Leading providers in the ICT industry are expanding into the contact centers-as-a-service (CCaaS) and cloud contact centers space by integrating natively built contact center capabilities into their offerings. Leveraging their strengths in unified communications (UC), video conferencing, and networking, these companies now provide full-suite solutions that enhance efficiency and transform contact center customer experience (CX). This has not only intensified competition but also accelerated innovation, reshaping traditional landscapes. Further, as businesses adapt to this shift, the demand for advanced contact center automation is fast rising. The question is — Are traditional vendors losing ground, or is the industry expanding for all?
GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
- Full Suite CCaaS: Cloud-based solutions with multiple tools for omnichannel CX.
- Integrated UCaaS and CCaaS: Cross-industry partnerships for competitive differentiation.
- Generative AI (GenAI): Conversational AI, chatbots, virtual assistants, and sentiment analytics.
- Hybrid Work: Employee engagement, collaboration, and inclusivity in remote/hybrid work models.
- Integrated Security: Data security, privacy, and compliance in AI-first workflows.
Featured Experts:
Here, the following growth experts collaborated to share their views on transformation drivers, challenges, disruptive technologies, and best practices in contact centers:
- Alpa Shah — Associate Partner and Vice President, Customer Experience at Frost & Sullivan
- Zach Taylor — Director of Strategic Communications, Contact Center BU at Cisco
- Srinidhi Shrinivasan — Vice President—Global Product & Solutions Marketing at Sprinklr
- Chris Irwin-Dudek — Vice President—Marketing Communications, AR/PR at NICE
- Kate Hodgins — Senior Director, Portfolio Product Marketing & Customer Marketing at Nextiva
- Nancy Jamison — Senior Industry Director, ICT and Digital Transformation at Frost & Sullivan
- Elka Popova — Vice President and Senior Fellow, ICT and Connected Work at Frost & Sullivan
Discussion Highlights:
- Understanding the Evolving Contact Centers Ecosystem: Traditional contact center customer experience providers offered deep expertise in call routing, interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call distribution (ACD), call recording, and other related solutions. But today, new and emerging providers are increasingly leveraging AI, GenAI, UC, and automation to create agile, integrated customer contact solutions. Now, as competition intensifies, the market is expanding, with both groups adapting to meet evolving customer demands.
- Hybrid Cloud and On-Premises Contact Centers: As more customers migrate on-premises workflows to the cloud, providers feel the urgency of offering smoother paths to hybrid operations. This is rendering the “one-size-fits-all” approach obsolete in favor of more flexible architectures, seamless integrations, and smoother tech orchestrations. Now, CCaaS solutions in innovative configurations present attractive options for different user personas.
- Cloud Communications and Innovative Platforms: The shift to cloud communications is unlocking new opportunities, enabling platforms and providers to integrate UC, CCaaS, contact center customer experience, and third-party services seamlessly with open application programing interfaces (APIs). This convergence is driving industry evolution, where innovative platforms serve as the foundation for delivering diverse and scalable solutions for varying customer needs.
- Return of Investment (ROI) on AI: As AI adoption grows, providers are seeing tangible benefits, like cost reduction, revenue growth, and large-scale personalization. But striking a balance between human skills and automated intelligence is a tough ask. Going forward, success lies in aligning technology investments with clearly defined return on investment (ROI) goals that ensure higher accuracy and security of data and AI output.
Watch the full webinar here to supercharge your customer experience management strategy.
In conclusion, the convergence of AI, automation, and cloud technologies is revolutionizing contact centers. In this rapidly changing landscape, providers that innovate, adapt, and prioritize customer-centric solutions will lead the way forward.
Is your organization equipped to make the most of this transformation?
“Large providers of core technology that are traditional CCaaS partners are now providers changing the CCaaS playing field from coopetition to competition.” – Nancy Jamison, Senior Industry Director, ICT and Digital Transformation at Frost & Sullivan.
