Cloud Communication Trends to Watch Out for in 2022
Cloud communications is at the heart of business communication in the modern world. The pandemic pushed the envelope for companies to embrace change, especially in the ways they communicate and collaborate. The outcome has been a more effective and efficient way of communicating and cloud communications have played a pivotal role. The year 2020 alone saw 61% of businesses migrate to the cloud and there has been no looking back.
Cloud has had an impact on all major industries such as healthcare, IT, finance, hospitality, etc. It has transformed the way people communicate in a business environment. With cloud communications taking center stage now is the time to asses what is trending. But first, let’s first quickly understand what cloud communication means.
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Understanding Cloud Communications
Any internet-based data and voice communication tool hosted by a third party in the cloud that a business uses to manage its storage, applications, and communications is referred to as cloud communications. Multiple modes of communication such as video, chat, email, and voice calls are all integrated for seamless business communication across channels.
The advent of VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) led to the evolution of cloud communications from data communication technology to voice communication technology. The cloud is a flexible, easy to scale, secure, and readily available hosting environment.
Trends that led to the need for cloud communications
- A fragmented and distributed workforce.
- Decentralized company operations across home and branch locations.
- Easy availability of smartphones and smart communication devices.
- A surge in communication and data devices accessing enterprise networks.
- Hosting and managing IT assets and applications.
These trends led to businesses outsourcing their IT and communications. Some of the most common cloud communication and application products that enterprises utilize are private branch exchange (PBX), interactive voice response, SIP Trunking, call center, call-tracking software, contact center telephony, fax services, text messaging, and voice broadcast.
The cloud service provider hosts and manages the business communication infrastructure. The businesses utilizing these services pay for the space on the cloud. This enables them to save on costs and the effort otherwise spent on hosting and managing data storage and communication on their own.
Trends that are defining cloud communications in 2022
We are halfway through 2022. The digitization of communication technology is happening at an unprecedented pace and we can expect a lot more innovations and breakthroughs in the future. The following trends will have a significant impact on how cloud communications evolve.
# 1. Simplified business communications
Pandemic made enterprises realize the importance of setting up communication campaigns across a variety of communication channels so as to not compromise the customer experience. However, automating a simple communication channel like an SMS seemed to be a challenge for businesses. They realized early that cutting through the complex tech and data siloes and moving to a unified cloud communication platform is the way forward. The last two years witnessed enterprises opt for a single communication platform rather than juggling between multiple channels and 2022 will witness more businesses taking this route. Simplified business communication and rationalization will be a big trend in 2022.
# 2. Re-design business communications for a hybrid work culture
Work culture changes adapted for survival in 2020–21 have left a significant impact on 2022. Hybrid work culture is all the rage and organizations need to embrace this new culture to stay in business. This also means employees must be willing and equipped to serve customers from wherever they are, tech support may have to troubleshoot from remote locations, and managers will have to get on frequent video calls to address their teams. To cater to the communication needs of this growing hybrid work population cloud communication providers have to up their game and provide platforms that are agile and can evolve with changing business communication needs.
# 3. 5G benefits will lead to high customer expectations
The much-awaited and anticipated 5G is finally here and is fast-changing our perception and expectations of mobile connectivity. It is estimated that 90% of Americans will be on 5G by the end of 2023. With people getting used to the speed and reliability of 5G, customer expectations will hit the roof.
Companies need to gear up and re-assess their business communication strategy to meet these new expectations. With faster upload, download, and streaming speeds and very low latency, 5G can finally enable enterprises to leverage augmented and virtual reality for real-time tech response. Using a single cloud communication platform businesses can now deliver an augmented-reality product experience across various communication apps.
