Unifying your business communications is more important than ever before. With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting working practices, and telecommunications services providers such as Telstra beginning to disconnect older technologies such as ISDN services in Australia, many businesses may be thinking about migrating to a scalable unified communications solution in order to remain connected.

It is expected that cloud communication solutions will replace services such as ISDN, offering significant savings and flexibility for businesses. Voice services will be easier to manage remotely, and the same communications can be deployed across multiple locations for greater integration and resilience. Connecting through the cloud, rather than physical phone lines, frees employees to work remotely. Cloud solutions also allow for omnichannel communications, which are particularly important for businesses as customers increasingly expect to be able to contact companies by a variety of methods.

What is ISDN and why is it being shut down?

The first telephone networks, built in the 19th century, were made of copper phone lines that sent voice data. This technology makes up the public switched telephone network (PSTN), which has been used ever since. The integrated services digital network (ISDN) uses these copper wires to digitally transmit voice and data.

In Australia, the National Broadband Network (nbn™) is superseding older technology such as ISDN. The nbn™ is a nationwide project funded by the Federal Government. The project aims to provide every home and business with fast and reliable internet with the intention that any new telephone networks will now be IP (internet protocol) based. While this means that traditional devices that do not support IP services will not be compatible, there are many benefits to embracing this new technology. Similar initiatives are taking place around the world.

Will my business need to change phone system, and what are the options?

Businesses with ISDN phone systems will need to make some changes, but these needn’t be drastic. In fact, the shutdown can be seen as an opportunity to upgrade organisational communications and save money at the same time. A transition to next-generation communications has the potential to increase flexibility as well as introduce greater functionality.

Many existing phone systems are compatible with SIP (session initiation protocol) solutions, which also allow organisations to add lines as required without the need for additional infrastructure. SIP channels, sometimes called SIP trunking, are easy to set up: the only requirement is a reliable internet connection with the bandwidth to support voice services, creating a virtual telephone line. A hosted IP phone system is a commitment-free alternative to an on-premise phone system. These solutions use an internet connection to provide the usual functionality of a phone system, without the maintenance charges associated with an on-premise system.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol) systems are hosted in the cloud, and are easy to install and maintain as they don’t require physical hardware. These systems use the internet to carry voice data, without on-premise equipment. VoIP doesn’t even require physical phones: softphones can transform a computer into a phone using software.

Future proof your business

While moving your communications to an entirely new solution may sound daunting, the benefits well outweigh any short term (and mild) inconvenience. Modern voice technology like SIP and VoIP can offer huge savings, as well as greater flexibility, scalability, portability, and security. Soft clients on devices enable workers to take all the capabilities of the office with them, wherever they go. Where traditional phone lines required installation in new locations, with IP-based services telephone lines can be easily added and removed, and can be of a higher quality. This future-proofs businesses for any growth, as handsets and portable devices can be connected instantly.

VoIP systems enable mobility through single number reach, allowing users to be reached on one number across multiple devices. VoIP can also incorporate a range of communication methods, such as video conferencing, email, and instant messaging into one solution. This consolidation of communication is referred to as unified communications (UC). Unified communications can bring cost savings and facilitate increased productivity, with users able to work from any location with an internet connection.

VoIP also provides greater potential for business continuity, as it’s not tied to any on-premise hardware. Calls can be diverted easily between locations in case sites are unreachable. UC that is completely hosted in the cloud is referred to as unified communications as a service (UCaaS). A whole range of communication and collaboration applications and services can be deployed through the cloud, and consolidating these services can often simplify billing into a fixed package; making costs more predictable.

To find out more about the kinds of services we offer that can be integrated into a UCaaS solution, get in touch with a member of our team today.

Guest blog written by Mikka Hendra

The current global challenges put a spotlight on IT and IT services – like cloud, Unified Communications, Call Recording, anything and everything surrounding the dramatic movement of staff to home working environments.

While our team is so grateful to be healthy and still able to work, their new challenges have become convincing the kids not to use up the household WiFi downloads for TikTok and Tiger King and remembering they only dressed their upper half for Webex Calls!

Dubber continues to work around the clock to accelerate the global movement to #WorkingFromHome. However despite this global movement, our staff found themselves struggling with basic physical movement besides moving themselves to the fridge and back, while WFH.

The Management team saw an opportunity to optimise the way we worked in these new times and decided to create the Dubber Wellness Hub | Supporting physical distancing, social connection + positive WFH lifestyles.

