In my work as a technology analyst, I attend a wide range of vendor and industry events in the communications technology space. Most of these vendors are primarily in one of three main categories of cloud providers – CCaaS, UCaaS and CPaaS.
As technologies evolve, these lines are blurring, and increasingly vendors are addressing two or all three of these. There are many reasons for this, but my focus here is one particular vendor, and how they personify this changing landscape.
In early June, I attended Infobip’s Analyst Summit held at their home base in Croatia. This was just their second analyst summit, and as the company continues to grow in a hot market, they seem ready now to take center stage.
The company is best-known in the EU, and mainly in the CPaaS space. Mobile messaging has been their core business, but as the contact center continues being disrupted by new technology, they are also tapping into opportunities around CCaaS and CX. As their growth continues, they are poised to become an important player in the US, where mobile ecosystems are better able now to support what Infobip has been successfully building for some time.
This being my first Infobip event, there was a lot to absorb (most of which is under NDA), and I can only cover key takeaways in this review. While I could go on at length about Infobip’s product portfolio, EM360 readers will be better served by my analysis of two industry trends behind what Infobip is doing, and the emerging opportunities for both carriers and brands.
Trend #1 – Evolution of the mobile messaging ecosystem
Core to Infobip’s value proposition is the ability to support “billions” of conversations on a single platform. Rather than focus on the number of conversations, the important idea is that conversations themselves are the source of rich data streams that can now be captured and analyzed, thanks to AI. With consumers becoming mobile-centric – especially in the EU – this is where those conversations occur, both voice and text-based.
For a single platform to be effective, it must support all forms of conversations. Voice remains a vital communications channel, but messaging is the focus here, and while the mobile ecosystem was initially text-centric – SMS – it has evolved to include RCS, which can handle all modes – voice, text and video.
This is not new – at least in the EU, where RCS is widely-used – but what is new is how sophisticated the mobile ecosystem has become. AI is at the core now for technology innovation, and when it comes to messaging, the more conversational the application can be, the more customer data can be collected – and that’s what makes conversations so valuable to both carriers and brands.
Infobip has tapped into this ecosystem with open APIs that enables messaging platforms – in their case, WhatsApp in particular – to become “super apps” that can manage customer journeys end-to-end. Rather than just passively managing a customer inquiry, WhatsApp can now support a more immersive experience, where the customer can use multimedia to learn more about a company’s product, get a problem resolved, receive personalized messages about new products they might like, and make payments for a purchase.
These types of conversations are far richer than the asynchronous world of text messaging, and with the help of ChatGPT, personalized messaging leads to better outcomes. Aside from the fact that these deeper conversations yield valuable data about the customer, the more strategic value for what Infobip provides is how all this activity can be managed completely within the app, hence the term “super app”.
With these capabilities – especially with RCS, and with Apple now supporting it – it’s easy to see how platforms like WhatsApp can truly become hubs for consumers that go well beyond free messaging between friends. Infobip has done a great job connecting those dots, and leveraging the power of AI across the mobile ecosystem, carriers can now realize new revenue streams that go beyond selling minutes for voice conversations.
Trend #2 – Impact of new technology on marketing for brands
CEO Silvio Kutic set the tone for our event by saying that the world of communications is changing, and so is the technology. This isn’t good news for those who want to maintain the status quo around legacy technology, but companies like Infobip – and others in the CPaaS space – are adapting and innovating in ways that turn disruption into innovation.
One of the most important nodes for all this change is the marketing arena, especially for how brands engage with both prospects and customers. Acquiring new customers is very much in the realm of marketing (and by extension, sales), but as the domain of CX – serving existing customers - continues spreading beyond the contact center, the worlds of CPaaS and CCaaS become intertwined in order to support the entire customer base.
This is creating new opportunities for Infobip for two reasons. First is the fact that marketing practices still maintain vestiges of legacy thinking, and haven’t fully caught up yet to how today’s customers engage with brands. Digital-first brands have made that transition – many of whom are Infobip customers – but many have not, and that takes us to the second reason – technology adoption.
Where legacy thinking prevails, marketers will be laggards for using the right technologies that drive effective engagement with customers and prospects. Infobip certainly knows what those technologies are, and this opportunity is driving much of their growth.
There are two fundamental ways that technology is transforming the worlds of marketing and sales, not just for acquiring customers and selling more to them, but also to support them when problems arise. First is the ability to support two-way communication, especially in real time. In terms of messaging parlance, the legacy SMS model is one-way, with static content and zero intelligence about the customer. RCS is the next-generation model, and supports two-way, multi-modal communication. With AI in the background, this creates personalized, real-time engagement that is far more impactful for marketers than the one-way model.
Second is on the CX side where customers need service or support. The legacy model has long been telephony-centric, but with the rise of digital channels – including mobile apps – customer service now must be multi-channel. Telephony remains important, but in terms of the “conversations” outlined earlier, it’s now just one of several channels used by customers. As more consumers become mobile-first, messaging and video on smartphones will become just as much part of the conversation as telephony.
When all of this can be supported from a single, omnichannel platform, the vendor value proposition goes well beyond mobile messaging, and becomes highly relevant both for marketers and contact center leaders. These spaces must increasingly be interconnected, and it no longer makes sense to operate them as silos, so this is where the single platform concept really resonates.
Infobip frames this as “conversational maturity”, where AI is enabling more personalized forms of engagement that both shortens sales cycles for marketers, and reduces the cost of supporting customers for CX leaders. These outcomes are of interest to all businesses, but can only be realized by using the right technologies for the right applications.
Conclusion
Infobip isn’t the only CPaaS vendor evolving along these lines, but being EU-based, they are on the forefront of change, at least in the mobility space. RCS is at the heart of the business opportunity here, and with the US on the cusp of being ready for RCS, the company is well-positioned for the next big phase of adoption.
RCS, however, is not the whole story. This is just as much about AI – ChatGPT in particular – that will take mobile messaging well beyond SMS, making it integral for all marketers and brands. They need more effective – and impactful – vehicles for customer engagement, as do contact centers for providing customer service.
This would be a good story if just confined to the CPaaS space, but it’s bigger than that. CCaaS vendors are now telling similar stories, as they seek to use similar platforms for CX, but also to support marketing and sales efforts. Ultimately, all of these vendors want to do it all under one platform, which is why this concept is so central to Infobip’s value proposition.
There’s nothing wrong with aiming high, but as the lines blur between CPaaS and CCaaS, it becomes harder for tech leaders to make good buying decisions. One platform can make their lives easier, but they must also know which trends are driving change, and ensure their choice of vendor lines up accordingly. Two of those trends have been addressed herein, but others should be considered as well, and I would welcome dialog to continue this conversation.
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