What is CPaaS?

Your Guide to Communications Platform as a Service

We live in a world where personal communication happens at the touch of a button — we’re always connected and always online. So why should business communication be any different?

Today’s customers expect to be able to contact us from any device, on the platform of their choice, and get the information or support that they need immediately. For businesses, this means having a comprehensive digital strategy that ensures multichannel communications are consistent, that the customer experience is streamlined and intuitive, and that every interaction is logged and recorded centrally.

It means making sure the right info gets to the right person, on the right channel, at the right time. Here’s where CPaaS, meaning Communications Platform as a Service, comes in.

From a tech perspective, CPaaS enables developers to programmatically embed voice, video, chat and messaging services into their business or consumer applications via messaging APIs. This allows businesses to connect with their customers, employees, or service users via voice, SMS, messaging service, social media — whatever works best for the individual recipient.

And everything’s connected, so conversations can be picked up exactly where they left off, even when the customer moves between channels.

CPaaS Platform

What is CPaaS?

Put simply, CPaaS lets businesses integrate real-time communications channels with the web and mobile applications they’re already using. There’s no new platform to set up, no additional training for your staff, everything just works.

At the heart of the platform are actions and outreaches. When a defined action occurs, for example, a customer books an appointment through your website, or updates a shipping address, or cancels a subscription, the CPaaS solution records this and triggers an outreach.

This can be an outbound email, SMS, Facebook message, or voice note, depending on the individual customer’s preference.

CPaaS Providers Offer Solutions That Integrate With Your Existing Systems And Applications To Add Rich Communications Capabilities Across A Variety Of Channels

A CPaaS solution gives your business the flexibility to engage with your customers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders more efficiently and more meaningfully, removing barriers to prompt and effective communication — and bringing you closer together.

Inbuilt automation allows you to scale rapidly, without the overheads associated with managing each communications channel individually.

The result is an integrated communication capability that works seamlessly with the applications and platforms you’re using today, taking the customer experience to the next level in terms of availability, reliability, and ease of use.

Discover more about Soprano CPaaS Platform

  • The Advantages of CPaaS  → Learn how you can make business communications applications richer, better integrated, and more intuitive for the operator and the client.
  • The Need for CPaaS in the New Normal → Find out how you can update your digital communication strategy to meet the changing needs of stakeholders in a post-pandemic world.
  • How Companies Use CPaaS  →Check out some real-life use cases and gain actionable insights on how CPaaS helps businesses to optimise their communications strategy.
  • Soprano Connect →Take a look at Soprano Connect, our market-leading integrated communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) which was recently profiled by Gartner.
cpaas what is

Redefine the way you engage with your audience and connect with them at their convenience.

Communication Platform Benefits

Embed communications directly into your existing applications

A CPaaS solution doesn’t replace your existing applications and systems – it enriches them, adding sophisticated communication options which allow you to streamline workflows and increase efficiency. 

This means there’s much less of a barrier to entry than when implementing an entirely new system, reducing training and onboarding costs and allowing your teams to benefit fully from the enhanced functionality from day one.

Connect with customers on their preferred channels

A one-size-fits-all communication strategy just doesn’t cut it nowadays, with increasingly tech-savvy customers expecting to choose the channel and device they prefer to send and receive information.

A CPaaS solution takes the work out of managing these expectations — rather than requiring operators to monitor every possible inbound and outbound channel, everything is integrated into the systems you’re already working with.

At the touch of a button, you can reach out to customers, employees, or partners via their choice of social media account, email, SMS, or messaging app.

Stretch your budget and resource further

CPaaS solutions can drastically increase the throughput of your call centre, customer service, or admin teams, enabling you to scale faster and do more with less.

Automated processes and deep systems integration remove the need for customer service agents to manually send reminders, confirm bookings, or respond to simple inquiries.

Integrating your CPaaS solution with your CRM or ticketing system allows confirmations, updates, notifications, schedule changes, and other transactional communications to be completed automatically, and therefore immediately.
Your team members are freed up to focus their efforts on more complex tasks and can give those customers a level of attention that just wasn’t possible before.

Ultimately, the difference is most apparent in your bottom line, as a result of saving thousands in management overheads, recruitment and training costs, and onboarding.

