UC Today interview covers how converged contact fits with what customers are asking for in 2022

UC Today editor-in-chief David Dungay interviewed our CEO, Stijn Nijhuis, on Enreach’s vision for converged contact. Stijn described how this fits in with what business users are asking for right now.

For instance, Stijn talked about how businesses have moved from asking for technology solutions — such as PBX replacements — to “How can we collaborate best between employees? Or what complete workspace solution should we use?” As Stijn observes, there is an opportunity for vendors like Enreach and its partners to offer complete solutions and not just one single ingredient.

Similarly, Stijn described that while SMBs may not realise they need a contact centre solution, they do require some of the features if they have customer-facing employees, even if just part-time. In addition, Stijn pointed out the importance of adding full mobile integration into the mix, not just for responding to customers but for all aspects of the working day.

Mobile matters

“Mobile is part of our history. We started branching out into mobile because we saw in the market people who were on the road in their cars and not part of the PBX. Their colleagues could not see if they were busy on a mobile call. We started with that ten years ago.”

Stijn also explained, “You can’t have proper mobile integration that is not properly network-based, with incoming mobile calls captured by the UC service. So there’s a big demand for this spreading throughout Europe. For instance, in Finland, we are offering contact centre solutions integrated with mobile and a large number of agents, many of them working purely on GSM audio calls.”

Stijn also stressed the need to remember the necessity of high-quality connectivity in delivering all this functionality, such as SIP trunking, numbering, broadband services and even integration with productivity tools, such as Microsoft Teams. Said Stijn, “When you are on a Microsoft Teams call and get a call on your mobile, that can be a distraction. We can reroute that incoming native GSM call on your mobile.”

“We can even convert that from a Teams call into an Enreach video call, add in more participants, all without losing the flow of the conversation. So for us, it’s all about moving from device to device to network to network, including the use of your mobile number. We are seeing a big demand for these things, which help make life a lot easier.”

What customers want

David and Stijn also discussed what enterprises are asking for versus SMBs. In the enterprise segment, Enreach is working closely with complementary vendors such as Salesforce and Microsoft, for example, integrating advanced voice capabilities into Dynamics. Conversely, SMBs are looking for a single source who can provide everything, and this is where resellers can play a big role.

David picked up on the channel partner aspect and asked Stijn how Enreach is helping them build extra value. The reply was, “We have always been extremely partner-oriented, and partners drive the majority of our business. Very broadly, we have two types: carrier service provider partners, who can host our software solutions in their own networks and premises. Then there are our reseller partners.”

Stijn emphasised that with Enreach, the reseller owns the customer relationship, which, as David commented, is a hot topic in the industry right now. “It’s written in our contracts that the reseller owns the customer, and we offer white-label options that go beyond anything else in the market: you can customise everything. We are also providing an OSS BSS portal so that resellers can bill our and other solutions directly. We aim to help resellers focus on the customer, sales, support, and we look after everything else.”

What to expect this year

Finally, the conversation turned to what to expect from Enreach this year, particularly around converged contact. Stijn shared that Enreach Contact, its unified communications and contact centre solution, is being rolled out across Europe. In addition, in Spain, Enreach is adding new levels of mobility, including in the contact centre space. These are just a couple of examples because, as Stijn pointed out, “There is almost too much to mention. But in general, we are bringing converged contact solutions into different markets.

“We are also building on top of those, such as advanced AI-based bot solutions. So we’re talking smart voice mail assistance: what if our voice bot could answer another call when you are busy on Teams and say, hey, David is in an interview right now, but if you really need to speak to him, press one and you will still be forwarded to him.”

Stijn commented that this is just one example resulting from all its acquisitions and integrations over the past few years and into 2022. “Every year is exciting for us, but especially this year.”

Watch the video interview below: