CCaaS Report with trends and research

June 2021 Complimentary report provided by

November 24th, 2022 The 10 Things We Learned This Year (2022) about Contact Center Solutions The global CCaaS currently accounts for more than $3 billion; some predict sales will reach $10.5 billion by 2027. Companies are most interested in CCaaS proposals when existing contracts approach end-of-term. While Covid-19 stimulated the CCaaS market, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a key factor in energizing uptake. Although some companies may adopt an exclusively work-from-home structure, most will use a 60-40 mix, with at least 40% working remotely. Effective and efficient contact center services have become critical to high customer satisfaction scores. In addition to AI, CCaaS systems oen include a call distributor, interactive voice response (CDIVR), outbound predictive dialer (OPDs), and analytics capabilities. AI-enabled CCaaS will make organizations change selection and competency strategies for contact center staff. Effective security must be interwoven with every CCaaS migration strategy. Improving the customer experience is the number one driver for CCaaS adoption. The market leaders are Genesys, NICE CXONE, Five9, and Talkdesk, but niche providers like UJET are gaining market share. Tim Conti Founder, Cloud Trusted Advisor [email protected] Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 02 AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report |

AVANT Research & Analytics: The 6-12 Report Each “6-12 Report” is developed by AVANT Research & Analytics with the assistance of technical teams within AVANT. These market research reports are backed by a wealth of data secured by AVANT in our normal course of business, our own primary research of end-customers, and other reputable industry sources. 6-12 Report: UCaaS | 6-12: Security | 6-12: SD-WAN | State of Disruption Report Our reports focus on today’s most disruptive technologies, those where the pace of change is rapid. Companies or technologies which – only a few years ago – may have been unknown, are now highly viable solutions that resolve the business needs that led to their creation. They have disrupted the IT landscape, a market already well known for its accelerating pace of change and innovation. Every AVANT 6-12 Report gives enterprise technology leaders a contemporary and relevant overview of the featured subject suitable to making a purchase/non-purchase decision over the next six to 12 months. We select each topic based on the potential competitive advantages companies can realize if they adopt a given solution, depending on their particular industry, market space, or company size. All currency values in this report are expressed in U.S. dollars. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 3 | CCaaS 6-12 Report |

AVANT enables Trusted Advisors (agents, managed service providers, consultants, and specialized channel partners) to assist with the decision-making process technology through our specialization in disruptive technologies and solutions. We accomplish this with our: • Engineering Team of consummate professionals who study the ins-and-outs of the latest IT products from the perspective of what best meets the needs of end users. • AVANT Assessment Data collected during thousands of customer assessments and decisions. • Primary Research collected by surveying customers and Trusted Advisors to inform our decision-making process. • AVANT PATHFINDER: an IT decision making tool and repository of AVANT’s market intelligence, empowering comparative searches and intelligent queries. • AVANT analysts who conduct original research and analyze data for in-depth insight focused on, about and for Trusted Advisors, end-customers, and the surrounding ecosystem. We also collect content in conjunction with the Trusted Advisor community, through initial assessment data and various market research tools, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and external reports. Key Takeaways • The global CCaaS currently accounts for more than $3 billion; some predict sales will reach about $10.5 billion by 2027. • Companies are most interested in CCaaS proposals when existing contracts approach end-of-term. • While Covid-19 stimulated the CCaaS market, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a key factor in energizing uptake. • Although some companies may adopt an exclusively work-from-home structure, most will use a 60-40 mix, with at least 40% of employees working remotely. • predictive dialers (OPDs), and analytics capabilities. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 4

CCaaS: About the Analyst The Landscape This 6-12 Report focuses on Contact Center as a Service, better known as CCaaS, a cloud-based Ken Presti develops the strategic framework of legacy call centers with digital channels, and manages the process of leveraging text messaging and social media. AVANT’s internal data and external data to A modern CCaaS system includes an intelligent drive high-value market research designed routing engine which routes, manages, delivers, to help consultants, agents, channel partners, and records a full range of interactions. In addition, and other members of the Trusted Advisor Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into this technology, providing a truly revolutionary business customers understand and evaluate Information Technologies (IT). interactions. Organizations assign agents to Presti brings a wealth of experience in market channels based on their skills and the employer’s research, survey development, focus group needs. Thus, “workforce optimization” is becoming moderation, interviewing, and content more important as a competitive advantage and development for the technology industry. CCaaS strategy. His primary area of expertise focuses on go- to-market and channel strategies spanning In addition, analytics help convert raw data networking, cloud, security, and telecom. into actionable results that contribute to higher A former Research Director of IDC’s Network customer satisfaction and Net Promoter scores Channels & Alliances service, he has served as (NPS). a Trusted Advisor to several key networking From the customer perspective, interactive voice vendors and service providers. Presti also response (IVR) provides the traditional menu of has led his own market research and channel verbal or numeric options. advisory firm, Presti Research & Consulting, Outbound predictive dialers allow call center and has worked with other prominent channel operators to conduct proactive outreach to consultancies. Presti specializes in combining customers that improve connect rates and empirical data and his experience partnering customer experience. with industry leaders to fully illustrate We explore all of these aspects, and more, technology trends, business model evolution, in greater detail throughout this report. likely outcomes, and strategies for success. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 5

