Greenville, SC, USA – It’s no secret the Internet has transformed our lives, businesses, and world culture in the shortest period of time imaginable. Relative to other civilization-transformative innovations nothing has quite changed the lives of entire populations so quickly and profoundly.
According to Leftronic.com who maintains statistics on technology growth trends, “90% of the world’s data has been generated over the past 2 years alone”[1]! They also cite that, “This data is created by every swipe, click, like, purchase, search, and stream — actions that are going to grow more common as the spread of the internet widens across the world. And approx. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data or 1.7 MB of data per person is created every second of every single day across the globe!” Digital consumers have access to information, today, faster than we can even breathe.
The usage of this massive amount of data can be valuable for businesses to understand consumer behaviors and complex customer journeys; however, with this much data being generated 24/7, it is critical for businesses to adopt a strategy and learn about the tools available to them to efficiently manage and make use of understanding the data and analytics. It’s vital businesses keep customer data safe & secure from hackers and internal breaches, while also keeping data backed up and readily accessible. Business leaders must become experts in the market-disruptive technologies that will either make or break their future as an organization depending on how well they efficiently collect, manage, store, sort, analyze, and act upon all this data.
With so much technology, media content, and communication options today, it’s no wonder that 80% of Americans experience frustration on a daily basis[2]. People prefer simplicity over complexity by nature. There is a saying in marketing that “a confused mind ALWAYS says no”. Confusion in the marketplace has made it a challenge for businesses and professionals to figure out the best way to connect all of their marketing channels and efficiently manage this vast amount of data.
There’s never been another time in history that has called for simplification, like present times. People feel rushed and discombobulated wherever they go. You can sense the way people are always in a rush today, by observing drivers on the road today. People seem to have less patience on the road to get wherever they might be going because their time is spread thin due to information overload. The pandemic showed us how valuable our time with family can be. Social Distancing catalyzed so much digital transformation and technology growth trends. Businesses suddenly had unprecedented demand for remote work arrangements. One technology was primed and ready for the occasion and stood out above the rest. This technology service platform is what Zoom was originally designed for. It's called Contact Center as a Service or CCaaS for short.
Contact Center as a Service provides businesses with a “Single Pane of Glass” that ties together their CRM platform, voice service, video meetings, webinars, email, chat, SMS, social media channels, online reviews, reporting and more ALL into ONE single omni-channel point of access for both internal and external communications, as well as a unified customer experience across all potential touchpoints of today’s complex customer journeys. CCaaS platforms unify all the disparate technologies and services. UCaaS stands for Unified Communications as a service (aka UC) and is a centralized communication solution in which the service provider manages all voice over IP add PBX services and applications in the cloud and bills clients as an OPEX.
Probably, the biggest key differentiator and driver for CCaaS is it omni channel engagement functionality. It has quickly taken been dubbed, “the new front door” of businesses today. Consumers expect options when it comes to how they communicate with businesses. Omni channel engagement ensures seamless integration of various channels of communication, including social media and enhanced self-service. It enables Omni-channel marketing is a term used to describe an overarching business marketing & sales strategy that targets potential customers across a wide-variety of platforms, while also incorporating automated triggers that utilize many different modes of communication with leads and customers. Omni-channel marketing also provides customers with a uniform experience with a brand, no matter how or where they interact with the business.
Omni channel marketing is becoming more important than ever for businesses today. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is a great source for information on Omni channel marketing. The USPS recently even launched a new omni channel marketing campaign geared towards helping businesses and marketers adopt omni channel marketing strategies. One example of an omni channel strategy might include a direct mail campaign that drives customers to a specific landing page that collects data for the marketer and delivers specific nurturing-based, educational content, to potential customers using a variety of methods, such as email + text, etc. According to the USPS, the first step for any business to ensure they are omni-channel-ready is to conduct a Tech Audit (sign up for a free tech audit here). Check out the 5 steps USPS says every business should take to ensure they are omni-channel marketing ready[iii]!
Finally, businesses can simplify, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience, all in one shot! CCaaS can provide centralized cradle-to-grave reporting for every customer interaction across a brand’s digital footprint. CCaaS platforms enable businesses to keep customer records up to date in real-time and ensure data remains secure. Contact centers have been used by enterprise organizations in call center environments for many years but it wasn’t until recently that they have become so affordable for all businesses. Contact center and unified communications are now highly versatile because of endless API integration possibilities today. CCaaS is the unification of multiple media and communication channels, reporting, technologies, and tools, into one single platform. Platforms are designed for the remote workers of today with built-in cybersecurity reporting and insights as well as the ability to interface with virtually any cloud app and CRM system.
