Introducing Converged Contact Solutions – the why and the how

I am delighted to be able to share with you something we at Enreach believe has the power to transform the way people communicate, collaborate and work: Converged Contact Solutions, which creates exciting new market opportunities for our partners and benefits for end-users. 

Before I describe this in more detail, let’s look at the world of communications today to understand why it is needed. Today’s world is full of multiple forms of contact, all existing as separate islands. Rather than being helpful, often all that technology obstructs meaningful human contact and becomes overwhelming. Technology may have become cleverer over the years, but not necessarily simpler.  

Now, imagine if all those stand-alone ways of contact – fixed voice, mobile, video, chat, email, SMS, social channels – could be integrated into one easy, user-controlled, context-based and flexible environment. Benefits include more effortless, natural interaction between everyone.  

Digital and physical barriers are broken down (so that collaboration is even better than before) and people can focus on meaningful conversations with colleagues or customers. Technology starts to work for people, effortlessly and invisibly. Identities can be seamlessly managed across locations, devices, networks and applications, with users setting their reachability for better control over the day.  

In practice, Converged Contact Solutions blend communications, productivity tools, CRMs, contact centre functionality, marketing automation, conversational voice, intelligent bot technology, and more.  

The bridge between IT and comms has been created so that users can enjoy one seamless technology experience. Also, a ‘mobile-first’ approach is central to Enreach’s strategy, giving people the freedom to work better from anywhere, at any time. In other words, we have combined all the expertise and experience within the Enreach family to converge our contact solutions. 

Perhaps the best way to illustrate our Converged Contact Solutions is with an example. You are in a Microsoft Teams meeting, and because the system knows that, all calls from any of your devices are automatically routed to voice mail. Or, the system knows that the call is from a customer and routes it to a colleague. As a result, you are not distracted, and the customer is satisfied. Switching between contact channels is easy too. For example, an online chat can be turned into a voice call, then into video, with the entire conversation captured in a centralised workflow.  

Managing reachability to achieve better work-life flow without compromising business performance is a significant part of Converged Contact Solutions. For instance, on the way home on the train, with a few loose ends to still tie up before the end of the workday, you call a customer from your mobile phone using your office extension. Next, you call a colleague just using your business mobile ID. Third, you call your partner to say you will be home in half an hour. Finally, when you reach home, all incoming work calls are routed to voicemail or a team member while personal calls are still sent to you, meaning more focus on family time. 

We believe that Enreach is uniquely positioned to lead Converged Contact Solutions in Europe. For instance, apart from having some of the industry’s best technologies and brains, our ‘buy and build’ strategy is proving hugely successful. Furthermore, we can bring innovations to market fast through a combination of modern methodologies and our rapid development platform. We also have local market expertise and boots on the ground that far outweigh any of the competition and are good news for both the channel and end-users.  

Importantly, our commitment to our partners and the range of tools we can provide to them is unrivalled, enabling them to own and focus on building customer relationships, customising solutions and creating new revenue opportunities. In addition, as context is an essential part of our Converged Contact Solutions we integrate with third-party apps (and our own) to integrate for customised workflows.   

Far from just being an idea on a Powerpoint somewhere, Converged Contact Solutions are already being delivered by us, with the first steps being rolled out to customers and partners in Europe. We are excited to bring a world of technology that exceeds expectations and provides a better way to live and work for everyone. Goodbye, Unified Communications only. Welcome to Converged Contact Solutions, the future that is already here. 

This article was published on Telecom Reseller.