CCaaS By the Numbers Statistics for the global CCaaS market vary widely, depending upon the source. The global CCaaS market was $3.1 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $10.6 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 16.1% during the forecast period, according to Fortune Business Insights. Other projections range as high as $72 billion by 2027. Year-over-year growth has run at more than 15% since 2015, Frost & Sullivan said. For its part, Verified Market Research pegs CCaaS 2019 to 2026. The following charts outline end customer feedback based on AVANT’s Interactive Quick Assessments which take a deep look into the drivers and details that lead end-customers to inquire about CCaaS. (While we provide the following tables as a one-stop shop, they are also included in the specific sections below.) For example, customers are likely to make a CCaaS move when a current contract nears its expiration interested in specific Artificial Intelligence capabilities to raise customer satisfaction scores. The following charts show the specific data related to these questions and more. Customers are likely to make a CCaaS move when a current contract nears its expiration date Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 6

CCaaS is also featured prominintely in AVANT’s State of Disruption Report, 2021. To measure the rate at which newer technologies are displacing older ones, AVANT polled 500 US-based enterprise technology decision-makers (C-suite or vice presidents involved in the selection and/or implementation of new voice/ data networks, compute infrastructure and related products or services in their IT, security, or finance roles). Respondents include statistically significant subsets from the following industries: manufacturing; financial services; healthcare/ medical; e-commerce; and consulting/business services. Visit AVANT’s 2021 State of Disruption Report, for more information. The data shows that several key verticals plan significant uptake of CCaaS. It continues to be in strong growth mode, spurred partly by the work-from-anywhere model stimulated by Covid-19 and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence within CCaaS platforms. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 7

Business Drivers CCaaS leverages the cloud, combining the capabilities of the legacy PBX with those of several communications media. It delivers these contact center services remotely with the promised benefit of measurable total cost of ownership (TCO) and return-on-investment (ROI), while, simultaneously, strengthening customer satisfaction (CX). Let’s look at that statement piece-by-piece. By capitalizing on cloud, CCaaS absolves an organization of the headaches associated with premise- based hardware and optimizes OPEX budgeting. It combines legacy PBX telephone switchboard functions with various media like text and chat. Some systems even can move communications dynamically from one media to another. For example, someone contacts your company via chat but finds a phone call easier for a more detailed exchange. In this case, the agent can initiate an outbound call to the customer. “The economics are pretty easy because, in traditional telephony platforms, you have legacy costs, upgrades, hardware maintenance, and all of that,” said Tim Montgomery, Managing Partner at Alamo Cloud Solutions, a San Antonio, Texas-based Trusted Advisor. “When you look at the true cost of those things, and then compare it to the per-seat, per-month cost of CCaaS, the results are typically pretty happy to be able to use their [communications] channel of choice.” By capitalizing on cloud, CCaaS absolves an organization of the headaches associated with premise-based hardware and optimizes OPEX budgeting Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 8

maintenance and management, reducing floor square footage (due to work-from-home), and cutting operational expenses, including the cost of agent training. We will explore each of these in greater detail. But the added functionalities, impact on customer satisfaction, and, as an extension, higher sales, drive most adopters to CCaaS. Agent retention and superior analytics also factor positively into the decision. The business case, therefore, had already built itself. Then the socio-business shock wave of Covid-19 pushed momentum into an even higher level. Some experts anticipate a 60-40 mix, where about 40% of employees work remotely “Contact centers, like most businesses, had to find solutions that provided support and services from somewhere other than brick and mortar environments of old,” said Ryan McCormick, Workforce Optimization Strategy Director at Five9, a San Ramon, Calif.-based provider of cloud contact center currently in a state of uncertainty about future implications and what the best options will be. Some agents are fine working at home. The benefit for the company is the ability to recruit remotely, save money, and leverage technology like workforce optimization to drive performance and deliver, while still making personal connections.” Although some companies may move to an exclusively work-from-home structure, most are likely Some experts anticipate a 60-40 mix, where about 40% of employees work remotely. Others predict that, as work-from-anywhere gains further ground, the legacy emphasis on brick-and-mortar facilities will decline even more – augmented by an opportunity for businesses to get reduced leases in Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 9

(NPS). The capabilities associated with CCaaS have increased customer expectations for support calls. As a result, companies without these functionalities have a pronounced disadvantage against competitors who do. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 10

