Fonebox | White Paper

Telecommunications: The Final Frontier of Digital Transformation

Fonebox | White Paper | Telecommunications: The Final Frontier of Digital Transformation 2

We are in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a time of omnipresent connectivity, access and information, however organisations who fail to embrace the capabilities of this new age will quickly find themselves left out in the cold. To avoid this, business strategies have been rewritten and budgets rerouted to capitalise on the latest, next-gen solutions and yet, in all the haste, one integral component of business, historic, modern and in the future, has been forgotten: telecommunications.

This whitepaper explores the digitally transformed landscape of telecommunications, examining the innovative ways in which providers are moulding their offerings and how forward-thinking businesses might use them. Through the challenges organisations will face to the opportunities they’ll enjoy, this informative but accessible report provides comprehensive coverage of the tools that will change the face of modern business.

Executive Summary

Since the invention of the telegram, telecommunication solutions have become a workday staple, connecting business to consumer and colleague to colleague to facilitate the rapid expanse of global enterprise. Yet in the face of today’s explosive digital transformation, can such legacy technology be expected to stand the test of time?

The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ from telecommunication companies who represent the leading sector for digital transformation1 and from their consumers too with 75 per cent of people believing that a phone call remains the most effective way to get a response2. However, to accommodate rising customer expectations and compete against a new era of digital disruptors, telecommunication providers have necessarily embraced digitisation and so too must their users.

Responsible for leading the charge in this new operational age, CIOs and CTOs must be prepared to redesign their role, putting their focus firmly on innovation rather than maintenance and encouraging cultural transformation as much as technological. To achieve this, they must first overcome three core challenges: talent, technology and time.

Introduction

1 http://www.ca.com/content/dam/rewrite/files/White-Papers/Keeping%20Score-Why%20Digital%20Transformation%20Matters-research-paper.pdf2 https://blog.invoca.com/20-incredible-stats-marketers-need-to-know-about-phone-calls/

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Research shows that 54 per cent of organisations feel that a talent gap is hindering their digital transformation programs3. The result has been a talent rat race as organisations scramble for pre-qualified hires to supplement an aging workforce, an approach which can be costly and may lead to team discord with longstanding employees feeling displaced by new. For a more holistic transformation, organisations should follow a talent strategy that places emphasis on cultivating in-house skills, investing in training programmes where gaps arise and encouraging collaboration between colleagues who can share knowledge. Alternatively, outsourcing has experienced increasing popularity in the wake of the digital evolution; capitalising on the rise of ‘as-a-service’ offerings, companies can build a scalable workforce, one that can be customised to suit their digital needs as they develop without retaining or recruiting a whole new staff.

Talent

Digital Transformation: The Challenges

SECTION ONE

It is an inalienable truth that in a digital evolution, technology will present as many challenges as opportunities. When it comes to something as longstanding and standardised as telecommunications, this is doubly true, its familiarity precluding it from the innovation and investment that has elevated other office solutions. As CIOs confront the growing demand for omnichannel, superior customer service and expanding international business, they must look to new iterations of telecommunications to meet these needs.

Technology

• 75 per cent of people will not leave a voicemail when faced with an automated system⁴.

• A third of workers are already requesting access to collaboration tools5.• 87 per cent of consumers think brands need to work harder to create a

seamless customer experience6.

3 https://www.capgemini.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/report_the-digital-talent-gap_final.pdf 4 http://www.xma.co.uk/docs/downloads/reaping-the-rewards-of-a-modern-telecoms-platform.pdf?sfvrsn 5 https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/se/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-digital-collaboration.pdf 6 http://www.getelastic.com/the-importance-of-omnichannel-customer-service/

54 per cent of organisations feel that a talent gap is hindering their digital transformation programs

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Business today happens fast and companies that fail to embrace new technologies will find themselves struggling to keep up. However, it is all too easy to make bad investments in the rush to transform. To avoid this, decision makers must first establish clear goals, perform an audit on existing infrastructure to establish what is needed and then carefully consider offerings from across the field, taking into consideration the total cost of ownership (TCO), time to roll out, and the needs of both your consumer and your workforce. While the need to transform at speed may seem paramount, in the long run rash decisions will only set you back.

Time

While the need to transform at speed may seem paramount, in the long run rash decisions will only set you back

Digital Transformation in ActionSECTION TWO

When confronted with these challenges, IT leaders may wonder whether digitising telecommunications is absolutely necessary. The answer is simple: digital transformations rarely work piecemeal. For instance, investing in your digital channels is essential, yet just 15 per cent of service journeys are digital from start to finish7, and while traditional handsets may be the most familiar means of communication, digital native employees and the growing number of flexible workers will find them to be of little use. No longer an afterthought, industry leaders today are realising that the digitisation of telecommunications will play a significant role in dictating the future of business transformation at large, influencing strategy, technological investment and workplace culture.

Research shows that offering greater flexibility in working arrangements boosts workforce productivity but 61 per cent of business leaders also find that it directly improves profits8. As a growing trend, organisations today should operate under the expectation that flexible and remote working, hot-desking and non-traditional workspaces will eventually become standard. However, it’s important to note that it is not without challenges.