Exceed customer expectations

Customers are no longer willing to settle for substandard interactions with a business – gone are the days when it was acceptable to keep a client on hold or trapped in an endless voice menu for minutes on end.

Research shows that 90% of customers expect consistent, trusted interactions across various channels as a baseline. Over a third of those customers expect to be able to connect with the same customer service agent, regardless of which channel they choose to use, and two-thirds expect to receive assistance in real-time.

CPaaS gives you the tools you need to offer this level of responsiveness and flexibility, without having to double or triple your staffing budget. It allows integrated communication, using your existing systems, which moves between channels as necessary.

No more interrupting the flow of the conversation, or asking customers to continually reconfirm or restate information. Rather than simply satisfying your customer’s needs, you can deepen the relationship by making every interaction a delight.

Get through to your contacts every time

Whether you’re communicating with customers, employees, or other stakeholders, you’re facing serious competition for their attention. Sending a single email update is unlikely to get the message across, as there’s a pretty good chance your carefully crafted words will be lost under an avalanche of sale and marketing emails or trapped by an overzealous spam filter.

Using multi-channel communications helps to ensure that the important messages get through intact and on time. And it’s welcomed by customers, with research indicating that brand perception is improved up to 68% when customers receive consistent messaging across multiple channels. This also results in a 90% uptick in purchasing intent — a real win — win.

So whether you’re sending an urgent notification, a change to a scheduled appointment, a password reset, or simply a thank you note, using the multi-channel communication functionality made possible by a CPaaS solution means you can be confident your message is received and read.

Remove the risk of human error

People are not robots — so whenever you’re relying on employees to manually send out customer communications, there will always be errors. Sometimes they’re unimportant, sometimes they have a serious impact.

It’s also true that the more transactional the communication, the greater the likelihood of mistakes. When customer service agents are in a rush to clear an overloaded task list, sending out update after update by hand, errors are almost certain to creep in. When they have the time and space to give their full attention to inquiries, they’re able to deliver a more considered, accurate response.

Using a CPaaS solution addresses both of these issues, with automation ensuring that the correct notifications or updates go to the right people at the right time, while also freeing up your staff to focus on those communications which require the human touch.

Cut wasted time on missed appointments

No-shows, late arrivals, “did not attend” — it all means the same thing, wasted time and resources for your employees and the inconvenience of longer waiting times for your other customers.

Research has proved that sending out automated confirmation messages on appointment booking, as well as reminders in the days leading up to the scheduled meeting can significantly reduce missed appointments, saving you time and money.

With a CPaaS solution, you can increase the effectiveness of these reminders, scheduling them to auto-send when a booking is made in your CRM and at specified intervals before the event, via your customer’s preferred channel.

The messages can be configured to include a quick link to cancel or reschedule the appointment, so if the customer can’t make it, you have advance notice and can adjust your schedule accordingly.

Improve communication with remote teams

Remote or hybrid working has become increasingly prevalent in many industries, accelerated by the travel and occupancy restrictions posed by the COVID pandemic.

As businesses start to recover, many are planning to keep at least partial remote working practices in place, so effective communication has never been more important for keeping teams engaged and able to collaborate effectively, even when working from home.

Using a CPaaS solution, you can easily integrate your internal communication systems with channels such as SMS, WhatsApp, or IRC alongside traditional methods such as email to ensure that messages reach your team wherever and whenever they’re working.

CPaaS platform benefits

Communication Platforms for Business in the New Normal

One effect of the COVID pandemic was that it highlighted a lack of preparedness in many sectors for the challenges in communication which were caused as “business as usual” was disrupted by travel restrictions, office closures, and labour shortages.

A recent report showed 66% of businesses admitting they felt the pandemic exposed weaknesses in their digital strategy (AppDynamics by Cisco).

As businesses and economies begin the process of recovery, it’s more important than ever for organizations to have an updated communication strategy in place, both to serve the new needs of their business and their customers, and to mitigate against disruption on a similar scale occurring in future.

Are you happy with your current digital presence?

We’ve found that 74% of businesses are signing off digital projects in weeks rather than years and 66% of these companies are implementing projects that were previously deemed unnecessary — highlighting the increased prioritization of digital strategy (AppDynamics by Cisco).

Is your business prepared for the new way of working?

