Telco is on the precipice of change. However, industry-wide transformation can create challenges as some speed ahead and others take a wait and see approach. During these turbulent moments, it’s common for old myths to fall away and new ones to emerge in their place.
In my new series, “Debunking Myths”, I’ll break down the common, but inaccurate, themes and perceptions that I’ve been hearing and provide clear, fact-based insights that can help providers navigate the evolving telco landscape.
Perhaps one of the more frequent comments I hear from service providers around the globe is that voice is not strategic. I’m here to tell you that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
While many see voice as a dying service, it’s still the most used modality to communicate in business. Studies have shown consumers and businesses alike prefer human to human voice interactions. Additionally, as we approach peak bandwidth, providers need to focus more on the applications – like voice – as key differentiators. Omdia’s research shows significant reductions in churn and increases in lifetime value (LTV) when a service like voice is bundled with access.
The main reason people believe voice isn’t strategic is because it hasn’t been iterated upon in decades and much of the partner ecosystem delivers undifferentiated, over-the-top (OTT) products. In fact, coupled with a decline in telco value, user demand for new customer experiences delivered by OTTs have made it hard for telcos to keep up. While voice had dramatically evolved from what it was years ago – we no longer have humans stationed at switchboards – it’s not any more innovative. As a result, the market has left, and telco delivered voice isn’t seen as strategic. The last time voice had a major transformation was likely when providers transitioned from TDM to VoIP (or Telco 1.0 to Telco 2.0) and, at that time, it was more about how many features could be supported. Now, the way we work has changed and so must voice.
Voice is still an integral part of the overall communications package for businesses – helping to increase customer value, reduce churn, and more – but these legacy voice products aren’t going to get you there. Service providers need to refresh their voice capabilities and modernize them to see results. Specifically, by migrating their legacy voice networks to the cloud, they can reduce costs and risks, increase operational efficiencies, and meet the demands of the modern end user.
For example, end users no longer care about having a dizzying list of features but, instead, having a handful of solid, streamlined features that work well together and are easy to use. Service providers do not need to go feature-for-feature with their legacy platforms. That’s like looking for the horse shackles on a Model T. A lot of features aren’t relevant anymore and require an entirely different framework.
Additionally, when modernizing voice, service providers should focus on the user experience rather than only building a bigger network. The providers that modernize to deliver an elevated customer experience, like integrating innovative technologies such as AI, are thinking about voice in the right way.
As telco continues to evolve, voice communication remains a vital component of business operations and its strategic importance is often underestimated. Instead of brushing off voice, service providers should modernize their services and focus on customer experience. The risk of doing nothing is greater than the lagging concerns of migrating core communications to the cloud, including voice.
To learn more about cloud migration and Alianza’s modern voice offerings, click here.