The Hub was built and rolled out to our workforce as a social health and wellness Hub providing our team with a means for connection, mental health support and resources, general ISO tips, tricks and ideas during physical distancing for COVID-19.

This initiative saw the creation of the Dubber Wellness schedule which includes daily Webex chats by the “office e-water cooler”, online fortnightly health coach wellness coach tips with Jessica Duchesne, UberEats vouchers for a fortnightly team lunch via video, team meditation facilitated by “conscious comedian” Jeremy Carne and after checking on the corporate insurance policy, guided yoga and fitness classes by yours truly.

Along with wellness, we started a weekly themed ‘Bad Fashion Fridays’ competition, dressed in our fashion fails for the day’s video conference meetings. The team look forward to ending the week with some humour at their co-workers expense, before recapping on our Friday Happy Hour chat.

With a new focus on nurturing our teams mental and physical health from a distance, we feel our workforce is becoming closer and more productive than ever and encourage any workplaces still able to work, to rethink how your team connects during this time.

Advances in technology have facilitated a whole host of business developments, increasing efficiency and driving productivity across a variety of industries. But the benefits of such technological improvements are mostly confined to large enterprises who are able to invest in new solutions. Often small businesses face insurmountable barriers to adopting new technology, such as lack of resources, difficulty or reluctance to move away from legacy solutions, and worries about maintaining business continuity.

Future-proofing with the cloud

For service providers and value-added resellers (VARs), the small and medium business (SMB) market can be easy to neglect when faced with obstacles that prevent them from adopting new technology. However, the cloud is providing solutions that can help service providers and VARs to access this market and open up a whole new range of customers. The flexibility and accessibility of cloud solutions break down the obstacles that previously prevented small businesses from adopting new technology. Employees have grown accustomed to using the cloud in everyday life and they now expect to at work, so a move to the cloud is no longer such a daunting prospect.

Resources

Before the advent of the cloud, adopting new technology required not just a financial investment but allocation of other resources including time, trained staff, and physical space. Moving to a new solution meant investing in new hardware and software, along with installation. Deploying new technology often requires a lengthy installation process, along with specially trained staff, ongoing maintenance, and the physical space required to store any hardware such as servers.

Cloud software as a service (SaaS) solutions break down these barriers, allowing service providers and VARs to offer products and services on tailored monthly subscription plans that require no upfront investment from SMBs. Even traditional software companies like Microsoft now offer packages such as their Office product suite as SaaS. Where customers would once have bought a CD to install each new version on their computer, cloud versions can apply updates automatically and are transferable between devices. Cloud solutions require no hardware, meaning no need for specially trained staff, maintenance or storage space. Businesses can also start using the services immediately with no delays created by installation processes.

Legacy solutions

Although small businesses are known for their agility, when it comes to adopting new technology they may be unwilling to move to a different service if they have previously invested heavily in a legacy solution. Service providers and VARs could offer a compromise with a solution that enhances what they already have, without requiring a complete overhaul.

Business continuity

There are often worries about business continuity when considering adopting new technology. Cloud solutions often facilitate a smooth transition, with much shorter implementation periods and open APIs allowing integration with existing systems.

Dubber and the cloud

Dubber call recording and voice AI are great examples of how the cloud can help small businesses adopt new technology. Our services are all available on a monthly subscription, with no upfront investment, hardware, or trained staff required. We connect directly to the network to capture voice data, so businesses do not need to install any equipment on premise or worry about maintenance or storage space. We understand that businesses may not want to part with expensive legacy equipment and so we also work with businesses who want to keep their on-premise solutions, extracting the voice data for transcription and analytics. Our open API allows companies to integrate call data into their existing systems, ensuring business processes continue to run smoothly.

The fifth, and final, instalment of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series explores what telecommunication service providers need to do in order to provide for the new digital workforce. Part one of the series gave an overview of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, part two looked at intuitive networks and how 5G and cloud technology fit into developments in the telecommunications industry, part three examined the growing importance of diversity in telecommunications product offerings, and part four examined the evolving expectations of customers.

The digital workforce is a manifestation of automated solutions, in various stages of development, that are currently driving productivity in the workforce. Integrations that share data across business tools are making workers and business processes more efficient, allowing employees to focus on more valuable activities. Over the next few years, enterprises will be increasingly deploying efficiency solutions driven by automation in order to improve the quality and productivity of their operational, back office, and customer service processes. Telecommunication service providers need to ensure they are meeting the expectations of modern businesses with their offerings, or they may be faced with increased risk of customer churn.

