As more and more consumers use social media for business communications, unified communications (UC) vendors worldwide are integrating social features into their enterprise solutions.
This is according to market analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, which notes that this global trend is slowly, but surely, influencing businesses in SA and Kenya - the most technologically advanced countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
While increasing awareness of social media's benefits is changing the way businesses view social media in both countries, says Frost & Sullivan, growth in this nascent market is restrained by limited awareness, security concerns, lack of bandwidth, strained budgets and existing legacy systems.
In its analysis, titled “Social Media and Unified Communications Market in South Africa and Kenya”, Frost & Sullivan finds that, in most developed countries, social customer relationship management (CRM) tools have been deployed in enterprises and hosted contact centres. This trend will have a significant impact in SA and Kenya in the next seven years, the firm predicts.
The report notes that the impact of social media applications, such as Facebook and Twitter, on UC is mainly observed in the contact centre space. Most hosted contact centres are likely to roll out social CRM tools as a competitive edge over rivals.
“This situation has slowly started to change, as some contact centres have deployed these solutions to serve consumers who have been demanding communication channels other than voice.”
For instance, he explains, consumers have been using social platforms to lodge complaints to their service provider's contact centre.
With the government and other public entities in both countries expected to install advanced technologies, such as social CRM tools for their contact centres, Miemoukanda notes, the market will receive a much-needed boost.
“In fact, the awareness about the potential of social media, and the necessity to engage with it, is just emerging in the corporate segment,” Miemoukanda explains.
“This deficiency of awareness about the benefits of social media has translated into a lack of social media strategies for enterprises. Therefore, the challenge faced by vendors is to convince enterprises that social media can help improve or grow their business.”
He, therefore, urges UC vendors to educate businesses about the benefits of deploying social CRM tools in their contact centres.
“Developing affordable social media solutions that are interoperable with legacy infrastructure will also lower barriers to entry. A possible option is offering these solutions over the cloud to enable cash-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises to access them on a pay-per-use basis.”
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