The digital revolution is upon us, forcing telecommunications companies to rethink their business models so that they can remain competitive in an increasingly demanding market where speed is of the essence. Therefore, we’ve described five new trends that are currently dominating the Telecom industry. 

In this industry, it’s all about implementing the newest technologies. Especially when it comes to 5G (& 6G), Big Data, Internet of Things, edge computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and machine learning. A McKinsey report argues that an industry-wide reinvention is just what’s required, with increased focus on digital solutions over physical assets. Telcos are left with no choice but to digitalize their retail operations to offer their customers an alternative way to shop and purchase hardware and mobile plans. But let’s not forget that a unique understanding of the user experience is necessary, as well as protecting the privacy of customers and ensuring safety. This combination can be a challenge for telcos to handle, and that’s where we come in. Look at how Telia Sweden shifted their stores from offline to online and achieved a 20% conversion rate and how A1 group rolled out a company-wide live engagement strategy with Whisbi. They’ve achieved incredible results by implementing Whisbi Engage and Whisbi Sell. Let’s dive into the differences of these solutions.

Hand in hand with the digital switch Telecommunications companies need to make, goes Virtual Selling – this tool helps you achieve that. According to Forbes, Virtual selling is now fundamental to grow in a market where remote selling is the ‘next normal’ as the coronavirus pandemic has forced over 4 billion consumers, customers, employees, and salespeople to stay at home. With virtual selling, you can transform your sales performance and accelerate growth throughout the company. Properly designed and equipped, virtual selling channels can dramatically improve the coverage, control, and cost effectiveness of your commercial model while offering buyers the speed of response and experiences they demand. Virtual selling goes beyond calling it a ‘trend’, because with this tool you can increase your customer engagement, productivity and speed at lower costs. If you’re interested in knowing more about Virtual Selling, read our dedicated quick-start guide. 

The impact of AI is substantial nowadays, and will continue to grow and be even more influential in the future – especially in telecommunications. The primary focus will be on predictive maintenance and network optimization. Telecommunication trends even push AI-powered tools like chatbots, virtual assistants, and conversational AI to empower the business telephony for deploying satisfactory customer service. Simply put, intelligent AI tools can help evolve the complete customer experience and deliver modern-day enterprise solutions – according to chatbotslife. 

In fact, by 2025, as many as 95% of all customer interactions will be through channels supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technology, according to Servion Global Solutions. And AI-powered chatbots will be a crucial component in helping the next generation of customer experience.

Telecom companies are turning their attention to the metaverse, an immersive virtual world that is yet to fully exist but is seen by some as the future of how we will work, socialize and connect. Customers nowadays feel strongly connected to the digital world, since COVID-19 turned everything upside down. Therefore, telcos will be the entry point for the metaverse in two ways: because of connectivity and customer relations. Customers buy devices, bundle packages and smartphones from telcos and trust them to give some direction into this digital world. The current connectivity (fiber, 5G) is ready for the metaverse and can always be upgraded with edge computing capabilities. In addition to the previous trend, the metaverse is an opportunity to develop new technologies such as new AI capabilities. 

‘The metaverse could push our remote experiences even further by presenting a more immersive world where we connect and telecom companies will be key to this,’ according to Euronews.

Deloitte researched telecom trends in 2022 and discovered that many customers increasingly perceive almost no difference in the performance between their mobile and home WiFi connections. Nevertheless, many millennials are twice as likely to use their mobile data plans than older generations and therefore faster connections create more alternatives and new opportunities for bundles service offerings for providers. Users demand high-quality communication and internet services from telecom operators. They want to be flexible in purchasing and consuming services throughout their service agreements. This trend might also lead to a more competitive environment between different telecom providers. With our Live Commerce solution for Telecommunications, you can sell plans & devices, answer questions and provide support to online customers in real time.