What CPaaS Means to the Enterprise

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By IntelePeer

CPaaS, or communications platform as a service, is a cloud-based platform that allows your company to embed communications into applications and create customized flows to enhance the customer and employee experience. Think SMS, voice and video capabilities embedded into your customer-facing applications. Think integrated internal processes. Think unicorns jumping over rainbows. Think finding $20 in your coat pocket. Think hot pizza right out of the oven. It’s THAT good.

CPaaS connects people with calendars, directories, CRMs and other business applications, giving them access to useful information and context while they communicate. With CPaaS, enterprises can program applications that fit their exact business needs to give customers and employees the best experience possible.

But what about UCaaS?

You may be thinking, “We already use UCaaS solutions to improve collaboration.” The beauty of CPaaS is that it enhances your existing solutions, including UCaaS. Whether your company is using CPaaS, or you’re just getting started with it, it’s important to understand the difference between CPaaS and UCaaS. While similar, they are built to address different business issues.

Key Ingredients of CPaaS

Every company needs to keep their communications spicy, yet tasteful, to help boost engagement and collaboration. The recipe for truly delightful communication experiences requires a highly scalable and customizable collection of communications capabilities that integrate with the organization’s apps, products and services. Here’s how CPaaS provides the ingredients:

• Scalability: CPaaS providers are able to use cloud technology to offer companies of any size the ability to easily develop and embed communications features as business needs change and grow.
• Cost efficient: Companies using CPaaS can save on human resources, infrastructure and time to market. Other advantages to using a CPaaS include affordable pricing models, where companies can pay for just the services they need, such as SMS, voice or automation.
• Easy implementation: Implementing a CPaaS solution saves businesses time with quick and simple deployments. Either through APIs or ready-to-use applications, IT and development teams can easily deploy CPaaS solutions across the company. Your IT team can help other departments build applications for their individual needs or use them for their own purposes to improve the overall tech experience for customers and employees.
• Programmable components: CPaaS delivers unparalleled flexibility, letting you implement a fully built-out solution or create one that meets specific needs. You can build on top of existing solutions such as contact center or other applications. CPaaS allows developers to focus on building applications rather than on the underlying IT infrastructures.

What Can’t CPaaS Do?

OK, so maybe CPaaS can’t tell us our future, drive a car, or rock a fun bow tie. But it can do a lot for your business! Improving customer experiences, increasing engagement and better understanding the customer journey are just some of the ways CPaaS helps you level up your communications strategy.

For example, health care providers can …