The connected workforce

Connectivity is steadily increasing due to innovation within the telecommunications industry, such as fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). You can read more about FMC in our white paper. However, digital players are making their way into the marketplace and disrupting the industry with rapid digital innovation. These agile disruptors are unpredictable and aren’t restricted by the legacy infrastructure and long development cycles that can hold traditional telecommunication service providers back from innovation. Digital services can often offer more opportunities for integration with existing systems, as well as better connectivity. Telecommunications service providers will need to innovate to compete with these digital players.

Alternative innovation

Innovation in the telecommunication industry has traditionally been characterised by staged developments that span multiple years. In order to compete with digital players and develop new products and services that can be deployed at scale, providers will need to review their innovation strategies. The World Economic Forum has discussed a recent trend towards innovation approaches that focus on collaboration, and the positive impact on growth that this achieves. Gone are the days of focusing on the ownership rights to intellectual property: the main focus in the future should be putting customers first. This is vital to obtaining a share of the market. These kinds of open innovation models allow external parties to contribute to the development of products and services, often achieving development at a scale that goes beyond the sum of its parts. Telecommunications companies have successfully nurtured a “sandbox” innovation approach that allows their research and development teams to work autonomously: giving them greater freedom for innovation.

Harnessing data

Data is increasingly being used to solve business problems and increase productivity within organisations. According to a 2019 report¹, data science expertise is now a highly sought-after skill. Telecommunications service providers have a key role to fill in harnessing the vast amounts of conversational data held within our communications. With access to this valuable information, data scientists will be able to analyse and identify data trends, as well as problems that can be solved, through artificial intelligence.

Our Fourth Industrial Revolution series has shown that the telecommunications industry has a key role to play in shaping the way we communicate, collaborate, and consume. With developments in networks and product offerings, service providers can capitalise on the evolving expectations of customers and stay ahead of the competition. New methods of innovation can help them to compete with digital players, and their customer bases can provide them with the data they need to provide personalised offerings that will reduce churn and help with customer acquisition.

¹Firebrand, Vitamin T & Aquent (2019) Transformation of the Digital Workforce: 2019 Report. Australia.

Our cloud call recording is now available for immediate signup for all customers on the Sprint^® Smart UC service. With 53.9 million connections, that’s a huge number of users who can start to reap the benefits of recording their calls in the cloud.

The cloud-based unified communications (UC) service eliminates the need for traditional on-premise equipment and capital expenditure for business customers and so is a natural fit for our software as a service (SaaS) products. Their affordable unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solution allows users to combine their business phones and collaboration apps in one UC service. The solution helps to improve productivity by amalgamating carrier grade voice services with high definition video, desktop sharing, instant messaging and email.

Just as our cloud call recording is designed with small businesses in mind, Sprint^® Smart also offers a service that is perfect for small and medium enterprises. As a cloud service, the need for upfront investment in on-premise hardware provides flexibility for businesses. Users can be added and removed on a monthly basis, through an easy-to-use online portal, and our call recording services can be added and adjusted in the same way.

Dubber call recording, as standard

With our cloud call recording available as a standard value-added business feature for all Smart UC customers, our CEO Steve McGovern commented: ‘We are very proud to be working with Sprint, a globally recognised leader in the telecommunications industry.” You can read more from Steve in the full ASX announcement below.

To find out how to add value to your business with call recording, speak to a member of our team today.

The fourth instalment of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series explores the evolving expectations of customers and how digital experiences will change over time. Part one of the series introduced the Fourth Industrial Revolution, part two examined intuitive networks and the future of cloud and 5G technology within the telecommunications industry, and part three investigated how telecommunications service providers will need to diversify their offerings in order to stand out from the competition.

Customer expectations have evolved alongside the development of technology, as businesses digitally enhance the customer experience. The high quality service and convenience afforded by technology is now seen as standard by consumers, who are demanding personalised services on demand. They are also expecting a seamless experience across channels, with hassle-free payment and deployment options.

Customer expectations within telecommunications

The telecommunications industry is plagued by customer churn and the costs associated with acquiring new customers. Encouraging customer loyalty is a great way to increase revenue, so telecommunications service providers will need to look for new and innovative ways to retain customers. This may require service providers to reassessing the expectations of their customers and developing digital tools in order to better support the customer journey at every stage and enhance their overall experience.

Telecommunications service providers are well placed to deliver personalised products and services to their users chiefly due to the amount of data they have. New technologies will enable companies to deliver these at scales previously impossible or unimaginable. Smart algorithms will be able to analyse customer data in real time to deliver personalised products and services to entire customer bases at once. We are already seeing this customisation with TV streaming services that learn from user behaviour. In the future, this personalisation will be automatically created using artificial intelligence, and a mix of predictive analytics and real time data.