Our research indicates that 34% of <$1bn revenue companies and 63% of >$1bn revenue companies plan to increase spending on employee communication tools and collaboration technologies going forward (451 Research study).

Are you changing your approach to communication?

Reaching your customers and employees digitally is more important than ever as we enter the new normal. We commissioned a report with 451 Research which highlighted some interesting behavioural changes in the way businesses are planning to communicate and collaborate.

Find out how your business compares to the competition

Our white paper looks in detail at the changes businesses are making to meet the needs of a post-pandemic environment and illustrates what products and services organizations are planning on investing in over the coming months and years.

Download the 451 Report

Real-time Communications and Digital Engagement Take on New Meaning in Post-COVID-19 Era

How Companies Use CPaaS

We have a unique insight into the many and varied ways that our clients deploy CPaaS to meet their own individual challenges.  Below are some of the more common use cases we’ve observed for communications platforms as a service

Appointment and reminders

  • Appointment confirmations
  • Scheduling system communications
  • Appointment reminders
  • Appointment amendments or alterations

Security and
Compliance

  • Two-factor authentication
  • Secure communication platform
  • Sending and receiving sensitive documents
  • Maintaining compliance and privacy controls

Urgent
notifications

  • Crisis management
  • Worker safety
  • Patient notifications
  • Banking security notifications

Marketing and sales communications

  • CRM updates
  • Promotional marketing messaging
  • Lead nurturing
  • Sales outreach

Updates and Confirmations

  • Dispatch and delivery updates and confirmations
  • Booking confirmations
  • Contact centre communication
  • Billing confirmations

Education and Awareness

  • Student engagement
  • Charity outreach
  • Government awareness programmes
  • Surveys

Internal Communication

  • Remote work communication
  • Workplace transformation
  • Employee satisfaction and wellbeing
  • Internal staff communication tools

Why Choose CPaaS by Soprano?

Soprano Connect is a leading communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) that has been praised by the top analyst firms in the world.

We’ve deployed our award-winning engineering and innovation capabilities to deliver a powerful cloud-based enterprise platform that seamlessly integrates IP, SMS, MMS, voice, and location to create a secure, centralised, multichannel communication experience that engages and delights our clients’ customers

Soprano products are trusted by global top-100 companies, leading financial institutions, and large government agencies in four major world regions, including over 25 Global Fortune 500 organizations.

In total, our service is used to send over 6 billion mission-critical messages per year, from over 4.5 million active users.

Our core focus is on providing a solution that pairs advanced communication capability with a simplified user experience supported by automation.

We measure our success on the exceptional levels of engagement and outstanding results that our CPaaS technology solution makes possible. Our team of experts is ready and waiting to assist you with your communications requirements, wherever in the world you’re based.

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CPaaS Resources

As a leading CPaaS provider, we regularly publish reports, insights, advice, and guidance on all aspects of the communication platform as a service market. Check out our free resources to find all the information you need on industry best practices, developments in mobile messaging, and trends in digital communication and integration.