“Most consumers have higher expectations for service than they actually receive,” said Rusty Jensen, Vice President of Revenue Generation at Nice inContact, a Sandy, Utah-based CCaaS vendor. “This has put a lot of pressure on vendors, from a strategic standpoint. Customers today are picking loyalty and customer experience are more important than they have ever been.” customer experience. you’re going to get chewed up and spit out,” said Andy Dignan, Senior Vice President of Global Partners & Services at Five9. “You need to make sure you have all the functionalities in a single, seamless CCaaS environment that integrates to your CRM solution and other places where your customer data lives, to provide a seamless customer journey.” the past to resolve them that customer service representatives rely on whenever they interact with consumers. Eliminating duplicative communications not only increases agents’ productivity, perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates that an organization cares for its customers, experts said. “It’s important to know what the customer is calling about, and it’s important to know if they’ve called twice before and have already spoken to multiple departments, said Valerie Espie Bourseau, Director of Solution Consulting and Customer Experience at 8x8, a provider of cloud-based contact center products based in Campbell, Calif. “This will help to soothe the customer who might not be in the best of moods and will also help the agent engage the customer’s concerns without having to ask a lot of repetitive questions. Knowing the customer journey is especially important these days because if a customer is upset with your company, they can use social media to convey that dissatisfaction to a lot of people.” Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 11

Technology In addition to supporting multiple communications media, (like voice, chat, and text), modern CCaaS systems include an intelligent routing engine, interactive voice response (IVR), predictive dialing capabilities, plus usage data and related analytics. Increasingly, they incorporate Artificial Intelligence to augment agents’ case knowledge and ability to answer questions. Add to this list omni-channel and multi-channel features. must not only consider performance requirements for any brick-and-mortar sites. They also must also consider – and set policy for – connectivity at employees’ homes, as well as anywhere else and speed packages to residential customers. These may (or may not) be adequate. Therefore, companies increasingly prescribe minimum network performance levels for home-based workers. Modern CCaaS systems include an intelligent routing engine, interactive voice response (IVR), predictive dialing capabilities, plus usage data and related analytics. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 12

CCaaS systems require more than broadband. They typically consist of: Call Distributor: A routing system that manages, delivers, and records a full range of interactions, including voice, chat, messaging, and social media. The call distributor then routes these exchanges to designated contact center agents based on individuals’ skills, training, and other aspects a company has programmed into the system. For example, an employer may choose some agents as specialists in voice calls; it may select others for text- based interactions. This feature changes not only how agents work, but how the employers select them for their respective roles. We will explore this in more depth later. Interactive Voice Response (IVR): This familiar feature enables incoming callers to route themselves to specific sub-groups in an organization’s contact center based on a menu of options explained by a recorded voice and controlled by verbal responses or touch tones (DTMF tones). This also can be used to route incoming callers to self-service features for common requests such as bill paying or account balances. IVR systems may be integrated with ACD systems for enhanced data-sharing capabilities. Outbound Predictive Dialers: These enable contact centers to proactively place calls to a defined customer list and then send those calls to an av ailable agent when an outbound call is answered. Algorithms manage delay times for both contact center agents and customers. This boosts agents’ productivity and time-management since many calls will go unanswered. Predictive dialers can help sales and customer service agents achieve higher connect rates. Queue call-back, where customers mark a position in line for subsequent contact center call- back, is another important component. Analytics: Collecting data about customer interactions and agent performance, and leveraging it to be more actionable, contextual, and easy to consume, yields measurable business results. Resulting insights should help management better understand customer needs, and how they decide to purchase or upgrade your products (or why they don’t). Artificial Intelligence (AI): An amazing extension of analytics capabilities, AI-enriched solutions use data in ways that imitate humans’ cognitive functions. Currently, it has varied, emerging and maturing use in CCaaS. AI does not replace human agents today (or in the near future), and whether it ever will do so is subject to debate. But AI already has become a highly useful tool to augment customer interactions and measure results. Chatbots and voicebots are the more common entry points to AI. You’ve seen them pop up at the corners of web interpret your responses (with varying degrees of accuracy) and serve-up standard replies. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 13

President of Channel Sales at Genesys, which sells customer experience and call center technology to mid-sized and large businesses from its headquarters in Daly City, Calif. “The automation is continually evolving and establishing strong customer business cases. AI is developing in a way that enables predictive, prescriptive, and cognitive customer experiences. Having a suite of AI capabilities has become essential.” AI’s next step is to take customer information and make it available to contact center agents, so they have context for inquiries without having to extensively question customers as they call in. When used to assist human agents, (as opposed to chatbots/voicebots), this reduces training and adds greater consistency in responses to questions. “The ability to leverage AI to help your contact center agents decide what to do next decreases your cost of training and helps get them up-to-speed quickly,” said Five9’s Dignan. “That’s a very important use case.” Some AI systems can even judge human emotions through vocal patterns, tone, and volume, thereby triggering escalation, management intervention, or supervisor monitoring of the call. AI can also track which questions are trending – a useful tool for message development. “An AI system can not only recognize the words that are being typed. It also has an ability to interpret the meaning of what’s being asked for. It’s not looking for keywords,” said Nice inContact’s Rusty that people have asked the same question, and it’s able to answer much more accurately to give them real answers, and not just pre-programmed, canned responses.” Key components of AI that are in high demand include the following: Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 14