Contact centers provide many great value points. The analytics are extensive and help managers understand complex customer journeys. Additionally, the global accessibility of CCaaS improves experiences everywhere and enables HR executives to hire the best and most efficient talents, instead of being restricted merely to local talent. predictive features catapulted Contact Centers to the top of business technology growth trends in 2021. Contact Center or CCaaS is a market-disruptive technology service that will continue seeing high demand from businesses everywhere for years to come.
Additionally, companies can use Omni channel engagement to monitor social media mentions and route certain posts to agents who could respond. This type of easy administration is a dramatic improvement over complex on-premise systems and users don’t need an IT background to manage issues that arise. This ensures the technology is accessible to all personnel through basic troubleshooting.
Another major driver of CCaaS is the AI machine learning which allows companies to proactively personalize customer interactions. Artificial intelligence and contact centers can help with automation, optimization, accuracy, speed, and connecting data from all interactions. Contact centers are available to businesses using the OPEX model, which enables them to avoid high out-of-pocket costs to acquire the technology. Contact Center as a Service is the technology every CMO, CXO, CIO, CTO, CFO, & CFO needs to know about!
Digital optimization is key for every business. With so much noise and confusion in the marketplace, Digital Trusted Advisors can be the most valuable free resource for enterprise executive leaders who want to be indispensable for their organizations with the amount of valuable resources and data research at their disposal. DTAs provide certainty for executives when it comes technology investment decisions and IT planning & agile.
Southernize Digital Marketing is a trusted advisory firm that sits on the same side of the table as their clients while representing and ethically pitting over 30+ leading CCaaS providers against one another in order to win their client’s business. They represent Contact Centers such as Zoom, Dialpad, 8x8, Vonage, RingCentral, LogMeIn: GoToConnect, Adobe Connect, Cisco Broadsoft, Webex, MS Teams, Google, and more. Their team leverages decades of experience in telecommunications & B2B technologies that help businesses to quickly filter down the list of viable providers with pre-built cloud app integrations and pre-vetted regulatory compliance, to save clients tons of time, money, and research.
Download our 2021 Omni Channel Communications Matrix now to see our top CCaaS provider recommendations for executives evaluating Contact Center as a Service platforms, who want to know the best ways to differentiate the service providers, their technologies, and platforms. You’ll see which providers are using leading Artificial Intelligence and are truly leading the market with AI-powered contact center features!
Finally, businesses can have cradle-to-grave reporting that centralizes every customer interaction source across a brand’s entire digital footprint. This enables a company to keep customer records up to date in real-time and ensure customer data always remains secure. Although, contact centers have been used by enterprise organizations in call center environments for many years, they have never been so affordable and had so many endless API integration capabilities. The ability to interface with virtually any other platform via pre-built API cloud integrations combined with advancements in AI - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, has catapulted Contact Center to the top of the trends for business technology growth in 2021 and will continue growing rapidly as we approach critical mass and head towards overwhelmingly wide adoption.
Southernize Digital Marketing is a full-scale digital marketing & IT solutions provider representing over 350+ of the worlds leading technology service providers. As one of the first of its kind, Southernize was founded out of the need to help local businesses see real tangible return on investment from their Internet & phone service technology investments. Southernize also assists businesses with content creation and market messaging strategies, social media marketing, and their team enjoys helping businesses tell their unique stories to connect with customers.
The Greenville, SC, Omni channel technology firm is made up of digital marketing specialists who are highly qualified, trained, and experienced, driven by a passion for continuous learning and nurturing of relationships with over 350 leading technology partners. The team enjoys designing successful IT & Marketing solutions for local businesses as well as helping business leaders and executives become indispensable to their organization.
Please contact us for pricing and to schedule a free omni channel tech audit. We are passionate about helping businesses synchronize their image, messaging, and business stories to create uniformity built-upon unforgettable customer experiences. We improve customer experience through omni channel marketing optimization and services like pay-per-click (PPC) and SEO to help businesses rank higher in search engine results. Our digital advisors conduct in-depth technology audits for free that will uncover the greatest areas for improvement and ROI for any business or niche. Additionally, their service includes a dedicated customer experience manager who assists with managing and monitoring SEO, PPC, and omni channel marketing campaigns.
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[i] ”How Fast Is Technology Growing Statistics”, Leftronic.com, 2019
[ii] “Top Tech Stresses That Frustrate Americans”, Asurion, Press Release, 2019
[iii] “5 Ways to Better Connect Your Omni-Channel Campaigns”, USPS 2021
