Omnichannel customer communication has become one of the defining priorities for organizations looking to improve customer experience, increase operational efficiency and unlock new revenue opportunities. Businesses understand that customers expect faster, more relevant and more connected interactions, and that relying on one or two legacy channels is no longer enough.
Yet many are still struggling to turn ambition into operational reality.
MMDSmart’s State of Digital Customer Communications survey illustrates the scale of the challenge. While 99 percent of business leaders say omnichannel communication is a strategic priority, only 43 percent of organizations have expanded beyond basic email and SMS channels. That leaves 57 percent still relying on a limited communications mix, even as customer expectations continue to increase.
As Karen Krivaa, Chief Marketing Officer at MMDSmart, told CX Today:
“We’re seeing a huge gap between the strategy that’s defined by the leaders of organizations in terms of omnichannel communication and the actual execution on the ground.”
The challenge for many enterprises in expanding customer communications lies in the underlying infrastructure supporting those interactions.
Why Omnichannel Strategies Stall
MMDSmart’s survey found that 80 percent of organizations identify a lack of unified omnichannel communication functionality as the primary barrier to expanding into new channels.
“The fact that they don’t have the infrastructure and the architecture in place is limiting them from adding the newer channels that their customers want,” Krivaa said. “They’re finding themselves in a place where they want to do it, but they can’t.”
Businesses may want to add WhatsApp, RCS, or other richer messaging channels to communicate in more relevant ways, but the survey findings indicate that the fragmentation and siloed systems that are common across industries continue to prevent them from delivering consistent interactions. “A company will add new systems, new processes, new communication channels, new ways of doing things. And they don’t look at the big picture,” Krivaa explained.
“People talk about a single pane of glass. You need to see your customer as a whole customer. The fact that this doesn’t exist today in most organizations is the main barrier for omnichannel communications .”
Hesitation to tackle the problem is often driven by outdated assumptions that implementing unified systems is difficult and complex. Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) platforms, which provide cloud-based APIs for integrating voice, messaging, and other communications capabilities into business applications, have helped simplify that process.
“With today’s solutions and different types of CPaaS platforms, it really isn’t that difficult anymore. And the addition of AI now into the mix where agents can start automating tasks… integrating these unified communication platforms is possible,” Krivaa said.
The strategy exists, but projects can stay trapped in planning if the business does not build the foundations needed to act on it.
Multichannel Is Not Omnichannel
Many enterprises describe themselves as omnichannel businesses because they communicate through email, SMS, WhatsApp or voice, but if those channels do not share customer context, the experience is not genuinely omnichannel.
“Companies talk omnichannel when they’re really only doing multi-channel today,” Krivaa said. In practice, they may simply be using multiple channels that do not share context.
Krivaa illustrated the issue with a recent travel experience.
“I was abroad on vacation and had a flight early in the morning. I used the WhatsApp customer service channel test question. And they say, ‘We’ll get back to you with a representative as soon as possible.’ But I wanted to go to sleep, and the flight was the next morning. So I called them.”
After waiting on the phone, Krivaa received an answer. The next morning, the WhatsApp channel responded as if nothing had happened elsewhere.
“I had a missed WhatsApp message from a representative saying, ‘hey, I’m coming back to you about your question.’ They already answered my question on the phone, the WhatsApp message came in while I was sleeping. They knew nothing about me. They knew nothing about my history. Extremely frustrating, but it happens all the time.”
This is where omnichannel strategy often breaks down. The customer has engaged with one brand, but disconnected teams and systems create unnecessary friction, Krivaa said.
“It’s two departments that don’t talk using different channels, so that they don’t have that single view of the customer.”
True omnichannel communications require context to move seamlessly across channels, so that every interaction builds on the last.
Customer Amnesia Has Real Business Consequences
Disconnected systems create “customer amnesia” that can frustrate customers and damage their perception of a brand.
“Everyone’s gotten on a phone call where they get passed to the next agent, and they have to repeat their complaint again,” Krivaa said.
“The whole customer amnesia issue is directly related to the fact that the systems are siloed. The agents cannot see the history of the conversations immediately.”
This affects service interactions, but it also affects marketing and growth activity. Generic campaigns, disconnected CRM systems and bulk messaging create irrelevant communications because organizations lack visibility in the ways that different parts of the business have already engaged or interacted with the customer, which would provide a more complete understanding. Personalization depends on systems, data and channels working together.
Why Channel Choice Still Matters
An effective omnichannel strategy is not about using every available communication channel. It is about using the appropriate channel for each interaction.
Businesses need to think carefully about which message belongs where, Krivaa said. WhatsApp, RCS, SMS, email, and in-app messaging all have a role, but their value depends on the context of the communication. Urgent messages need timely channels and marketing messages are more effective using channels that support rich communication like buttons, graphics and video, whereas longer explanations may still suit email. Customer preferences also vary by market, industry and use case.
“When a customer tells an organization that they want to get communications on a specific channel, if the company can use that channel correctly, it will give the customer the experience that they want.”
Many organizations still rely heavily on email even when it is not the most effective option. Important information can get lost in noise, weakening the impact of customer communication. “People just don’t have the energy or time to filter it out,” Krivaa said.
Closing the Omnichannel Execution Gap
For organizations looking to move from omnichannel ambition to meaningful execution, the priority is not simply adding more channels or conducting another strategy review. It is connecting the communication tools they already use.
The central problem identified in MMDSmart’s research is that customer conversations are scattered across email, SMS, WhatsApp, in-app messaging, contact centers, and marketing platforms. When those systems operate independently, neither customers nor employees have the context they need.
Closing the gap means creating a unified, chronological view of every customer interaction across every channel. When an agent opens a customer record, they should be able to see the full conversation history, including emails sent and received, SMS messages, WhatsApp exchanges, service calls, in-app activity, and relevant marketing communications. Just as importantly, that context needs to be available in real time, so that the next interaction reflects what has already happened.
The goal is not to add every new channel available. As Krivaa explained, “it’s to create conversations, experiences, and the satisfied customer that the business needs and wants for revenue purposes.”
The 57% problem will be solved when businesses replace siloed communication tools with connected customer conversations, giving teams the visibility to act with context and giving customers the experience of being recognized, understood, and remembered.