“AI is very real,” said Jensen. “There are learning algorithms that come from people like Google and IBM, in which all these intelligence systems have the ability to recognize patterns, the ability to recognize mistakes, and make corrections. But a lot of times the data is incomplete. So sometimes when companies say, ‘Hey, we have AI!,’ they might not fully have the fundamentals for the AI to draw upon and actually functionally engage in a positive way. In some cases, it might be more aspirational.” Customers are advised to discuss how AI can fit into their organization with their Trusted Advisors. People want better human connections and personalization in their contact center interactions. Predictive behavioral routing leverages a broad database consisting of billions of interactions, taking all data through an analytics engine to feed AI. The AI then looks at all that data to establish patterns of personalities, linking customer phone numbers to all of their interactions and calls, and classifies them into personality types. The system then can link the phone number to the personality type and route them to the available agent who best matches their profile. “I have a customer who is getting 7,000 applications per week who uses AI to identify the best candidates, and they’re turning away something like 90% of their applicants” - Ryan McCormick (Five9) drives personalization, and personalization creates empathy, loyalty, and trust.” AI also plays a role in hiring. “I have a customer who is getting 7,000 applications per week who uses AI to identify the best candidates, and they’re turning away something like 90% of their applicants,” said Five9’s McCormick. “The work-from-home model is ideal for them because it helps them to hire the best candidates and they can use tools to engage, manage and motivate agent regardless of where their agents are geographically.” Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 15

Multichannel vs. Omnichannel Anyone interested in CCaaS is bound to encounter the terms multichannel and omnichannel. The two are very closely related. Multichannel is the ability to provide customer service across a variety of channels, such as voice, text, and chatbot. Omnichannel is the ability to seamlessly move communications from one channel to another, such as when a customer begins their inquiry on chat, then moves to the phone for a more detailed exchange. An omnichannel contact center can deliver these functions through an integrated queue. “We hear a lot of people talk about omnichannel when what they really mean is multichannel,” to see the entire journey. They can start with email and then move to a chat, and then agents can see the interaction cradle-to-grave. But we also see it built around the agent in the contact center. This enables that agent to interact whether it’s a phone call, an email, or a chat. All of those things can come into one platform. This enables us to send the customer to the agent with the greatest ability to handle the issue. This also changes the way companies onboard and train agents because, in an omnichannel environment, a chat with a customer will come in with suggested answers. You can get someone trained on that really quickly, and they’re able to find those answers without having to do it in real time.” “We hear a lot of people talk about omnichannel when what they really mean is multichannel” - Tim Montgomery (Alamo Cloud) Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 16

Security Like every technology, security must be fully considered (and integrated) within the context of any CCaaS migration. “If they can gain access to users’ devices or applications cybercriminals can elicit monetary value, Technology at Momentum Telecom, an Atlanta-based provider of cloud voice, managed network, and unified communications solutions. “There are features like voice encryption that can help, but there are also advanced features in voice and web portals that can enable call forwarding, and, if a those numbers. There are a lot of things that people wouldn’t think about in the context of network security that can generate various types of fraud.” scanning, and more. In addition to installing proper security systems, companies should monitor historical calls, call times, divergencies from call patterns etc. Compliance requirements also may be applicable. For more information, download AVANT’s 6-12 Report on IT security at www.goavant.net/security-report. Encryption, biometrics, multifactor authentication, and speech recognition are also important tools SD-WAN is particularly useful for supporting security in CCaaS environments, Marquez added. “Companies have gravitated towards SD-WAN from a security perspective because they can get more bandwidth and utilize multiple circuits at the same cost that they used to pay for slower MPLS circuits,” he said. “And then they can take encryption and encapsulation capabilities that SD-WAN incorporates functionality, so they lock down automatically without having to build complex security policy. SD- specific compliance standards. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 17

Workforce Impacts CCaaS has a number of human aspects that factor into the equation, as well. The technology’s capabilities carry some unique operational ramifications for the contact center. For example, the ability to accommodate voice and text translates to changes in contact center agent selection, training, and operation methods. Agents who are highly competent communicators in text may not be as good in the real-time medium of voice. They may be able to quickly look up the answers to questions, and even have the skills to revise or extend those answers based on the customer’s circumstances. On the other hand, the written word is more likely to be referenced in the future, as compared to the spoken word. Where to start new contact center agents is the subject of debate. There are two schools of thought: One is to start inexperienced agents on the voice side of the contact center, given that the written word is more easily retained and tracked and, therefore, needs to be precise – perhaps more precise than a newcomer can reliably deliver. The second school of thought is to start inexperienced agents on the text side of the house where they can cut-and-paste previously vetted responses to common problems as they build their expertise and experience. In most cases, the specific course of action may become clearer based on an individual’s skills and traits. The person who might be great on the phone might be awful with the written word,” said 8x8’s Valerie I’d test to determine their skills with the written word, and how good their spoken dialogue might be. In either case, you want them properly representing your company.” “The person who might be great on the phone might be awful with the written word” - Valerie Espie Bourseau (8x8) Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 18

