Indian market or global market, cloud telephony sector is booming and will expand at an accelerating rate in the year 2019. Technological advancements like voice bots and voice analytics will give it a boost in developed nations like U.S. On the other hand, cloud telephony will start penetrating in few Asian countries. 2019 is set to be another monumental year for cloud services and we are about to see some outstanding innovations in cloud telephony itself.

Ankit Jain

(The Authors is CEO, MyOperator)