Three cloud communication trends to watch

THE ARTICLES ON THESE PAGES ARE PRODUCED BY BUSINESS REPORTER, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS

RingCentral (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

RingCentral is a Business Reporter client

Is your organisation ready for Zero Trust security, advanced telephony and company dialects?

The 2020s have been a turbulent decade so far, and there’s little sign of that changing in the short term. Businesses are grappling with an array of challenges, including rising inflation, the energy crisis, the shift to hybrid work and a shortage of employees.

None of this has affected the adoption of cloud communication solutions, however. This continues apace, because it’s a prime route to improved business resilience, agility and productivity. The question is, how will this type of technology evolve over the coming years? Here are some of the trends we expect to develop.

Zero Trust security

One of the top priorities for CIOs and CISOs is ensuring the security of data stored in cloud communications – whether voice, chat, meetings, SMS, email or even e-fax. They know it’s vital to securing the trust of their employees and customers. Yet in recent research, 57 per cent of executives said their organisations had suffered at least one material data breach in the past three years.

The increase in digital surveillance (firms monitoring employees’ activity when they are not in the office) is also heightening security anxieties. This practice, which can mean anything from recording mouse clicks to tracking people’s physical location, is controversial and can erode employee trust. Trade unions have called for stronger regulation around it and there are predictions that in 2023, new legislation will begin to emerge.

For these reasons, employing a Zero Trust approach to security will continue to be a priority for businesses in 2023 and beyond. This is not just the responsibility of CIOs and CISOs. Organisations need to ensure all their employees are suitably trained in cyber-security, so they are aware of best practices and are mindful of what they do and where they click, and the impact it might have.

Of course, there are many inherent security benefits in cloud communications. Compared with legacy systems, the cloud is quicker and easier to upgrade, so you can fix vulnerabilities and deploy the latest security technologies fast. And when you have unified communications as a service, the IT department’s risk surface is also minimised, because relying on a single vendor allows a better control of data privacy.

However, in future, both cloud solution providers and businesses will need to do more. Solution providers can give businesses more control over their data privacy, such as the option to turn on end-to-end encryption. This prevents any unauthorised third party (including the cloud solution) from accessing communication data. And to address digital surveillance concerns specifically, business leaders will need to ensure they prioritise privacy rights and are transparent with employees about what data is collected and why it’s necessary.

Advanced cloud telephony

You might be surprised to find telephony in an article about emerging trends, but it continues to evolve year after year.

With cloud communications, any device and any app can now become your “phone”, so wherever you go, it goes with you. This is vital as remote and hybrid working increases.

The combination of cloud phones, advancements in AI, network infrastructures and wearable devices could revolutionise many jobs in the future. Imagine all retail assistants on shop floors having a phone-enabled wearable device. They could answer more customer calls, easily check stock while callers stay on the line, and quickly contact colleagues in other stores and teams. As 5G and AI improve, these devices will become even more powerful, with better network coverage, quicker connections and the ability to help people find the right information fast.

Telephony is becoming more intelligent. Chatbots and virtual assistants have been around for a while, but advances in AI over the coming years will make voice conversations more engaging and human. These will increasingly be used to help employees and customers get real-time information.

Advances in AI will also automate the process of analysing voice conversations. This is often done to monitor employee performance and gain business intelligence. Instead of supervisors having to study the transcripts of recorded calls, cloud phones will be equipped with voice analytics and provide real-time summarised conversation insights, including sentiment analysis (identifying the emotions of the speaker.)

Telephony is becoming more integrated. The constant switching between apps for different communication tools has become a productivity drain for businesses. But with the rise of unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platforms, we’ll see more firms providing one interface for phone, chat, video calls and emails, which gives their workers the ability to switch seamlessly between them. 5G will take this to the next level, enabling people to share screens during regular phone calls (without the need for a special app), thereby boosting collaboration.

UCaaS solutions can also be easily integrated with other systems too (CRMs, ERPs, helpdesks) to drive efficiencies and streamline processes. So a sales agent using cloud phone integrated with a CRM could automatically store call records and document the outcomes of calls.

Company dialects

Instant messaging has been increasingly used by businesses since the pandemic. In an April 2022 survey, almost 87 per cent of respondents were using messaging services for work at least some of the time.

This shift has led to the adoption of more informal language in business communications. Concise language as well as expressive emojis and gifs have become popular with hybrid workers. In fact many employees feel their company now has its own emoji language.

We expect this shift towards instant messaging, informal language and company “dialects” to continue over the coming years, since most employees say it makes business communications more human. However, there are some potential issues, such as ambiguity and more passive aggressive behaviour. To avoid these, business leaders should consider training their workers on best practices for written communication and monitoring employee sentiment on the issue. Organisations shouldn’t rely too much on instant messaging or email either. Phone and video communications are less ambiguous because participants can pick up on tone of voice and body language.

Are you ready for the future of cloud communications?

Whatever the future of cloud communications turns out to be, your organisation can be better prepared by partnering with a trusted, expert provider such as RingCentral. Head over to our website to find out more about us and the importance of cloud communications in a hybrid world.

For more information please visit www.ringcentral.com.

Originally published on Business Reporter