Customer service is key

Peer recommendations are becoming increasingly important in the decision-making process, even more so than media product reviews. Negative reviews tend to reach a larger audience than positive reviews, meaning high quality products and excellent customer service are more important than ever. 61% of customers switched providers due to disappointing customer service, according to a recent study by Accenture.

Personalised experiences have been shown to engage customers, and the telecommunications industry should be asking how it can deliver such experiences to all users. This could be customising bandwidth supply according to a user’s individual data usage to meet a particular price point, or through the delivery of digital services and applications that have been personalised to each user such as telecommunications or utility providers offering plans to customers based on their usage. Reactivity and agility will be important qualities in the race to keep up with an evolving digital environment and changing customer expectations.

An improved and efficient customer experience

Digital tools will not only help telecommunications service providers to create personalised customer experiences, they can also help to reduce costs and grow revenue. Increased customer engagement reduces churn¹; lowering the need for hefty spend on customer acquisition and marketing. Targeted offers including cross selling and/or bundling that appeal to the specific needs of customers should increase customer revenue and loyalty.

Customers expect to be able to find the information they need to make an informed decision when purchasing a new product or service. With more intelligent business communications solutions, customers should be directed to the department or information they need faster — increasing first call resolution and reducing customer service costs. This is significant when customer service can account for up to 10% of total operating costs. A report by the World Economic Forum has predicted that such a reduction in customer services and marketing costs, and the associated IT expenditure, could generate up to $18 billion in additional operating profits by 2025.

In the fifth and final part of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series we will explore what telecommunication service providers need to do in order to provide for the new digital workforce.

¹ Del Rowe, S. (2019) ‘Vertafore Ensures Great CX with NewVoiceMedia’, Customer Relationship Management, June, p34.

The digital workforce is an increasing reality for enterprises, and now is the time to move from on-premise unified communications solutions to cloud-based UCaaS. Future cloud unified communications offerings will have enhanced features, including dashboards and analytics.

No more being tied down

According to Gartner, by 2021 90% of IT leaders will not purchase new on-premise unified communications infrastructure¹. With UCaaS solutions providing the same, or better, functionality; such as voice, meeting and messaging services, as well as unified clients and integrations, the only change is the delivery method. Cloud deployments of communications services removes the need for on-premise equipment, and the associated investment of time and money required.

Our call recording and voice AI services are designed to integrate with UCaaS solutions, while our cloud platform has been specifically architectured in order to provide secure, scalable storage that is flexible enough to adapt to the needs of an enterprise.

Digital transformation and disruption

Moving to the cloud is a huge step on the journey to digital transformation. By removing the restrictions of physical hardware, enterprises increase their potential to disrupt their industries and expand their horizons. Cloud communications enable expansion; not just in size, but also in location. Cloud storage can scale alongside the growth of an organisation, with no worries of ever running out of space, while deployment through global data centres means new locations can be added easily.

The cloud also facilitates agility: with a faster speed of innovation, businesses are able to quickly react to trends and capitalise on new opportunities with faster deployment of communication services.

Relief from app overload

With our open API, data from recorded calls can be integrated into business tools. It’s even possible to manage our services through existing systems, meaning one less application open on a desktop. Visit our API page to find further information on what our API can do.

If you want to learn more about how a move to the cloud can help your business get ahead of the competition, get in touch with one of our team.

Sources

¹Gartner (2018) Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service Worldwide.

The third part of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series investigates the ways in which telecommunications service providers will expand their offering beyond phone calls. Part one was an introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, describing the latest wave of digital development; and part two explored intuitive networks and the ways in which cloud technology and 5G will transform telecommunications.

Telecommunications service providers have already adapted to changing consumer demand, adjusting their revenue streams in order to succeed in an evolving marketplace. Data has been important, and a further shift to an internet-based business model will be an opportunity for future revenue growth through the currency of data. The internet of things (IoT) will be a key part of this strategy, with the deployment of sensors, and the potential of analytics and machine a significant revenue opportunity.

New revenue streams

How we work and communicate will be shaped by forward-thinking service providers who provide new services at a low connection cost. Telecommunications service providers are at a significant advantage, due to their existing connectivity and subscriber base. More subscribers mean more data, and those with the analytical capabilities will be able to harness the value held within this data. The telecommunications operators who will succeed will be those with expanded offerings that include cloud-based services such as analytics, system integrations, and APIs that can compete in a crowded marketplace. Their competition will be technology companies and agile startups, so innovation will be key. Service providers will need to ensure that they are not held back by legacy processes, as quick reactions will be vital. Radical change may be in order at board and CEO levels to capitalise on the huge potential for revenue.

