Instant Messaging is real-time communication between two or more users, which is taking over the world at a fast pace. It’s a transformative technology that has revolutionized the way individuals and businesses communicate in today’s dynamic world. This technology affects Mobile VoIP Business in a significant way as well. Integration of Instant Messaging to your Mobile VoIP Business can bring a multitude of advantages such as attracting more users and scaling up.
While mobile phones have always been a great mode to talk to people, recently talking over the phone is losing its popularity. This is because of the alternative available in the form of instant messaging.
In a survey conducted by Harvard Business Review, 40% of respondents stated that customer experience is their top priority for digital transformation – which can be achieved by bridging communication gaps and reducing response time.
“72% of respondents in the survey also claimed that digitalization through real-time chat offers new opportunities to ensure better relationships with customers”.
Another study conducted by Drift said that businesses that did not use real-time chat applications lost several potential customers. The study also noted that response times impact lead generation eventually, a decline in the sales ratio.
The growing popularity of Instant Messaging owes mainly to the increasing access to smartphone devices across the world. People today prefer to text rather than talk and they surely want an instant method of communication. This is where Instant Messaging fits in perfectly. With Instant Messengers, people can communicate with their near and dear ones from anywhere, without fearing high call and SMS rates for international numbers. Lately, some researchers predicted that Instant Messaging will replace voice calls and SMS, and will become the most prominent mode of communication shortly.
Today’s Instant Messaging solutions are feature-rich and blend well with unified communication suites. These include group chat, conferencing, voice, video, deep integration with group collaboration suites, and a lot more.
Some Important Instant Messaging Statistics
The telecommunication industry has seen major developments in recent years. According to the latest data from GSMA Intelligence, there are 5.15 billion unique mobile phone users in the world today. The number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions worldwide reached almost 6.6 billion in 2022, and is forecast to exceed 7.8 billion by 2028.
Some industry highlights:
- WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world, with over five billion downloads and two billion active users. Source – Business of Apps
- Messaging Apps have surpassed the social network in size by 20%. According to Business Insider, messaging apps have 20% more active monthly users than Social Networks.
- As per Sinch, WhatsApp, Messenger by Meta (formerly Facebook Messenger), Instagram, and WeChat are by far the most popular messaging apps, according to the latest 2023 data from Datareportal. Together, they combine more than six billion active monthly users.
- The latest Digital 2023 Report from we are social and Meltwater shows the continued growth in the popularity of WhatsApp among the 16-to-64 age group. According to the 2023 report, 15.8% stated that WhatsApp was their favorite social media platform (up 0.1% since January 2022). Source – Sinch
All these developments in mobile phones and internet availability have paved the way for users to access these latest technologies. And therefore, in turn, has also helped the Mobile VoIP businesses to expand rapidly.
Scale up your VoIP business with Instant Messaging
According to the Radicati Group’s report, in 2019, the number of worldwide IM accounts (not including Mobile Messaging) reached over 7.0 billion. This figure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of about 6% over the next four years and touch over 8.9 billion by the end of the year 2023.
Figure 1: Worldwide IM Accounts* (Millions), 2019-2023
Source: Radicati
Over half of internet users worldwide (55%) are now using instant messaging (e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, etc.) every day. Instant messaging represents the future of a mobile-dominant internet. Hence, a VoIP service provider can bring this amazing value to their business.
There are several benefits a VoIP service provider can avail of adding Instant Messaging to its service:
- It will strengthen the relationship between businesses and customers.
- The business can differentiate itself from its competitors.
- It will eventually lead to more profitability for the business in the long run.
Benefits of Instant Messaging in Mobile VoIP Business
Seamless Team Collaboration
Instant messaging enables real-time communication thus eliminating geographical and time-related barriers. With a tap on the mobile screen, team members can exchange ideas, conduct discussions over topics, and resolve issues instantaneously. The promptness of instant messaging fosters a quick, convenient, and efficient exchange of information thus allowing team members to connect and collaborate seamlessly.
Cost Savings
Instant messaging is a great opportunity for employees and customers to exchange information in real-time. As a business, you can leverage it to execute routine queries and updates thus eliminating the need for time-consuming phone calls. This leads to a reduction in voice call charges, especially in the case of international calls. Team members can conduct virtual meetings through video conferencing.
Data Security & Compliance
In today’s digital world, the importance of security and compliance cannot be understated especially when it comes to business-related information. Most instant messaging platforms offer robust security features such as end-to-end encryption for messages and comply with regulatory standards. So when you choose such a platform, you ensure that data that gets exchanged in the form of conversations through the instant messaging platform remains confidential.
Increased Efficiency and Productivity
Instant messaging is more of an informal, quick, and crisp communication channel when compared to other mediums such as email. Using group chats in instant messaging, discussions can be made quickly, information can be exchanged and updated instantly and collective problem-solving can be done in a dedicated space which reduces the overload of long email threads.
Moreover, Instant messaging platforms can be accessed through multiple devices such as a laptop, mobile phone, tablet, desktops, etc. With this team members can stay connected and collaborate no ~matter their location and time. Thus employees can focus on critical tasks leading to more productivity. fosters smooth workflow and faster decision making thus improving the overall productivity and efficiency of the business.
Expanded Reach and Global Presence
Instant messaging is a powerful tool to connect with customers, clients, and partners across the world in real-time. No matter the time zone and the geographical location, instant messaging facilitates immediate conversations breaking communication barriers for globally dispersed teams. Not just internal communication, businesses can use instant messaging to provide global customer support by assisting customers from different countries. By addressing their concerns in a timely manner, the integration of instant messaging empowers businesses to go beyond geographical limitations and connect with audiences in the international market.