To overcome these, software vendors have released a never-ending stream of products, from collaboration tools and cloud-based communication solutions to extensive security suites designed with mobility and flexibility in mind. Ensuring you make the right investments to meet your workforce’s needs can be a complex task but will save you from wasted IT budgets, security risks and lost productivity.

The Digital Nomad

7 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/how-telecom-companies-can-win-in-the-digital-revolution8 http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/media/vodafone-group-releases/2016/flexible-working-survey.html

61 per cent of business leaders also find that it directly improves profits

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Next generation telecoms are already providing enhanced security in ways few have considered. From end-to-end encryption on VoIP calls to remote worker monitoring which can alert companies to an unresponsive employee, telecommunication providers today can provide peace of mind for workers along with security for any corporate information they carry. Similarly, CIOs can utilise modern telecommunication tools to facilitate greater convenience for flexible workers, be that by adopting local virtual numbers for employees on the move, thereby maintaining a local image without restricting employees to their desks, or by employing a video conference solution to ensure teams can still collaborate and individual input is heard.

Historically, when we have talked about telecommunications we have been thinking of telephones and fax machines, but with the arrival of the internet everything changed.

Since its arrival in 1995 VoIP technology has undergone a series of refinements to improve sound quality, offer a broader scope of communication options (users are no longer limited to PC-to-PC transmissions), and provide a level of security not offered by traditional telephony or earlier VoIP solutions.

The economic impact of VoIP technologies has been vast, allowing organisations to expand operations across countries and continents without physically relocating through the use of virtual inbound numbers. This has measurably reduced the financial burden presented by legacy telephony options and enabled the anytime-anywhere business model that drives modern success.

Sibling products have emerged over the years to complement and work in tandem with VoIP, chiefly video conferencing and cloud-based communications. The wide ranging applications of video conferencing in business have been shown to improve staff training, reduce time and budget-consuming travel needs, boost satisfaction for flexible or remote workers, and humanise brands. Even in today’s peak-digital climate, 93 per cent of human communication is nonverbal9 and video conferencing equips businesses to cater to both sides of modern consumer needs, offering the convenience of digitisation without sacrificing the humanity that instils confidence in consumers and employees alike.

While video conferencing caters to interpersonal digital transformation, cloud-based communication tools respond to the need for efficiency, enabling teams to share documents and data securely and in real time, ultimately completing projects faster and with superior results as asserted by 93 per cent of business leaders who believe that cloud collaboration stimulates innovation10.

Digitally Transformed Telecomms

93 per cent of business leaders who believe that cloud collaboration stimulates innovation

9 https://www.unityconnected.com/the-importance-of-video-conferencing-for-businesses/10 http://onlinepractice.co.uk/6-benefits-of-cloud-based-collaboration/

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One of the most significant developments in the telecommunications digital transformation is that of ‘Contact Centre as a Service’ (CCaS). In today’s climate of 24/7 customer service in which 85 per cent of callers will not call back after being met with a voicemail11, CCaS offerings can be invaluable. Whether by utilising post-code prompting and time and date routing to redirect callers to their nearest open location, or engaging a professional, virtual receptionist, organisations can avoid downtime and dictate the customer journey as if it were managed in-house without accruing the same costs.

Ultimately, as with any ‘as-a-service’ offering, all of this could of course be accomplished in house. However, as with any ‘as-a-service’ offering again, the benefits of employing CCaS are well documented:

• Ensured business continuity - in the event of inaccessibility or unavoidable downtime, CCaS offerings offer a pre-arranged backup plan

• Superior customer service - anytime access for your customers, free from robot voicemail systems and lengthy hold periods

• Significantly lower TCO - a scalable model with no upfront capital investments or annual subscription charges

• A ‘design and construction [that] is inherently more resilient than most organisations can afford in their own infrastructures’ according to Gartner Analysts.12

The Next-Gen Contact Centre

85 per cent of callers will not call back after being met with a voicemail

Digital Transformation: Where Next?

SECTION THREE

CIOs could historically count on technology cycles of approximately five years; today that is not the case. With that in mind, it is essential that CIOs and CTOs remain open to regularly re-evaluating purchasing and business strategy. One key example is that of the Internet of Things (IoT). While in practice its initial application may seem somewhat limited, few technologies have enjoyed such a widespread and enthusiastic reception: by 2025 forecasts predict that the IoT market will grow to 75.4 billion connected devices13.

The potential for the IoT in business is vast. Most often touted are the capabilities available to CMOs and their team, as the data connected devices generate opens the door to a greater level of personalisation and real-time marketing.