Possible areas for development by telecommunications service providers include video and entertainment services, on-demand information services such as maps or booking, retail, mobile financial services, and virtual care provision services for healthcare providers. It is predicted that these new revenue streams could generate up to $142 billion over the next decade and could contribute 15% of total revenue by 2025. New opportunities will also be available in existing spheres covered by telecommunication service providers, such as information security, enterprise mobility management, unified communications, cloud services, and analytics. These areas on their own could contribute an additional $48 billion in profits for network operators and equipment suppliers. These new revenue streams will also create new jobs in order to support service delivery across consumer and enterprise applications.

Disrupting the industry

In order to meet new consumer demand and cement their place in the market, telecommunications service providers will need to recruit digitally-minded workers with implementation knowledge who can drive innovation. Competition will be fierce, and it is predicted that acquisitions and partnerships will be key to driving growth and establishing a place in the market. Scalability will be key for platforms, as well as the integration of front and back end systems, in order to offer a range of products and services to consumers.

With existing infrastructure already in place, telecommunications service providers are well-placed to offer a range of technology-based services to compete with digital service providers. This infrastructure will allow them to disrupt other industries. In a recent survey across global operators, almost a quarter of companies reported that they expect digital services across consumer and enterprise applications to account for more than 25% of total revenues by 2020. The development of new services that are relevant to users will improve customer service, a desirable outcome considering even a 0.5-1% reduction in churn annually has the potential to generate up to $10.3 billion over the next decade. By prioritising customer convenience and value creation, service providers could drive up to $170 billion through time and cost savings for their customers

Environmental impact

The potential travel reduction brought about by these new digital services could see a decrease in carbon emissions of more than 80 million tonnes. Virtual healthcare alone could reduce emissions by 63 million tonnes by allowing patients to speak to doctors in the comfort of their own homes.

Emerging technologies

Technological developments such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have the potential to change how we communicate with not just each other but the world around us. They could even herald new devices. By 2030, the PC will be 50-years-old and the smartphone almost 15: the future could hold new communication devices and see a move away from screens. A focus on emerging technologies can capture significant value. AR and VR could reshape the ways we receive medical care or go shopping, and confidence in these technologies is already strong, with funding deals for AR and VR reaching $1.1 billion as far back as 2016. Applications of these technologies will be much more varied than their existing use in gaming, with a variety of commercial and industrial applications including healthcare, retail, logistics, real estate, manufacturing, security, training, and data analysis. AR and VR have the potential to evolve how people communicate, learn, work, and consume.

In the fourth part of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series we will explore the future of customer retention; looking at the evolving expectations of customers and the ways in which digital experiences will change over time.

The second part of our Fourth Industrial Revolution series explores how networks are expected to evolve in the future. You can read our introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution here.

Telecommunication networks are vast physical structures that perform diverse functionality in a way that must conform to regulatory restrictions. The industry is constantly adapting to developments in technology and evolving business models and the rate of change that they must keep up with is increasing.

Cloud technology

Advances in digital and cloud capabilities are expected to transform networks, moving away from expensive hardware to innovative software that can increase reliability and flexibility. These software solutions will have API-based interfaces and will be deployable across affordable, general-purpose hardware platforms. Cloud technology, such as software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualisation (NFV) are leading this network evolution, as they allow telecommunication service providers to manipulate the network on demand.

AT&T are pioneering the adoption of SDN and NFV, setting a target of 75% of the AT&T network based on SDN and NFV technologies by 2020. It is expected that other carriers will follow AT&T’s lead and that SDN and NFV could be worth a total of $220 billion for network operators and equipment providers over the next decade. At Cox Communications, Executive Director of Advanced Technology Jeff Finkelstein said the proliferation of IoT connectivity will continue to drive cable network demand, which is increasing at an annual rate of 53 percent. He sees the only way to manage that growth is to capitalize on technologies including SDN and NFV.

Cloud technologies applied to network infrastructure will allow network operators to reduce their spending, particularly on energy. This could result in a positive change for the environment, with a switch to new technologies predicted to save more than 180 million tonnes of potential CO2 emissions.

