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October 31, 2016

CPaaS Joins the Advancing Wave of Cloud-Based Telecommunications

Is CPaaS the next wave of Unified Communications? Companies and developers looking to add real time communication (RTC) capabilities to their apps seem to think so. So do longtime communications providers like Twilio and Avaya.

Expanding Communication Choices

CPaaS, which stands for Communications Platform as a Service, like its fellow cloud-based services, SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS, leverages the cloud to provide shared technology. CPaaS allows anyone looking to include discrete video, voice, text, or SMS inside their apps the ability to do so without having to invest in costly back-end infrastructure and interfaces. Adopters of the technology have put it to work to provide video-enabled help desks, to send SMS or texted appointment reminders and to confirm orders. And with the disturbing advances of hackers, many online businesses and banks are looking to CPaaS to provide two-factor identity authentication.

Traditionally, small businesses, professional practices and startups who lacked the resources and funds necessary to build and operate their own communications stacks and realtime networks had to rely on dedicated RTC apps like Skype, What’s App or FaceTime. Now they can avail themselves of the services of a growing number of CPaaS providers who offer packages that typically include pre-built applications, standards based applications program interfaces (API), software tools, sample codes and all-important technical support.

One of the latest CPaaS providers to expand the capabilities of its apps is Twilio, who at its May 2016 developer’s conference in San Francisco, unveiled Notify, a feature that ups the ante by including an additional API that allows customers to customize their messages while selecting the channels through which the message will travel. Using Notify, businesses will be able to specify whether particular customers receive their notifications text, video, or picture form, and whether they receive them via SMS, push notification, or on a chat application like Facebook Messenger.

An Expanding Market with Dramatic Forecasts

The new market is forecasted to see $8.1 billion in sales in 2019. One of the latest pioneers is Avaya, who launched its very online communication platform, Zang in March 2016. Experts predict that the market will grow, with more large companies entering the market.