What does omnichannel mean in a 5G world for Telecoms

Despite a promising start in the digital age, telecoms still struggle to transform their offerings to fit conversational customer experiences. Today, in an era where modern tech companies try to navigate changing customer expectations, telecoms are no longer perceived as leaders in the digital game.

We sat down with our Head of Global Telecom Growth, Ana Colak, to learn about the impact of 5G technology and how it presents great opportunities for telecoms to deliver enhanced omnichannel customer experiences.

Switching from a multichannel to an omnichannel engagement strategy is not an easy transformation for telecoms. They’re large enterprises with millions of customers and many touchpoints along their customer journey. They’re older organizations, unlike digital natives, and they have a lot of legacy infrastructure – meaning anything that needs to be done must be thought through.

When you add multiple layers of legacy infrastructure and try to switch to omnichannel engagement without any downtime service for customers, the process starts to get a bit complicated to detangle and ultimately slows things down. But with customer demands rapidly shifting, the switch from multichannel to omnichannel will have to happen for telecoms worldwide. It is not impossible because others have successfully done it with the help of a cloud communication solutions provider.

As the new generation of wireless connectivity, 5G will deliver more interactions between people and things. This will happen through virtual reality, augmented reality, digital in-store experiences, telehealth, and other 5G use cases.

However, the test for telecoms will rely on how these 5G use cases will impact the customer experience. Customers will look for the experience more than the actual speed of 5G. Combining the speed and efficiency of 5G technology with a superior customer experience will open the door to quicker omnichannel adoption and accelerate their business strategies. At the end of the day, a great product without a great customer experience is just half a solution.

The most important principle in any omnichannel engagement strategy should always be customer-centricity. Telecoms need to ensure their omnichannel strategy solves their customers’ problems, not just their own. However, there are many other elements to be considered here.

The top four elements of an omnichannel strategy, in my opinion, are:

Understanding technology, managing integration, leading cultural change, adding new channels, and managing data more efficiently are all part of this effort.

Telecoms can personalize their customer engagement by communicating over multiple chat apps and modern channels such as WhatsApp, email, voice, video, RCS, Viber, Google Business Message and many more. Allowing customers to engage and interact with you quickly and seamlessly through multiple digital channels will increase their satisfaction and enhance the overall brand experience.

Another example is using a cloud contact center solution that enables customers to switch channels to receive faster responses and decrease call waiting time. And through a consistent data flow, agents will have access to the entire conversation history without having to ask customers to repeat themselves.

So, whether they’re looking for self-service through chatbots or more of a conversational approach with a live agent, a cloud contact center allows customers to choose a channel based on their personal preferences. Being there for your customers and meeting their expectations is what truly defines customer-centricity.

5G is a game-changer for telecoms, but it must be paired with a superior technology partner.

Infobip’s technology can help telecoms drive growth in two key ways:

Whether you’re looking for a customer or partner relationship, Infobip will be your expert guide in getting you closer to your customers and helping you deliver an exceptional digital experience.