5G

The 5G network is key to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Already being rolled out to certain cities and locations such as Gatwick airport in the UK, 5G uses high-frequency radio spectrum but will need lower band airwaves outside of urban areas. Service providers will need to ensure that they can provide the network across the spectrum in order to reach a larger market. 5G is characterised by low-latency: meaning there is minimal delay in the processing of data. This allows it to support operations that require near real-time access to rapidly changing data. 5G will allow the commercialisation of technology such as the internet of things, virtual and augmented reality and autonomous transportation, as well as evolving industries from television broadcasting to agriculture.

Intuitive networks

Understanding network workloads and how to allocate infrastructure accordingly is another way in which networks will be transformed. As networking evolves, machine learning technologies have the potential to create networks that are self-sufficient. This technology would mean that networks could identify errors and issues and fix problems before they affect communications. These intuitive networks will be able to automatically adjust bandwidth provisions depending on requirements.

Driven by artificial intelligence, intuitive networks collect data from points throughout the network; including end user smartphones, switches, WAN routers and cloud servers. This data can be used to understand how the network is being used, giving network engineers the information they need to do their job more efficiently.

Evolved networks will make provisioning quicker and easier, with agile delivery allowing staff more time to work on other advancements as less time is required to be spent on routine network management. Networks will also have much greater scalability; meeting traffic demands as they fluctuate over time. With intuitive networks, business continuity and disaster recovery are also improved. As networks are able to identify issues, traffic can be rerouted in order to reduce downtime, reducing customer churn due to increased satisfaction through more consistent levels of service.

Dubber’s native cloud products have been designed to take their place in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Built natively in the cloud, Dubber solutions are already offering the cost and energy saving benefits of a software-as-a-service model. With no on-premise equipment the costs of running server rooms, as well as the energy consumption associated with powering them, are removed. By eliminating the hardware requirements of legacy solutions, we are able to offer a service that can scale to meet demand: without restrictions. In this way, our platform is prepared for a future where communications solutions automatically scale depending on requirements.

In part three of the Fourth Industrial Revolution series we’ll look at the world of communications beyond phone calls and the new digital communication methods and extended revenue streams that will be available in the future.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a wave of digital development that encompasses our physical surroundings. Where the First Industrial Revolution used steam power to transform manufacturing and travel, the Second used electric power to enable mass-production, and the Third used technology to automate processes, the Fourth uses emerging technology including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and quantum computing.

This series will give a general overview of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with future pieces discussing what this will mean for networks, telecommunications, customer service, and the workforce.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and business

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to generate income and improve quality of life through new products and services that increase efficiency and make our lives easier. It is predicted that logistics and global supply chains will improve, reducing the cost of transportation and communication and the overall cost of trade: resulting in new markets and economic growth.

Market disruption will be driven by agile players who can offer better quality, experience, speed, or price options thanks to improvements in technology. We have already seen how technology is creating new ways to consume goods and services via smartphones. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will affect customer expectations, as well as product and business development.

Artificial intelligence

AI is fast becoming a part of everyday life. Self-driving cars are being developed, while drones and virtual assistants are now commonplace. AI technology is being driven by the availability of vast amounts of data, something that has fuelled the development of our own AI technology. We developed Dubber AI to allow everyone, not just big businesses, to gain insight from their calls, and ultimately make their lives easier. With AI, businesses can identify common problems and resolve complaints to improve customer loyalty, while people in their everyday lives can use call transcripts to remember important details. Other technology companies, such as IBM, are using AI to improve everything from healthcare to Wimbledon.

Telecommunications developments

The telecommunications industry will be at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as a driver of global digital transformation. Investment in technology and interoperability has enabled the flow of data and the creation of new business models across industries. A globally connected network empowers millions of people around the world by giving them access to information and marketplaces.

Data will soon become a commodity such as electricity and telecommunications service providers will need to create an offering that prioritises customer experience in order to succeed. They are uniquely placed to offer a personalised customer experience that extends revenue streams beyond connectivity, through integrated IoT solutions and new communications technologies that leverage developments in augmented and virtual reality. Networks will also evolve from on-premise equipment to an era of software systems.

Competitive advantage will be achieved through the ability to collect data and create new outcomes or experiences for end users. Telecommunications service providers who offer enterprises a variety of data-driven use cases will add value to their offerings and ultimately their customers. 2020 sees 44 zettabytes (44 trillion GB) of annual data flow, 40% of which will be stored or processed in the cloud.

In part two of the Fourth Industrial Revolution series we’ll look at how intuitive networks will create value for customers through flexible services, faster routes to market, and improved user experience.