What is CPaaS? Key Functions and Use Cases

What is CPaaS?

Short for Communications Platform as a Service, CPaaS is a cloud-based communications platform that integrates voice, SMS, chat, and video features into your existing software. As businesses rely more on cloud-based services, CPaaS enables a fully customizable communications infrastructure. With CPaaS, you can build front-facing applications for your customers more easily without managing the underlying communications infrastructure.

Communications APIs, or application programming interfaces, are the backbone of CPaaS. Instead of implementing expensive, time-consuming updates to existing applications, businesses can integrate CPaaS features via an API. With APIs, organizations can easily choose which communication features they want to use, from SMS and RCS messaging to social channels and VoIP.

Benefits of CPaaS

With cloud-based technology as the latest business standard, more organizations are turning to CPaaS to gain advanced software benefits without the time and cost of creating it from scratch. Here are three ways that CPaaS can transform your communications infrastructure.

1. Scalable

One of the biggest advantages of using CPaaS is that it can grow with your business. If you’ve already used CPaaS to add services to your software but decide later that you want to add other features (like SMS marketing or other conversational channels), CPaaS makes it simple.

Similarly, if you find that your organization doesn’t use some features as much as predicted, you can easily remove those features and streamline your budget.

The flexibility of CPaaS enables you to scale your communications so that they help your business grow, rather than slowing down workflows with unnecessary features. In addition, with CPaaS, you don’t have to worry if you’ll be able to meet changing customer expectations because you can adjust your services practically on the fly.

2. Cost-Efficient

Like many as-a-service products, CPaaS operates on a subscription model that allows you to pay for only what you need. In addition to a simple monthly pricing model, CPaaS provides a cloud-based communications infrastructure so you don’t have to create your own. This eliminates the added costs of hiring developers to create and maintain these features.

After adding CPaaS to their software, businesses can discover even more operational efficiencies. For example, an organization can use CPaaS to add a support chatbot and reduce the cost of support calls with live representatives. Another common feature is SMS text messaging, which businesses can use to send appointment reminders and lower the cost of no-shows.

3. Customizable

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to fit your business and customers’ unique needs. With CPaaS, your business can fully customize your communication channels based on your target audience, budget, desired functionalities, and marketing strategies.

For example, you can add SMS text messaging and social channels without committing to other service offerings you might never use. If the needs of your business change, you can simply add additional features to your software via API.

Key Functions of CPaaS

SMS

Consumers want the ability to text a business to ask questions and learn more about their products. In fact, 75% of people wouldn’t mind receiving a text from a brand after they opt-in to receive messages. By adding SMS text messaging to your communication channels, you can reach your customers where they spend most of their time: on their mobile devices.

With an SMS marketing platform, you can enable two-way messaging at minimal cost to have conversations with your customers at their convenience. In addition, SMS offers many versatile benefits to your organization, from responding to customer service inquiries to sharing special promotions with your customers. Just make sure you follow opt-in policies for text messaging so your business stays compliant with communications regulations.

Voice

With a CPaaS provider’s voice API, you can add incoming and outgoing calls to your existing software for a more unified communications stack. In addition, using CPaaS for voice calling makes it easy to scale your features up and down based on your business’s needs. You can even add new phone numbers and calling features so customers reach a specific team or point of contact at your organization.

Using CPaaS for voice calls eliminates the need for expensive monthly contracts with phone service providers. In addition, the fast, simple implementation of a CPaaS API means you can add only the features you need and start using them immediately.

Conversational Channels

With a CPaaS provider’s business messaging API, you can take your SMS marketing to the next level. Around 2 billion people globally use WhatsApp. Other messaging platforms like Apple Messages for Business and Facebook Messenger are popular alternatives to basic text messaging.

You can easily send a message to hundreds or even thousands of subscribers across multiple platforms by adding a business messaging API to your communications channels. For example, you can automate text message notifications for order confirmations, deliveries, and appointment reminders, so your customers receive essential information when they need it.

You can also engage with customers by recommending products and providing customer support, all from one easy-to-use platform.

CPaaS Use Cases

CPaaS solutions can meet many business needs thanks to their flexibility and versatility. Some of the most popular uses of CPaaS include the following.

Marketing

Because CPaaS enables better customer communication, you can use its features to take your marketing strategies far and wide. With a CPaaS platform’s communication API, you have the advantages of powerful SMS and mobile marketing features to reach new customers and retain existing ones.

For example, you can use CPaaS to share subscriber-only promotions or manage a loyalty program that rewards customers with special offers. Consumers abandon nearly 70% of online shopping carts, but configuring automated messages to remind customers to complete their purchases can reduce those numbers. You can even offer a special discount as an extra incentive for customers to check out.

Customer Service

Research shows that customers value a fast response time as one of the most important parts of a good customer service experience. With CPaaS, your business can expand its communications channels so your customers can reach you by phone, email, text, chat, social media, and more. Rather than waiting 24 to 48 hours for a customer service inquiry response, customers can connect directly with your business.

CPaaS can be used to offer other types of customer support, like transactional messaging for reminders and notifications. For example, healthcare providers can schedule automated appointment reminders for patients to reduce missed appointments, the cost of which can add up quickly. You can also create customer service message templates to respond to common inquiries and promptly resolve customer issues.

Sales and Business Support

As online shopping sales have increased, so have accompanying challenges such as out-of-stock items and shipping delays. In addition, the growing demand for e-commerce means businesses rely on their communication channels to process orders, respond to customer inquiries, process returns and exchanges, and market their products and services.

With CPaaS, you can add communications features to your CRM system to instantly inform you about new sales leads. In addition, you can configure automated responses to reduce response times and increase customer satisfaction instead of losing possible sales to a more responsive competitor.

Your business can also use CPaaS for other customer communications, such as automatic order status updates or real-time customer service conversations.

Choose CM.com As Your CPaas Provider

With CPaaS, you can reach your customers on their favorite communication channels, from social to messaging apps, all from a single platform. CM.com’s Communications Platform provides access to text messaging and over ten OTT channels, so you can send bulk messages worldwide with just a few clicks.

By connecting your website or application to our API, you can access the most popular messaging platforms and stay connected with your customers.