By 2025 forecasts predict that the IoT market will grow to 75.4 billion connected devices

11 https://www.mightycall.com/blog/real-cost-voicemail/12 https://www.mycustomer.com/service/contact-centres/contact-centre-as-a-service-the-seven-most-popular-myths-about-cloud-contact13 https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2016/11/27/roundup-of-internet-of-things-forecasts-and-market-estimates-2016/#2feb5d27292d

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However, its uses are much more wide ranging; from streamlining operations by automating inventory management, to offering greater connectivity for remote workers who will soon be able to tap into hardware and software in your workspace while on the move, to reducing energy costs and your business’s environmental footprint by tracking and optimising your usage automatically. Much more than a buzzword, the IoT has the capacity to reinvent how we work, but in order to implement it CTOs must carefully evaluate their current telecoms infrastructure and consider two major points: the availability of 5G and the question of net neutrality.

Projected to switch on globally in 2020, the 5G network will have the capacity to transmit data 10 times faster than its predecessor, eradicating latency issues, reducing power consumption and enabling business-wide IoT deployment. Your business’s capability to take advantage of this new generation of networking however will rely on two things: network coverage and your infrastructure. Network coverage lies firmly in the hands of the operators who will likely prioritise the CBD districts of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane14, potentially leaving some organisations to fall behind competitors if key workspaces exist outside of those cities. Infrastructure, however, will fall to CTOs to evaluate and could represent a significant investment if a company wishes to maximise their usage of the network. While devices that come to market around 2019 or 2020 may have inbuilt 5G functionality, those currently in use or purchased previously will almost certainly be impossible to upgrade. Decision makers must carefully consider the true ROI before committing to an organisation-wide hardware overhaul and the hefty bill that will accompany it.

The 5G Network

As telecom providers grapple with delivering 5G and meeting the needs of a digital-first world, their customers are raising the issue of assured network neutrality. While many countries have now taken legal steps to enforce strict compliance, Australia remains an outlier with no legal mandate on the matter. While the broadband market is markedly different in Australia to that of countries with greater need of legislation, and extensive consumer rights laws offer fairly comprehensive protection, industry experts still believe a review of existing regulations is necessary. As content consumption increases some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have already begun to exclude ‘premium content’ from usage plans and shape traffic by limiting their output rates to consumers15. As business uses of the IoT gain precedence, CTOs must consider the impact this lack of regulation could have.

Network Neutrality

14 https://www.finder.com.au/5g15 http://blog.engin.com.au/net-neutrality-and-how-it-may-affect-australia/

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Unique to businesses situated in Australia will be the question of the National Broadband Network (NBN). Despite an ongoing series of business-specific updates to the service16 , many organisations continue to find the network unfit for purpose and more expensive than fixed-line offerings from competitors. With the IoT looming large, ready to dictate the direction of modern enterprise, and NBN leaders seeming decidedly unclear about its place within that sphere, it may become an increasingly unattractive offering for enterprises that will only become less able to afford catastrophic downtime. Notably, though the cut off for copper and cable services has been set for 18 months after NBN deployment, only 44 per cent of homes and businesses in areas that already have access have opted to migrate.17

For some businesses, particularly those in areas with a later roll-out date, delaying migration could be a viable solution, buying organisations time in the hopes of a superior option, such as 5G, becoming available. For others faced with a more immediate decision or those not inclined to gamble on future technologies, important decisions must be made to ensure a smooth transition. Fax machines, EFTPOS machines, security systems and many more commonly used business technologies may encounter compatibility issues as fibre replaces traditional landlines. While in some cases providers may be able to provide adaptors free of charge, for many this will incur significant financial costs as entire technology suites may need to be replaced or adapted. While there are few options for eradicating these costs entirely, by addressing them as early as possible businesses can first factor them into budgets, avoiding surprise deficits further down the line, and then negotiate with current providers and competitors ahead off the cut-off, giving them time to source the best possible solution and avoid panic purchases.

The National Broadband Network

Only 44 per cent of homes and businesses in areas that already have access have opted to migrate

The impact of the digital transformation in telecommunications is already being widely felt in enterprises across Australia and innovation in the sector shows no sign of slowing down with providers keen to diversify their offering as traditional products deliver decreasing revenue and consumer expectations grow.

Businesses now must carefully consider how their adoption of digitally transformed telecom strategy will play out, what their investment will be in terms of both time and money, how far they will stray from their current infrastructure, and which solutions will be the best fit for their needs.

Conclusion

16 https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-releases/enterprise-grade-enhancements.html17 https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/12/nbn-cut-off-date-what-you-need-to-know/

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• According to the World Economic Forum, digitally transformed telecommunications represent $1,280 billion in added value to industry18. With industries such as retail, automotive and electricity already taking advantage, the sooner organisations from other sectors get on board the more they stand to gain.

• Transforming your current telecommunications infrastructure can be a slow and challenging task and the potential for bad investments is vast. To mitigate this CTOs and CIOs must identify organisational needs, audit current assets, and ensure all potential offerings are subjected to rigorous research and analysis.

• In the face of such vast and rapid transformation, large budgets will be required to overhaul entire infrastructures. As-a-service offerings and outsourcing will become essential to catering to modern consumers and workers alike without accruing overwhelming expenses.

Key Takeaways

18 http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/wp-content/blogs.dir/94/mp/files/pages/files/dti-telecommunications-industry-white-paper.pdf

Learn more about Fonebox at www.fonebox.com.au