A Glimpse into the Future of Cloud Telephony in India

Are you a startup? An established SMB ? Or a multi-million dollar MNC ? If there is one New Age communication platform that has unambiguously managed to connect and serve businesses of any size and segment, that is cloud telephony.

The past 7 years has seen exponential adaptation and growth of cloud telephony across India. Above all the most significant reason why companies are comfortable in moving their entire phone system to the cloud is mobility and scalability. After all, which business wouldn’t want a futuristic business communication platform which requires no hardware or software purchases, leaves no wired-mess, is fully compatible with their present infrastructure – and all of this at a cost-saving rate? Ofcourse cloud telephony companies have innovated various add-on features to make their flagships unique – such as Big V Telecom’s homegrown Quantification of Advertisement which allows businesses to measure and optimize their marketing channels using simple principles of cloud telephony.

However, despite the growing prospects and seemingly bright future of this market, we at Big V Telecom strongly believe that cloud telephony needs to become even more flexible, that is, they must be able to integrate and blend with other innovative platforms. The technology industry at large is constantly shifting with the rise of new platforms of communications. For instance, the rapid rise of WhatsApp, Social Media and Internet Of Thing (IoT) or M2M communications is drastically changing the way consumers communicate and businesses have begun to take notice.

Here are a few potential upgrades that we at Big V feel are essential features that cloud telephony products must incorporate in no later than 2016:

Voice Analytics: Businesses invest heavily in Market research and business research to understand consumer behavior and are always craving for quantifiable insights through analytics. But more than the data collected, what matters is the manner in which the respondents provide the data. This requires voice analytics. While third party firms have usually dominated this segment where traditional phone systems were used, the growth of cloud telephony provides a unique opportunity to integrate voice analytics to the already extensive call analytics. Products like YOCC are uniquely placed to provide such integrated facilities and open up a new vertical to help businesses understand consumers.

M2M communication: Machine to Machine (M2M) communication or Internet of Things (IoT) is quickly gaining its foothold in the Indian market. They focus on providing control of smart devices and machines using websites and mobile apps. It also includes automated alerts to users on these devices. Cloud telephony products such as Big V’s YOCC (Your Own Contact Centre) can easily tap into this segment and provide automation through phone calls, missed calls and SMS. It can serve as an alternative, as M2M ceases to work when there’s no internet availability. Furthermore, this mode of command will be insulated from rising data tariff charges.

Online messaging integration: While cloud telephony began with only traditional telephonic and messaging communication, it must integrate online platforms for bulk calls, alerts and notifications. These include popular platforms such as WhatsApp and Snapchat, which more and more companies wish to use as part of their mobile marketing strategy.

Digital platform support: Social Media and Online Ads have begun to show dominating signs and glimpses into what will be the future of advertising at large. Digital marketing has grown at almost parallel pace with cloud telephony and we feel they can be exceptional partners. When cloud telephony services provide one-click integration with digital platforms, it would truly become a futuristic communication available in the present. While products like YOCC already provide such facilities which even allow firms to quantify their leads and revenues from online platforms, a click-to-call feature would take it miles ahead.

The author of this blog is the Founder and Director of Big V Telecom – Mr. Keshor Daga.