Although the initial concept was to have each agent capable of working the entire stack of communications modes – voice, chat, and other channels – a degree of specialization has emerged in which some agents focus on voice and others specialize in asynchronous channels such as chat. “When you’re hiring people, you’ve got to consider the personality types that match, said Nice inContact’s Rusty Jensen. “It’s not just about emulating the one agent who’s really good. You need to reflect the personalities of the customer base. In terms of scheduling, you need to have the right combinations of people on the floor.” Workforce optimization and workforce engagement management constitute the underpinning of strategies around using the contact center as a way to drive maximum customer satisfaction scheduling, plus personalized training and coaching. Gamification, which uses leader boards to measure success, can also help agents to stay motivated, assuming it’s not used in demeaning ways. “When you’re hiring people, you’ve got to consider the personality types that match” - Rusty Jensen (Nice inContact) When you are bombarding agents with a constant stream of numbers and targets, agents begin to become disenfranchised and eventually quit. It’s not unlikely to see contact center turnover of 70-100 percent on an annual basis. Employers need to keep in mind that good customer experiences start with the agent. “You need performance management to measure KPIs, but you also need accurate forecasting, the “It’s important to reward agents for meeting and exceeding goals. Use agent surveys to gather their opinions. And, of course, automation overarches all of this.” Review the tools used in your contact center. Are they achieving desired outcomes? The contact center has largely become the new storefront. It has gained a crucial role in company success and needs to be viewed as such. Include operations teams in the development and use of these tools and practices. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 19

Choosing Your Solution In many cases, selecting the best CCaaS solution is made in conjunction with choosing Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), which is the more general business-class telephony replacement – as opposed to a contact center solution. For more information on UCaaS, please download AVANT’s 6-12 Report on UCaaS. The market is vibrant and continually evolving. “Twenty years ago, customers were really interested in best-of-breed,” said Five9’s Andy Dignan. “Then they went down the path of consolidation to single player vendors that said you need to buy your PBX, your ACD, and your video from the same vendor. There were a lot of large communications vendors that had a great run with that model. But now we’ve transitioned into the cloud space, and you’re seeing a really rapid transition from on-premise to cloud. That was really the first workload in collaboration to get moved to the cloud, which was followed by unified communications and then contact center. “Contact center is the more complex solution of the collaboration stack, which is probably one of the because cloud vendors tend to work really well together because of easier integrations with simple APIs,” Dignan added. “A lot of CIOs are starting with their CCaaS solution because there’s a big ROI there. Then they start looking at UCaaS. Ultimately, CIOs need to make sure that their choice in UC integrates very well with their CCaaS environment, in addition to all of their other applications, like CRM.” When choosing either system, engage your operations people to ensure you know their needs and develop a mutual understanding of how the technology can improve their performance, simplify their team to secure their buy-in. This process will uncover numerous capabilities that map not only to your business, but how people within your business do their jobs. While this exercise is valid for both UCaaS and CCaaS, it’s especially important with CCaaS. When choosing either system, engage your operations people to ensure you know their needs and develop a mutual understanding of how the technology can improve their performance. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 20

“You have to know your business before you engage the provider,” said Bourseau. “The provider will know the technology and best practices, but you also need to know what you must provide for your customers and define the level of experience you want to provide the callers. Enterprise leaders should also take a direct approach by calling their own support numbers and directly observing the customer experience. This can really open your eyes!” Understanding the customer experience and related objectives is, therefore the crucial first step. You’ll want to conduct that process with mindfulness. While your technology selection is not as “final” in the cloud as it would be with on-premises systems, you will sign a service contract for a specified you understand what you want to provide your customers, and then ensure the solution you choose meets those needs. “While you will want your system to accommodate all the popular modes of communication, voice is still king” - Andy Dignan (Five9) “While you will want your system to accommodate all the popular modes of communication, voice is still king,” said Five9’s Dignan. “You need a strong voice platform with high quality of service, first and foremost. Then you need to look at all the other communications channels with which you want to interact with your customer, and you need to make sure that the back end integrates to your reporting platform and to your CRM platform in order to maximize the contact center agent’s visibility into the needs of the customer journey. Once this aspect is resolved, consider additional augmentations such purchasers must analyze the specific functionalities that are most critical to their needs, verticals, and business models.” In addition, ascertain a solution that can quickly and easily scale up or scale down, commensurate with the changing needs of your business. Approach this capability for both the number of participating contact center agents and any additional features, tools, and service platforms you may add later. If your company has an international presence, also consider data sovereignty requirements, long haul voice quality, and multi-lingual capabilities. Your Trusted Advisor is a crucial enabler to help you select and implement the solution that is most appropriate for your business today (and in the future). Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 21

