Real time communications continue to grow today because they answer the need for immediate, instant access to people and information. As technology evolves and everyone becomes more and more dependent on instant access and availability, real time communications continues to grow in importance.
Kandy, GENBAND’s platform as a service offering, has been weaving rich communications services into business and consumer applications via mobile and the Internet.
So what’s next?
I had a chance recently to chat with Paul Pluschkell, CEO and Founder of Kandy, about where he thinks the market is headed in 2017. Our exchange follows.
What’s in store for 2017? Any new products (teaser information you can provide?), events, etc. or something you’re excited for in the market?
We believe that the opportunity and growth of Messaging Bots will be huge in 2017. Bots create a more personalized content experience for the end users. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cognitive technologies mature, they will be integrated into the basic fabric of the Bot enabling faster, more efficient delivery of both personalized and informative content.
Our Kandy communications platform provides the “conduit” for Bots to communicate with and escalate to human interaction seamlessly on any device with our Live Support Wrapper. The Kandy Platform can be easily “Bolted On” a carrier’s network to connect chat Bots (and developers) via APIs and Wrappers (preconfigured apps such as Concierge, Live Support, etc.).
Are there any upcoming challenges you predict your company or the market will have to face in 2017?
As OTT providers continue to encroach on their revenue streams, Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are fighting to keep customers on their networks and budgets continue to tighten. Nearly half of global IT budgets, which are estimated to be amount to $3.5 trillion, are being spent on communications. And CIOs are increasingly looking at ways to be more cost-efficient while arming their employees with the latest communications tools. Although CSPs see the immense value that an RTC communications platform can offer, many cannot justify the capital spend it would take to build a platform outside of their core network.
There are several communications platforms on the market today, but not all platforms are created equal. With Kandy we have not only simply built Communications Platform-as-a-Service (cPaaS) technology but a simple solution to improve the customer experience and employee productivity immediately. We offer click-and-drag solutions, inclusive of policy engines and collaborative workspaces that do not require a rip and replace approach. The future is immediate value without delay. Kandy is the only Communications Platform that allows Communications Service Providers (CSPs) the ability to quickly bring to market embedded communications, managed Over-the-Top (OTT) Mobility Solutions for consumers and Business Solutions for enterprises from a hybrid, private or public cloud.
We are the only platform on the market with a Bolt On, Build Upon and Bring Together strategy. In effect, we are offsetting capital spend and disrupting IT budgets because instead of having to exhaust precious capital budgets on building a new communications platform CSPs can easily connect or Bolt On the Kandy platform to their network in our cloud via SIP Trunks and APIs or they can put the entire platform onto their private cloud with OpenStack and NFV and utilize their existing infrastructure to leverage 20 years of patent-protected real time communications (RTC) technology to offer new revenue generating services and a better network. With a better network comes value added services like enhanced security and authentication, more robust threat management capabilities, improved SLAs and most importantly richer global service offerings.
We allow our CSP customers to rapidly Build Upon the Kandy platform to deploy innovative services such as messaging apps and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings using Kandy APIs, SDKs and their own application developers to enhance the user experience. Whether voice, text or video, messaging is the foundation that apps are built upon and Kandy allows them to exploit this massive opportunity by leveraging some of the most proven RTC technology on the market.
What do you think it will take for the RTC industry to really take off in 2017?
People. As the world gets flatter each day and people interact whether for business, personal or communicating with “things” the RTC needs grow exponentially. We, along with industry sources, estimate the value of APIs and the broadening communications platform as a service (cPaaS) market to be $40 billion in 2019. Other major signs that the RTC industry is taking off are that Twilio was one of only a few successful IPOs in 2016 and companies like Cisco and Vonage are acquiring communications platforms. That’s in large part because the RTC industry is really hot right now and it is only going to grow in coming years. That’s a huge opportunity for vendors and more importantly for CSPs to find the right RTC solutions that will help them maintain and grow their customer base.
If you had to make one bold prediction for 2017, what would it be?
There will be major progress made in the ability to solve problems and create superior user experiences by seamlessly integrating business processes and communications between knowledge workers, AI and bots and people. The IoT and the Human Connection with RTC will continue to rapidly grow. Without the human element, you are left with just …“Big Data” and “Things.” Adding applications (for healthcare, retail, banking, security, etc.) and the human element into the solution requires Real Time Communications (RTC) to ensure messages are delivered, understood, and/or acted on. With Kandy’s powerful APIs and Wrappers the platform is well positioned to become the conduit for the Human Connection within IoT.
