The CPaaS market is evolving at an incredible rate. For years, communication platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) solutions and APIs have given companies an excellent way to enhance customer experience with omnichannel communication strategies and innovative integrations.
However, telecom APIs are becoming more advanced with the rise of 5G, developers are embracing new standardization strategies, and demand for flexibility in the contact center is growing. This, combined with ever-evolving customer expectations, accelerates CPaaS market growth.
According to Acumen Research and Consulting, for instance, the CPaaS market will be worth $130.8 billion by 2032, growing at 27.5%. With the evolution of the CPaaS comes the rise of new trends and opportunities for CX leaders to watch.
Here are some major trends we expect to see in the year ahead.
1. Messaging Remains Crucial in the CPaaS Market
CPaaS providers have offered companies a fantastic way to enhance their omnichannel strategies. While CPaaS vendors can provide connectors for everything from voice to video, messaging solutions still reign supreme.
As consumers continue to use their favorite apps like Facebook (Meta) Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with businesses, APIs that offer secure access to these platforms are growing. Many providers in the CPaaS market are also offering more advanced messaging capabilities.
For instance, they’re leveraging 5G connections to help send speeder text notifications and messages to consumers over mobile and working closely with social media platforms. We’re even seeing the rise of RCS (Rich Communication Services) as a tool for enhancing customer experiences, marketing strategies, and service solutions.
Demand for other communication options may increase in the years ahead, particularly as companies embrace things like XR for customer service, but messaging solutions currently leading the pack.
2. AI in the CPaaS Market
AI has become a major trend for virtually every market we’ve examined here at CXToday. Increasingly intelligent solutions, from generative AI bots to intelligent voice assistants and virtual agents, are transforming the contact center. CPaaS providers are keen to take advantage of the rising demand for AI and offer ever-more innovative solutions to businesses.
Leading CPaaS vendors offer access to LLM-powered communication features, analytical tools, and even intelligent authentication integrations. Some providers in the CPaaS market have even begun giving companies access to their bot builders. This allows companies to leverage existing LLMs (Large Language Models) or bring their own AI frameworks into the bot creation process.
Moreover, many of the core features offered by CPaaS leaders, such as voice APIs, now feature their own AI algorithms for things like natural language processing and routing. As AI becomes a more fundamental part of the contact center, the solutions offered by CPaaS leaders will grow more intelligent and advanced.
3. Security Remains Essential
The importance of security and compliance in the contact center and CPaaS market is nothing new. The right CPaaS technology can even help contact centers boost their security standing, giving them access to comprehensive identity authentication and verification tools.
However, as regulatory guidelines and expectations continue to change, CPaaS leaders are under increasing pressure to take extra steps to boost security. Today’s vendors are paying more attention to vetting developers and partners they work with to ensure code remains secure.
They’re also building advanced security services into their offerings. They’re providing companies with more control over data sovereignty, access to real-time threat detection and monitoring, and advanced risk management tools.
This focus on high-level security will become increasingly crucial as companies use CPaaS solutions to connect different channels in the contact center, leading to higher volumes of data flowing through networks.
4. New CPaaS Market Service Offerings
We’ve already mentioned a few of the new services and solutions emerging in the CPaaS market, such as tools for building and optimizing AI bots. As the adoption of CPaaS technologies continues to accelerate, new opportunities will grow.
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen the rise of new “CPaaS enabler” partners who work with companies to create comprehensive toolkits for their end users. Developers are emerging to offer businesses convenient ways of consolidating their CCaaS, UCaaS, and SaaS stacks.
There’s also a rising focus on “Network as a Service” as a new CPaaS offering. Network as a Service provider, offering access to mobile connectivity and advanced verification APIs, can help contact centers tackle fraud and improve customer experience.
5. Advanced Opportunities for Customization
CPaaS solutions give companies great flexibility and control over the communication features and tools they implement. With CPaaS, you don’t have to migrate to a new contact center platform just to access additional communication channels. You can implement APIs and connectors into your existing workflows.
However, vendors seem to offer companies more opportunities to customize their solutions in 2024. No-code and low-code workflow automation tools and integration options are becoming more common, improving accessibility to CPaaS solutions.
Some companies, like Twilio, even give companies access to a “serverless” environment. Here, they can build, deploy, and run apps with a visual builder. Additionally, most CPaaS providers allow brands to bring their own devices, carriers, and more into their ecosystem.
6. Alignment Between CPaaS and Customer Data
Finally, CPaaS is an excellent resource in the contact center for companies that want to unify their workflows and data. It can help to bring multiple data points together, offering in-depth insights into customer journeys, preferences, and trends.
For a while now, CPaaS market leaders have offered convenient integrations with CRM tools and data platforms. However, in 2024, we’re seeing an increase in CPaaS vendors offering customer data platform connectors or their own dedicated CDP tools.
As businesses rely on in-depth access to customer data to create more personalized and engaging experiences, the approaches CPaaS vendors take to aligning data may evolve. Leading providers may offer ever-more advanced solutions for data alignment and analysis.
Exploring the Evolving CPaaS Market
CPaaS market technologies have delivered exceptional benefits to contact centers and business leaders for a while now. But their value is growing as companies continue to search for ways to differentiate themselves with personalized sales, service, and marketing campaigns. CPaaS solutions offer an exceptional opportunity for growth.
If you’re investing in CPaaS solutions in 2024, it’s worth keeping a close eye on the trends above and considering how they can help you optimize your CX strategy.