Key Roles may have or merge diverse models. Here are the general categories: Product Vendor: in the same environment better than others. When they don’t interoperate well, they might providers (MSPs), and indirect channel partners to bring their products to market, though or may not be the best fit for your circumstances. Managed Service Provider (MSP): MSPs use vendor products, sometimes with a portfolio of vendors to choose from, to deliver a solution. They are not product developers, although optimize a given solution to your needs and function in a mode very similar to consultants (see below). In most cases, the buyer will have certain options available but cannot make detailed requirements on which vendors and solutions. This limitation is typically balanced by enhanced simplicity. Carriers can provide managed security services working with an MSP services. Consultant/Agent/Reseller: This segment typically does not have an internally developed product or technology. Instead, these organizations function as independent entities that help you sort through available options based on your company’s needs, budgets, and legacy well as those of the vendors that provide them. Aside from helping with the pre-sales phase of the engagement, they deploy, optimize, deliver support and training, and help with other facets of technology. Trusted Advisor: technology vendors and service providers into integrated solutions that further customers’ “resellers,” integrators,” or “managed service providers,” each of which has its own business- model variation. Trusted Advisors are third parties; they are neither owned by a vendor nor part of an internal IT department. They advise clients and make recommendations that customers then use in their decision making. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 22

of technology must interweave with their knowledge of business functions in order to devise technology-based solutions that successfully resolve business problems. Their strategies are, therefore, highly consultative, and Trusted Advisors seek an ongoing and direct line of sight into each customer’s needs. They typically have a technology or vertical specialty that spans multiple technologies, although most align, combined with the resources and footprint of the company, generally determines the portion of the market they serve, ranging from small business to large enterprise. Trusted Advisors specializing in the technology-of-interest are generally the first step enterprise technology lifecycle is generally viewed as a practical necessity. Action Items • Ensure your CCaaS system includes all of the necessary technical capabilities, particularly, but not limited to, Artificial Intelligence. • Make sure security is interwoven throughout your CCaaS strategy, as well as every other Information Technology in use. • given the emphasis on both voice communications and data communications. • When considering a CCaaS migration, engage management, IT, security, finance and also contact center users. Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 23

CCaaS Vendors whom can make a significant positive impact on your migration opportunity: • 3CLogic • EvolveIP • Momentum Telecom • 8x8 • Five9 • NetFortris • AT&T Business • Fusion • Nice inContact • Avaya • Fuze • NTT • BullsEye Telecom • Genesys • RingCentral • CallOne • Intrado • SCB Global • Calltower • LifeSize • Talkdesk • CBTS • LogMeIn • TPX • Coeo • Masergy • Verizon • Convergia • MetTel • Vonage • Dialpad • Mitel • Windstream Enterprise Vendors with Both UCaaS & CCaaS • 8x8 • Dialpad • Momentum Telecom • AT&T Business • EvolveIP • NetFortris • Avaya • Fusion • NTT • BullsEye Telecom • Fuze • RingCentral • CallOne • Intrado • SCB Global • Calltower • LogMeIn • TPX • CBTS • Masergy • Verizon • Coeo • MetTel • Vonage • Convergia • Mitel • Windstream Enterprise Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 24

Tech Shorthand • AI: Artificial Intelligence • MSP: Managed Service Provider • CAPEX: Capital Expense • NPS: Net Promoter Score • CCaaS: Contact Center as-a-Service • OPEX: Operational Expense • CIO: • PBX: Private Branch eXchange • CRM: Customer Relationship Management • SD-WAN: • IVR: Interactive Voice Response • SMB: Small-to-Medium Business • KPI: Key Performance Indicator • UCaaS: Unified Communications as-a-Service Acknowledgements Our Partners: Greg Franzen, Vonage; Amir Hameed, RingCentral; Rusty Jensen, Nice-inContact; Mark Marquez, Momentum Telecom; Ryan McCormick, Five9; Tim Montgomery, Alamo Cloud Solutions; Ray Watson, Masergy The Avant Team: Joe Colletti, Joan Courtney, Alex Danyluk, Bill Franklin, Jesse Garing, Lindsay Giersch, Jen Greco, Tony Ikpi, Jace Inman, Prerna Khandelwal, Ian Kieninger, Drew Lydecker, Jaime Matoba, Matt Menoyo, Juan Ochoa, Niko O’Hara, JP Tucker, Lily Weibel Technical Advisors: Research Analyst John Paullin, Brent Wilford Ken Presti Editor Alison Calderbank Diana Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 25