How to Implement Instant Messaging in Your Mobile VoIP Business?
Implementing Instant Messaging in your mobile VoIP business is certainly going to enhance communication and provide your customers with more value. Here are the key steps you can follow to implement instant messaging functionality:
Step 1: Choose the Right Instant Messaging Platform
You can start by researching and comparing different instant messaging platform providers in the market. Let’s take a look at some key considerations:
- The first step is to check the integration compatibility to ensure that the instant messaging platform is compatible with your mobile VoIP system.
- The second step is to look for features. You must evaluate your specific business needs and check whether the features offered by the instant messaging platform align with your needs or not.
- The next step is to look for a platform that implements robust and latest security measures. You can check for end-to-end encryption, and secure user authentication mechanisms as the security of data is very crucial.
- Another important point to look for is the cross-platform compatibility of the instant messaging app. Ensure that users can use and access the app both on mobile as well as desktops.
- After that, you must ensure a seamless user experience. Make sure the interface of the messaging app is user-friendly and the navigation is intuitive enough so that there is quick adoption and minimal training is required for the users.
REVE OTT is a brand you can trust to get started. The instant messaging feature of REVE OTT supports rich content which means any type of content can be sent between users. Besides instant messaging, REVE OTT comes with features like voice and video calling, multi-media sharing, file transfer, end-to-end encryption for messages, location sharing and tracking, web messenger, etc.
Step 2: Integrate Instant Messaging with Your Mobile VoIP System
Getting started with REVE OTT is very simple. After you contact us, our team will provide complete assistance beginning with product information, integration, and usage. We also offer support services to help you with the concerns that you may have at any point in time. It is also advisable to thoroughly test the integration to ensure proper functionality and performance.
Step 3: Train Your Team
Once the REVE OTT platform is integrated into your mobile VoIP business, you need to ensure that your employees can adapt to the app smoothly and can utilize it effectively. Some useful steps are:
The first step is to familiarize your employees or teams with the messaging app by giving them a detailed overview of it. You can include various features and functionalities of REVE OTT platform for a better understanding of the employees. Tell them why the messaging app has been integrated and how it can provide value for internal and external communication.
Next, you can provide hands-on training sessions where employees or team members can actually use the instant messaging app. In other words, this will be a demonstration of the various features of REVE OTT such as making voice and video calls, creating group chats, sharing multimedia files, etc.
Last, but not least, you can assess the employees’ understanding of the instant messaging app by conducting assessments and surveys. With this, you will be able to figure out the areas where employees need help or training for a better understanding of the instant messaging app.
Step 4: Promote Adoption Among Customers
Now, you are ready to promote your brand new instant messaging platform amongst your customers, both new and existing. There are various strategies through which you can encourage your customers to embrace this new communication channel and enjoy the benefits offered by it. Let’s take a look:
Inform and Educate
Provide your customers with information about the advantages of using an instant messaging app for communication. Circulate compelling examples of how instant messaging can simplify conversations by using features like multimedia sharing, etc.
Offer Exclusives
Incentives are a popular way to grab the attention of the audiences for using a product or service. You can apply this technique for engaging your audience to use the new instant messaging app by offering benefits like special discounts and rewards.
Market and Promote
Creating awareness about your product is the most important step. You can leverage online marketing tools such as advertisements, and campaigns, to generate interest among your audience and encourage the adoption of the instant messaging app.
Practice the Proactive Feedback Approach
If you want to deliver an exceptional communication experience to your customers through the instant messaging app, then you must seek their feedback regularly and incorporate their suggestions.
To Sum it Up…
Therefore, as a whole, it can be stated that Instant Messaging is dominating the communication industry at present and will continue to increase its presence in the future. Integrating instant messaging into your mobile VoIP business will help in unlocking a new realm of instant, convenient and efficient interactions.
Besides enhanced connectivity and productivity, instant messaging can bring various other benefits such as expansion in user base and better customer engagement. In the ever-evolving digital landscape, instant messaging emerges as a key component to propel your VoIP business to new heights. Hence, the sooner a VoIP service provider adapts to this feature, the faster his/her business will flourish.
How can instant messaging improve customer satisfaction?
Instant messaging offers a range of benefits such as faster response times, more convenience than other communication channels, personalized service, better engagement, and increased loyalty, all of which improve customer satisfaction.
Can instant messaging help in generating leads for my mobile VoIP business?
Yes, integrating instant messaging into your mobile VoIP business can help in more lead generation. Since instant messaging is a quick and convenient way for customers to connect with your business and improve customer engagement.
Is instant messaging secure for business communication?
An instant messaging app that offers end-to-end encryption and implements all robust and latest security measures such as 2 FA can be safely used for business communication. It is advisable to choose a reliable provider to ensure the security of your critical business information.
Can I use instant messaging for internal team collaboration only?
Yes, Instant Messaging can be used for internal team collaboration in several ways such as communicating in real-time through text, voice, and video and sharing files and folders, etc., even when they are working from different corners of the world.
How can instant messaging benefit remote teams?
Remote teams benefit from instant messaging in a number of ways such as real-time communication which means they can share updates and information about projects instantly no matter where they are. This turn boosts productivity, and transparency and ensures that everybody is on the same page.
Read Also
Why Instant Messaging and Voice Call OTT Apps are on Hype
How Mobile OTT is Ruling over Telco Operator
Note: This blog has been updated with the latest data and facts on 21-06-23.
