Greater attention to the role of voice and speech technologies in B2B communication has added a fresh dimension to customer service and has forced service providers to reconsider their approach. To compete for market share, many providers are looking to leverage constant access to the cloud on mobile devices and the benefits of realtime, widespread marketing.

This is according to Dr Inderpal Singh Mumick, founder and CEO of telecom & social media solutions provider Kirusa.

The company has engaged with partners such as Smart Burundi and TNM Malawi to roll out social media services centred around its InstaVoice platform. Deals have been struck in countries including Burundi, DRC, Malawi, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Zambia.

According to Dr Mumick, Kirusa has collaborated with 42 network carriers to date and the InstaVoice service has attracted 100 million monthly active users across multiple carriers on the continent.

InstaVoice is positioned to meet consumer networking requirements and integrates missed calls, voicemails and SMS over a seamless cloud platform.

"With regard to Africa, the idea was to enable users to acquire maximum value from their mobile. Smartphones have not yet penetrated the entire length and breadth of the continent, and hence, we introduced the InstaVoice Service that caters to feature phones as well," Dr Mumick continues.

He says mobile is the primary means through which to access new trends and B2B operators need to appeal to their buyers and invest in this trend.

He explains that the new consumer favours the brand that responds quickly to their queries and voice technology is being developed to assist hassle free networking that caters to all kinds of users, including those who probably do not find typing convenient.

"On this, branding is taking a new form, and B2B companies would like to readjust themselves according to the requirements of their buyers and focus on their visibility in the milieu," says Dr Mumick.

There is an increased adoption of mobile devices in Africa, which doesn't mean that all Africans have equal access to the latest developments in applications and mobile solutions, he adds.

"Wireless communication is the only medium, however, that can substantially penetrate emerging rural economies, unlike wired services that require a significant investment and expensive infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted connectivity. Considering that everyday needs are being met using various applications in the emerging market, it is necessary that we keep track of these developments and ensure that we adopt the most relevant business model."

Relevance and user experience are two outstanding features of Kirusa's strategy for its broad and sizeable market in Africa.

Dr Mumick says transactions have taken a whole new form, and the impact of cloud applications has become visible across various sectors including healthcare, education, security, commerce and banking.