The Top CCaaS Providers 2023

Avaya, Five9, Genesys, NICE, Talkdesk, ujet

Provider link to provider's Avaya Five9 Genesys Cloud NICE CXone Talkdesk UJET Path nder pro le (PureCloud) HQ Supplier's headquarters Durham, NC San Ramon, CA Daly City, CA Sandy, UT San Francisco, CA San Francisco, CA # Employees number of in-house 7,900 2,000 5,000 6,500 2,000 210 employees Year supplier began 1st Year Offering CCaaS offering contact center 2020 2001 2015 1997 2015 2015 services Public / Private Privately owned or Public: AVYA Public: FIVN Private Public: NICE Private Private publicly traded solution be Can the CCaaS Sold Standalone? sold without bundling Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes UCaaS offering (if applicable)? Minimum Seat Count / # of seats or MRC MRC minimum required to 5 seats 3 seats $2,000 MRC $2,000 MRC 5 seats 5 seats engage Sweet Spot Ideal opportunities for the 5-5,000 seats 25-8,000 seats 30-1,000 seats 25-5,000+ seats 5-10,000 seats 25-30,000 seats provider Named (one for every agent) Concurrent d Concurrent Concurrent Concurrent (share Concurrent (ICB) Concurrent Available Pricing Models between agents, i.e. Concurrent Named working in shifts) Named Named Named Named Usage-Based Usage-Based (pay by hour, per minute, or per chat) ext full Usage Billing How supplier charges per- bill in 6 second increments bill in 6 second increments bill in 6 second increments bill in 6 second increments round up to next full round up to n minute usage minute minute Ports / Call Paths # of concurrent call paths 2 ports 3 ports unlimited 3 ports 1 port unlimited per agent license Does the supplier offer an in-house UCaaS Native UCaaS Offering experience (i.e. same Yes No Yes No Yes No manufacturer / UX / pane of glass)? UCaaS Resellers UCaaS providers who can No AT&T, CallTower, CBTS, No GoTo, Momentum, No In process resell the CCaaS solution net2phone RingCentral ic Quadrant This provider's placement Gartner Mag in Gartner's Magic not ranked Challengers Leaders Leaders Leaders not ranked 2022 Quadrant for the industry Companies acquired and Brand Embassy, Key Acquisitions integrated into the Spoken Communications Inference, Virtual Interactive Intelligence ContactEngine, GoMoxie, n/a n/a supplier's offering Observer (CSI), WhenDu Mattersight, MindTouch, Satmetrix APAC: Melbourne, Tokyo, Sydney APAC: Mumbai, Seoul, APAC: India, Singapore, Location of supplier's data EMEA: Dublin, Frankfurt, EMEA: Amsterdam, Sydney, Tokyo APAC: Melbourne, APAC: Japan, Singapore Sydney, Tokyo centers London Dublin, Frankfurt, Slough SIngapore, Sydney, Tokyo EMEA: Dublin, Frankfurt, EMEA: Germany, Ireland EMEA: Dublin, Frankfurt APAC: Asia-Paci c LATAM: Brazil LATAM: São Paulo London EMEA: Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Munich LATAM: Brazil LATAM: São Paulo Datacenter Locations EMEA: Europe, Middle NA: Oregon, VIrginia NA: Ashburn (VA), Atlanta, NA: Canada, Ohio, East, Africa Chicago, Montreal, Santa Oregon, Virginia LATAM: São Paulo NA: Oregon, Virginia NA: San Francisco, Virginia Third Party: Avaya CCaaS Clara, Toronto LATAM: Latin America is hosted on Azure cloud Third-Party: Genesys is NA: Culpeper, Dallas, Los Third-Party: Talkdesk is Third-Party: UJET is and leverages the global Third-Party: Five9 is hosted on AWS cloud and Angeles, Miami, Montreal, hosted on AWS cloud and hosted on AWS cloud and AWS Cloud AWS NA: North America Azure Cloud footprint. partially hosted on Google leverages the Toronto leverages the global GCP and leverages the footprint in California, Cloud footprint. AWS Cloud and GCP and leverages the global GCP footprint in Oregon, Ohio and Virginia. GCP Footprints. global Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, and Japan Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 26

