After many years of working closely with customers and partners in this industry, I can state that I have never seen the fast pace of innovation as what we’ve been witnessing over the past 24 months. The introduction of AI into the cloud communications sector is forcing every vendor to redefine what is achievable, and this ambition is evidenced by the introduction of the innovations that constantly enter the market.
While many of us are rightfully charmed by the potential AI presents, it’s important to understand that the solutions we create ultimately need to be accepted and adopted by real people – employees, as well as customers. The notion that AI is a tool to drive processes and workflows does not reflect the benefits it can provide on a human level. Every business has customers and employees to satisfy. If these very personal expectations can be enhanced through automation, or a combination of AI and human guidance, that is, ultimately, most important to a business. AI technology is not about replacing the workforce; rather, it’s about helping employees become more productive, more efficient, happier and, above all, smarter.
Smart Contact Puts Human Experience First
The concept of delivering AI in a manner that supports the employee, customer, and business experiences should be the North Star for any vendor. It is a concept we call “Smart Contact,” which integrates AI with cloud communications offerings like UC, contact center, mobility, and business productivity applications. The goal is to create an ecosystem that optimizes every human touch point, reduces friction, streamlines workflows, lowers operating costs, and elevates personal interactions.
These ambitions are especially worthy in the traditionally underserved SMB sector, which is constrained by limited resources and budgets. Small businesses are well aware that their survival may depend on the personal service, flexibility, and responsiveness they provide.
Solving SMB Issues
SMBs have far fewer resources than large businesses in terms of budgets, technical skills and head count.
Instead of using AI as a vehicle to reduce head count, it can be applied to reduce the burden of repetitive tasks, so employees can focus on selling products, solving customers’ problems, and enhancing the overall customer experience. This is why we find that SMBs are more likely to embrace tools like AI agents as compelling vehicles to improve customer services and maximize efficiency, compared to many larger organizations.
Bringing Smart Contact to the Market: The Role of the Channel
Voice is still the preferred and most natural communication means for humans, and the perfect mechanism to deliver AI because it transmits more data in terms of information, emotions and nuances compared to other channels.
Telcos and UCaaS players are, therefore, best positioned to deliver this type of innovation to SMBs.
In an industry that is forcing all vendors to work on low margins, Smart Contact enables the channel to break away from selling commoditized UC and contact center functionalities, and tap into new high-margin revenue streams that satisfy a growing need. It’s a win-win for all.
For ICT resellers and channel partners, Smart Contact represents a major opportunity to shift the conversation with SMBs from price to value. By embedding AI directly into voice, partners can deliver tangible benefits to their customers including smarter workflows and higher customer satisfaction, without the complexity of bespoke integrations. This enables partners to position themselves as trusted growth enablers, helping SMBs scale faster and smarter.
Real-World Benefits
In a practical sense, Conversational AI is the engine that drives Smart Contact. Through applications built on this technology, businesses can use voice automation to comfortably manage any number of tasks and workflows that can put a strain on employees.
The most common scenario is in customer service settings. Smart Contact customer applications can handle questions and generate support tickets, provide updates, and offer reliable first-level support to customers. The technology is regularly deployed into large call centers and informal customer-facing departments, like accounts payable teams.
There are many other examples, such as using automation to schedule and manage staff meetings, create agendas, and provide necessary support material. Smart Contact can also play an intrinsic role in sales departments by answering questions, providing product information, and even up-selling existing clients.
Smart Contact can even transform entire business models. We have seen this firsthand when a Dutch taxi company used this technology in its call center to enable customers to order and pay for taxis through the WhatsApp application, rather than speak to a representative. This capability enabled the taxi company to digitize its booking and fulfillment processes into a self-service application, simplifying the customer experience and enabling direct competition with global rideshare services that had been eating away at their profits for years. Rather than watching its customer base continue to erode, the taxi company successfully utilized Smart Contact to create a digital system that is reliable, efficient, and geared to the modern user.
Conclusion
AI can be challenging for smaller businesses that appreciate its potential, but are unsure how to properly use it. Smart Contact is a concept that intelligently applies Conversational AI into cloud communications offerings, improving efficiency, customer satisfaction, worker productivity, and many other processes. By intelligently connecting Conversational AI with the cloud communications capabilities that SMBs rely upon, organizations have an unprecedented opportunity to compete – and succeed – in an ever-changing marketplace.
About the author: Stijn Nijhuis is CEO of Enreach . He has been an entrepreneur since he was a 19-year-old Computer Science student. After founding several successful ICT and telecom companies in The Netherlands, and embarking upon strategic acquisitions, in 2018, Enreach – one of Europe’s fastest-growing IT and telecoms organizations – was created. Stijn won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2022.
Edited by
Erik Linask
