Insights

Cisco, Telesign, CasselRoad Consulting and XConnect Explore the Future of Rich Business Messaging

Oct 15, 2024

The 2024 Somos Summit in Las Vegas gathered industry leaders and innovators to discuss the future of telecommunications, fraud prevention and secure communications. This year’s event was filled with enlightening sessions and interactive discussions, including the need for collaboration to enhance multichannel customer engagement.

Somos’ SVP & CBDO, Dave Stewart moderated the panel "Securing the Future: Enhancing Multichannel Customer Engagement," featuring Bruce Bales, Sr. Director, CPaaS Messaging Business at Cisco, Shannon Donohue, VP, Messaging Operations & Global Connectivity at Telesign, Eli Katz, Founder & CEO at XConnect and TJ Thinakaran, CEO at CasselRoad Consulting. The discussion centered on the opportunities and challenges of adopting new communication standards like Rich Communication Services (RCS) and its application through Rich Business Messaging (RBM), which allows businesses to engage customers with more interactive, branded and secure messaging.

The panelists emphasized that while the promise of RBM is significant — with enhanced features like read receipts, verified sender information and multimedia support — it comes with challenges in adoption and security. Shannon Donohue highlighted the need for balancing innovation with security, stressing that the fragmented landscape of RCS requires the industry to focus on creating a seamless yet secure experience for consumers. This sentiment was echoed by TJ Thinakaran, who noted that RBM has the potential to transform business-customer interactions but requires a shift in mindset from traditional SMS.

Bruce Bales pointed out that despite the hurdles, RBM is now gaining momentum, particularly with recent advancements like Apple’s adoption of RCS in iOS 18. He encouraged businesses to start with simpler use cases, such as branded messaging, to build familiarity with the technology while exploring more complex applications over time. Eli Katz emphasized the significance of trust in these new communication channels, noting that RBM’s ability to provide verified sender information — symbolized by a green tick — can help restore trust in messaging that has been eroded over years of spam and fraudulent activities.

The panel also touched on the global state of RBM adoption, with insights into why North America has lagged behind other regions like Brazil and Europe. However, they expressed optimism that upcoming technological shifts would help close this gap. Eli and Shannon stressed that RBM’s success hinges on creating scalable, standardized processes for verifying business identities and ensuring the authenticity of their communications. This approach would help maintain the integrity of the channels and foster broader adoption by giving businesses and consumers confidence in the messages they receive.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) also emerged as a key topic, with Shannon noting that AI can both enhance customer engagement and pose new challenges by enabling more sophisticated fraud. She highlighted the importance of educating users to discern genuine interactions from fraudulent ones. TJ and Bruce discussed AI’s potential to personalize interactions through context-aware responses, helping businesses deliver tailored experiences while maintaining trust.

The panel concluded with a call to action for industry collaboration. As new channels like RBM continue to grow, they emphasized the need for a neutral, trusted body to develop best practices and standards, ensuring these channels remain secure and effective. They stressed that while the path forward is complex, the opportunities for transforming customer engagement are substantial, and success will depend on the industry's willingness to work together.

Key Takeaways:

• RBM as a Game-Changer for Customer Engagement: RBM enables richer, more interactive communication between businesses and customers, with features like verified sender information providing a new level of trust.

• Balancing Innovation with Security: Effective adoption of RBM requires addressing security challenges and ensuring that businesses can seamlessly integrate verification processes to maintain trust.

• AI’s Role in Personalizing Engagement: AI has the potential to significantly enhance RBM by providing context-aware interactions, though it also introduces new risks that need to be managed through education and robust verification frameworks.
  

To learn more about the 2024 Somos Summit and to gain access to on-demand recordings, visit www.somos.com/summit