  • What Is a CPaaS and How Can It Add Value to Your Business? 
    We explore the value that cloud communication platform as a service companies can deliver, and provide advice on how businesses can consolidate and simplify their digital messaging to connect better with stakeholders across a range of channels and platforms.
  • Overcoming Challenges in the Mobile Customer Journey with a CPaaS
    Matt Thompson walks us through the process of using CPaaS to create and optimise a customer journey, discussing the various challenges involved and providing guidance on the most effective way to navigate through them.
  • How a CPaaS Enables an Improved Mobile Customer Journey
    Soprano’s Cloud Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) is a powerful platform for designing customer journeys in a mobile-first world. In this piece we look at the specifics of how implementing an integrated solution provides an enhanced experience for customers.
  • Customer Communication: Making Your Virtual Engagement Count
    Mastering virtual communication is key to ensuring you maintain customer engagement. We’ve explored some of the tools you need, and how best to execute your engagement strategy to achieve the maximum impact.
  • How Mobile Technologies Are Reshaping the Future
    It’s time to start building better, more meaningful connections with your customers to increase trust and improve satisfaction and loyalty. The key to getting closer to them is harnessing the power of mobile communications.
  • Communication Platform As A Service Market Has Reshaped The Way We Do Business Globally
    The world we live in now has been shaped by a global pandemic and enormous shifts in how we work, shop and access services. We have seen people’s expectations change as online services become more responsive than ever. What many people don’t know is that communication platform as a service market allowed businesses to meet these new expectations.
  • What Is an Omni-Channel Messaging?
    In this piece, we walk you through how to create an effective multi-channel messaging strategy for coordinated business communications, taking advantage of the unique features of each channel to achieve a combined approach.
  • Are You Using Communication Tools the Right Way?
    Building quality communications channels is vital to long-term customer relationships. Have you considered if you are using the right channels to reach your customers? We’ve put together a list of tips to identify the best way to connect with your audience.
  • Mobile and the Future of Customer Experience
    The communications landscape is rapidly evolving, and creating quality customer communications should be a cornerstone of your brand vision. Learn how to create a mobile-first engagement strategy utilizing a mix of technologies that scale with your needs.
  • What is API messaging?
    The Soprano CPaaS platform features API messaging and system integration capabilities that enable you to build integrated communication workflows. Learn how you can utilise your existing systems and processes to connect with customers across multiple channels.
  • Playbook: 10 tips to create an effective business case for CPaaS
    Our CPaaS playbook helps you build an effective business case proposal to illustrate the value of integrated communication platforms as a service, and get senior executives within your company onside and ready to invest.
  • 5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Business Communication Platform
    Unified communications platforms like Soprano allow organisations to communicate across different channels, all from the one place. He’s how we are keeping on top of the competition with our world-class business communications services solution.

The Channels Our CPaaS Supports

Soprano’s enterprise communication platform offers customers a variety of channels. These channels can be integrated into your existing platforms using our API platform as a service.

SMS

SMS communication with stakeholders has a number of benefits: it’s a channel with near-universal adoption worldwide, is easy to use, and can be accessed by legacy devices.

Building and integrating SMS applications and APIs is made easy via our unified SMS messaging platform. Test and deploy your new communication solutions rapidly and efficiently thanks to our clearly documented processes, reducing time-to-live significantly.

Read more

IP MESSAGING

Encrypted IP-based messaging boasts a range of valuable features – improved security compared to some other forms of mobile messaging, multimedia support, message acknowledgements, and comprehensive logging for audit purposes.

Our IP messaging platform allows you to quickly build applications and APIs which add this functionality to your existing CRM or ticketing system, offering customers a safe and secure channel to connect with your agents.

Read more

VOICE

Voice communication still has its place — sometimes a text message can’t convey the subtlety, importance, or experience that a human voice can bring to the conversation. Rather than making costly outbound calls, though, Application-to-Person (A2P) allows you to broadcast audio clips to your contacts.

Our A2P platform lets you integrate this channel with your existing applications, allowing you to send personalised text-to-speech messages to both landline and mobile phones automatically or at the touch of a button.

Read more

WHATSAPP

Since its arrival in 2009, WhatsApp has risen to become the messaging app of choice for mobile users across the globe, and with the imminent release of new functionality such as in-app payments, it’s an increasingly important business-to-customer channel.

Soprano WhatsApp Business Messaging lets you create tightly integrated, user-friendly brand experiences for your customers, allowing you to meaningfully engage with them in real-time on their platform of choice.

Read more

RCS

The rich communication services (RCS) protocol unifies multimedia messaging across Android devices, which as the mobile operating system of choice for 2.8 billion customers, represents a vital channel for customer interactions.

Our RCS platform enables you to develop feature-rich, personalised, and interactive experiences with the ubiquity and simplicity of text messaging, equipped with sophisticated tracking and read notifications.

Read more

EMAIL

As the de facto standard for business communication, email is an important part of your digital communication mix. The Soprano email platform allows you to send rich HTML email messages to customers or employees, from your existing applications.

The platform can also be easily integrated with your email managers to convert email messages into SMS for additional reach, ensuring urgent communications are received, even when the recipient is away from their computer.

Read more

CPaaS Channels

Discover more about the Soprano CPaaS Platform

Soprano’s Communication Platform Customers

Soprano Design has nearly 4500 customers globally across APAC, EMEA, LATAM and the US.

Our diverse client base includes companies of all sizes, from large publicly traded corporations to independent companies, and spans a wide selection of verticals, including government, healthcare, finance, education, retail, manufacturing, and logistics.

Get in touch to discuss how to get started with CPaaS.

Soprano Connect Customers