Interaction - Nick Parmar, VP, Cloud Comm, Tata Communications

Nick Parmar, VP, Cloud Communications, Tata Communications talks about the evolving Cloud technologies here.

How can the Cloud services providers strategise to grow Cloud communications sales?

Nick Parmar - Enterprise efficiency will play a key role in the growth of Cloud communications. Using single platform or toolset to automate and manage Cloud operations across hybrid and multi-cloud environments will reduce complexity, cost and risk by providing consistent governance and operations management practices for different cloud providers. The year 2023 is considered crucial for the convergence of different Cloud services.

Organisations are increasingly adopting Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) strategy which helps them unify their Cloud investments across different collaboration services including Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS), Contact Centre-as-a-Service (CCaaS) and Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS), helping them deliver omni-channel, intuitive and intelligent customer interactions.

Moreover, the lines between customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) are blurring. According to Gartner, organisations with Total Experience strategies are projected to outperform their competitors by 25% in satisfaction metrics for both CX and EX by 2024. With the powerful combination of Tata Communications DIGO and InstaCC, the company’s Customer Interaction Suite (CIS) is transforming customer engagement for enterprises globally.

Collaborative partnerships and interoperable APIs play a vital role in providing open-source interfaces for AI capabilities in contact centres, enabling seamless integration, interoperability, and data exchanges between various Cloud-native applications and services.

Tata Communications aims to provide a comprehensive Contact Centre in a Box (CIB) solution to deliver a 360-degree, total experience to the end-customers. Tata Communications InstaCC portfolio provides omni-channel contact centre experience powered by Automation and AI and Agent Productivity tools. The company also provides end-to-end connectivity and managed services, along with XaaS services including UCC, CCaaS and CPaaS.

What are the strategies to make Cloud communication and datacentre technologies work together for the clients' benefit?

Nick Parmar - When choosing a CCaaS solution, enterprises need to evaluate the underlying architecture as it plays a critical role in meeting the demands of new-age customer service. Thus, a high-performing, resilient, and scalable data centre design is essential.

• CCaaS providers need to prioritise scalability and security by utilising secure cloud-based storage that complies with regulations such as HIPPAA and GDPR, ensuring the protection of customer data and offering enhanced security compared to traditional on-premises storage. Additionally, CCaaS solution should use encryption to safeguard sensitive information, such as customer details and payment data from unauthorised access.
• By engaging with multiple data centres, CCaaS will ensure high availability and downtime. This enabling seamless operations in cases like increased traffic, system faults, or unforeseen disasters. Additionally, CCaaS includes automated disaster recovery mechanisms in place to restore services swiftly during critical situations, thus contributing in business continuity and disaster management.

Tata Communications has data centres hosting Contact Center Solutions globally, with a DC:DR (Data Center:Disaster Recovery) setup in the US, Europe, and APAC regions. This setup has assisted numerous customers in business continuity planning and disaster recovery, with benefits including centralised administration and control, architecture resiliency, adherence to data security standards, and the ability to scale according to business needs.

What are the near future trajectories of Cloud Communication business in Asia region, especially in India?

Nick Parmar - According to Genesys State of CX 2023, 86% of consumers in Asia-Pacific say a company is only as good as its service and a third have switched brands in the past year over a negative interaction.

We can see the following Cloud communication trajectories in the near future -

1. Digital transformation - Only 18% of organisations have a fully connected, omnichannel approachwhich is creating data silos, missed opportunities for personalisation and a lack of visibility into business performance. Tata Communications provides omni-channel interactions, predictive and AI driven customer interaction routing, self-service technologies and hyper-personalisation of customer journey to the enterprises globally.
2. Priortising employee centricity - Contact centre turnover is averaging 30–40% and organisations are struggling to keep staff continually trained. Looking ahead, CX Leaders need to place employees at the center of their strategy, with improved platforms and technology, leadership development and career growth, and enhanced remote workforce management. Tata Communications is driving this through its AI-assisted training & coaching tools, real time reporting and KPI tracking, AI & automation driven scalable and personalised customer & employee interactions.
3. Channelising the tech stack - Almost three-quarters of CX Leaders are implementing a CX platform that connects systems & silos to orchestrate seamless end-to-end customer experiences. Thus, personalised, empathetic experiences at scale uncover actionable strategies for creating effortless customer journeys. Tata Communications is powering this through integration with other platforms like CRM (customer relationship management), CDP (customer data platform), integrated unified communication & contact center solution, cybersecurity, data governance and privacy compliance.

Thus, Cloud communication technologies are fast evolving in many ways to help the enterprises.

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