Companies in Africa are increasingly looking to multi-channel driven customer relationship and contact centre infrastructure to beef up service delivery. Experts in cloud services and collaborative solutions for strategic customer-facing areas, including contact centres, believe that the continent as a whole is warming up to the realities that come with broader multichannel communications systems.

Experts in the contact centre industry have noted the emergence of the 'customer-obsessed' trend and the intense focus on the customer experience associated with it.

Andre le Roux, managing director at the Interactive Intelligence Group's South Africa office, says one of the main trends driving this market today is the move from traditional environments into that which is defined largely by multi-channel or Unified Communications.

It is an environment defined by the integration of various realtime communication services, including voice (IP telephony), mobility, audio, video, web conferencing, fixed line etc.

But, as is the case with most ICT adoption in Africa, regions have their own methods and traits that make them unique when it comes to the uptake of technology.

From a contact centre point of view the SADC region is showing more interest in the broader multi-channel environment and how to take infrastructure to a new level, whereas North of the border the focus is on the traditional voice contact centre says le Roux.

"In South Africa there is a strong request to bring in more communication and less on voice.... In the SADC region there has been more focus on voice, and now an increase in focus on broader multi-channel (UC), and how can we help them get to the next level."

The significant trend for Africa is the move from traditional IP BPX (Internet protocol private branch exchange) systems in line with a multi-channel strategy, supported by automated communications infrastructure.

This is providing businesses with a gem: a holistic view of the customer, a strategic investment for operators across many vertical industries including finance, insurance and telecommunications.

As le Roux explains this is important because the ability to consolidate the customer experience is a key differentiator in the marketplace today.

Cloud cover

Another indication that businesses in many regions across Africa are pursuing the multi-channel business process automation route is in the advent and increased take up of the cloud.

Le Roux says one out of three organisations in Africa have talked about cloud investment or enquired about the integration and use of cloud.

"There is definitely a greater uptake of the cloud in Africa," he continues.

Recently Tunde Tani-Fafunwa, MD of Nigeria's Kitskoo Cloud Services Limited, was reported to have said that the West African country could raise approximately $1bn from cloud computing marketing at a rate of $100m annually, over the next ten years.

IT veteran and entrepreneur Barry Morris, co-founder and CEO of NuoDB, an established operator in scale-out SQL database technology, has emphasised the influence that the cloud has for businesses in general and for Africa, specifically in terms of data management.

According to Morris a new architecture for the Relational Database Management System (RDMS) that is designed 'on the cloud, for the cloud' would be the big enabler for next generation IT.

Giorgio Heiman, vice president of Africa at Orange Business Services, says that many companies across Africa are beginning to understand that technological evolution or digital transformation is happening quickly and they have to be on par with the rest of the business world.

"This is even more relevant in a market such as Africa where there is a shortage of IT skills. The adoption of cloud technology means instant deployment, cost savings and a way around the current challenges such as an unreliable power infrastructure," says Heiman.

Ultimately, in markets that are becoming increasingly competitive, there is more interest in UC to drive customer experience and in self-education in order to deliver a consistent message to the customer.

"It's about standardisation of services," le Roux adds.