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Contextual Engagement in the New Normal

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In his current role, Ranga is responsible for the market growth for the company in India and neighboring countries.

In an exclusive conversation with siliconindia, Ranga highlights about the issues related to customer engagement.

What steps can small businesses take in order to increase customer engagement through cloud communication?
To thrive in the new normal, contextual engagement is the need of the hour. A truly engaging experience requires shared context. The ability to share the same space, hear the same audio, witness the same sights—these are the details that build bonds. Now that consumers are comfortable using video, they increasingly crave this shared context and expect to have video engagement directly inside the apps they are already using.

Small businesses can partner with real time engagement service providers to make customer engagement more scalable, engaging and cost effective. Real time engagement will help small businesses move beyond a typical voice or video call and engage with the end user in creative ways like implementing AR and VR alongside live video calls. The key to success is to replicate the real-life experience in the virtual world.

Digital experiential revolution is happening on the backbone of real-time engagement platforms supporting business continuity across sectors namely education, retail, gaming, entertainment, healthcare, among others. Technologies such as Augmented reality, Virtual reality and Mixed Reality are in demand as they are helping companies with remote assistance, training, and workshops.

What challenges do businesses face for encouraging customers towards the virtual assistance?
The world is moving towards an increased virtual collaboration model. While connecting with customers through traditional cloud communication platforms, small and medium businesses can face a dilemma on their brand recall. At times, there is very little differentiation between one small business from another in terms of branding and customization of the online experience for the end user. This will invariably act as a deterrent to position a particular business in the market due to the lack of a strong differentiator.

Both brands and customers will be leveraging real time engagement platforms for both interactions and transactions



Brands will shift towards real time engagement to redefine customer experience in the new normal scenario. With the right content and live video solution, businesses can create inspired experiences that increase engagement, brand awareness, customer loyalty, and sales. The key now is to replicate the seamless in-store experience into an online channel to avoid customer loss and brand loyalty. Both brands and customers will be leveraging real time engagement platforms for both interactions and transactions. An example of this is LiSA, a software startup that brings human interaction, authenticity, and fun to online shopping experience by live streaming shopping among retailers and brands.

What prodigious shift do you see in the workplace in the coming years?
The pandemic has altered the definition of workplace and the future of workplace is definitely hybrid. With the success of the remote workplace in the last few months, most Global MNCs will shift to a hybrid model where physical and remote workplace will co-exist with one another. Employees will have the freedom and flexibility to work from anywhere they feel they are the most productive. Moving forward, businesses are going to see a mixed mode of communication or engagement with only certain types of engagements requiring face to face communication. For example, Pragli is a virtual office solution for remote teams that powers dynamic remote office environments. Users can host quick audio calls and schedule video meetings, all while using personalized avatars as a fun way to let their co-workers know when they are at their desks, in a meeting, or simply taking a break.

Another significant impact will be seen in the gig economy sector. The post pandemic job sector will be heavily influenced by a fundamental change in approach towards traditional working style or concepts. Geographical location will not be a hindrance anymore for a deserving candidate from accessing the opportunity they want. The advent of gig economy will provide enterprises with benefits such as reduced hiring costs and resource utility while for the worker a contractual role will mean improved quality of work life balance.

Organizations will also start paying more attention towards mental well-being of its workforce. Mental health affects the productivity of an employee and encouraging employees to maintain a healthy work life balance is the biggest investment an organization can make. Mental health is not a stigma anymore and the first step is to create a workforce that will be empathetic to the cause.