Yes (preferred U.S. carriers Yes are AT&T, Lumen, & Yes Verizon) Additional NRC: No Yes (Xconnect - 50 seats Can customer leverage Additional NRC: Yes (if Additional NRC: Yes min.) Additional MRC: Yes third-party SIP trunk carrier is not already Yes Yes (minimal usage cost for the carrier for phone certi ed by Avaya) Additional MRC: Yes Additional NRC: Yes (12 agent leg) Additional NRC: No Additional NRC: No hours for pro. lines/numbers? add-on Additional MRC: Yes Redundancy Strategy: services) Redundancy Strategy: BYOC (Bring Your Own If so, is there an additional ($0.008/minute) Would require multiple Additional MRC: Yes, once Additional MRC: Yes Support BYOC through a Carrier) NRC or MRC cost? SIP trunks between Five9 BYOC minutes allotment Additional MRC: pending SIP interconnect. Redundancy Strategy: and customer. is exceeded. Redundancy Strategy: Proprietary standard, If applicable, note Avaya supports redundant Recommend leveraging Redundancy Strategy: best-in-class redundancy, recommended BYOC SIP trunks from the BYOC All calls will have SIP Redundancy Strategy: diverse carriers to ensure Recommend SIP trunks to including fallback phone redundancy strategy. and can support trunked to and from the pending redundancy. both U.S. East and West number and carriers. Auto redundant SBCs on the Five9 platform to be for geographic the BYOC processed. SIP trunks can redundancy. load balance carrier side be over the Internet, calls through two media Five9's MPLS, or layers for the agent VoIP customer's MPLS. leg. Voice Options available voice channels Inbound Voice, Outbound Inbound Voice, Outbound Inbound Voice, Outbound Inbound Voice, Outbound Inbound Voice, Outbound Inbound Voice, Outbound Dialer, Queue Call Back Dialer, Queue Call Back Dialer, Queue Call Back Dialer, Queue Call Back Dialer, Queue Call Back Dialer, Queue Call Back Agentless, Manual (TCPA Agentless, Manual (TCPA Agentless, Manual (TCPA Agentless, Manual (TCPA Voice: Outbound Dialer Types of outbound dialers Power, Preview, Compliant), Power, Compliant) (third-party), Compliant), Power, Compliant), Power, Predictive, Preview, Options offered by vendor Progressive Predictive, Preview, Power, Predictive, Predictive, Preview, Predictive, Preview, Progressive Progressive Preview, Progressive Progressive Progressive (third-party) Chat (Agent), Co-browse, Chat (Agent), Email, Email, Fax, Generic Object Chat (Agent), Co-browse, Chat (Agent), Co-browse, Generic Object, SMS Chat (Agent), Co-browse, (roadmap), MMS Chat (Agent), Co-browse, Email, SMS (Inbound), SMS Email (third-party), MMS Digital Channels non-voice options for (Inbound), SMS Email, SMS (Inbound), SMS (Inbound), MMS Email, SMS (Inbound), SMS (Outbound), Social Media (Inbound), MMS communication offered (Outbound), Social Media, (Outbound), Social Media, (Outbound), SMS (Outbound), Social Media, (roadmap), Video (third- (Outbound), SMS Video Video (Inbound), SMS Video party) (Inbound), SMS (Outbound), Social Media, (Outbound), Social Media Video (third-party) Apple Business Chat, Apple Business Chat, Facebook, LINE Facebook, Instagram, Apple Business Chat, Social media and related Apple Business Chat, Facebook, Instagram Messaging, LinkedIn LinkedIn, Slack, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram Social Channels applications that vendor Facebook, Slack, (roadmap), LinkedIn, Slack, (third-party), Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp, (roadmap), LinkedIn WhatsApp can intelligently queue WhatsApp Twitter, WeChat, WeChat (third-party), YouTube (roadmap), Slack, Twitter, WhatsApp WhatsApp, YouTube WeChat (roadmap), (third-party) WhatsApp Full List Does contact center Native CRM Included solution include customer Yes No No Yes No No relationship management capabilities natively? Is solution provider participating in Microsoft Microsoft Teams Certi ed Teams Connected contact No Yes Yes Yes Roadmap No center certi cation program? Pre-built: Microsoft Pre-built: Microsoft Pre-built: Bullhorn, Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Microsoft Dynamics, Pre-built: Authority, Teams, NetSuite, Oracle, Teams, Salesforce, NetSuite, Oracle, Freshdesk, HubSpot, Pre-built: Microsoft Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk Salesforce, SAP, Pre-built: EPIC, Microsoft Kustomer, Microsoft Cloud App Integration 3rd-party SaaS solutions Dynamics, Microsoft Zendesk, Zoho ServiceNow, Zendesk, Dynamics, Salesforce, Dynamics, Oracle, (Pre-built) with which the supplier Teams, Salesforce, Via custom API: EPIC more ServiceNow, Zendesk, Salesforce, ServiceNow, has pre-built integrations ServiceNow Via custom API: EPIC (through NovelVox CTI Zoho Zendesk (through SpinSci Connector), Freshdesk, Via custom API: EPIC partnership), Freshdesk, HubSpot, NetSuite, (through Acqueon Via custom API: NetSuite, more Oracle, SAP, ServiceNow, partnership) SAP, Zoho HubSpot, SAP, more Zoho, Database of 3rd-party applications vendor can Enterprise App Store source and has established n/a Yes Yes Yes Yes n/a pre-built integrations with native to augment functionality Agent Assist, Agent Coaching (QA), Chat Bot, Personality Routing, Real- Agent Assist, Agent time Sentiment Analysis, Native: Agent Assist, Chat Coaching (QA), Chat Bot, Voice Bot (IVA), WFM, Agent Assist, Agent Bot, Real-time Sentiment Personality Routing, Real- Work ow Automation Coaching (QA), Chat Bot, Agent Assist, Agent Analysis, Voice Bot (IVA) time Sentiment Analysis, (RPA) Personality Routing, Real- Agent Assist, Agent Coaching (QA), Chat Bot, Voice Bot (IVA), WFM, time Sentiment Analysis, Coaching (QA), Chat Bot, Personality Routing, Real- Third Party: Agent Work ow Automation Five9 Arti cial Intelligence Voice Bot (IVA), WFM, Personality Routing, Real- time Sentiment Analysis, Coaching (QA), Personality Arti cial Intelligence AI capabilities available (RPA) (AI) includes Natural Work ow Automation time Sentiment Analysis, Voice Bot (IVA), WFM, Routing, WFM, Work ow Offering through CCaaS vendor Language Processing (RPA) Voice Bot (IVA), WFM Work ow Automation Automation (RPA) Virtual assistants, IVR with (NLP), Machine Learning (RPA) natural language (ML), Intelligent Virtual Genesys AI assists with Roadmap: Work ow Conversational IVR as well processing, real-time Assistants (IVA), and forecasting to optimize the Automation (RPA) Voicebots powered by as chat and voice enabled Chatbots through more speech transcription with partnerships with Google resources required to Google AI, virtual agents intent analysis and (CCAI), IBM Watson, meet service needs. powered by trending Microsoft Cognitive conversational AI Services, and Salesforce Einstein AI (Amazon) applications. Does provider leverage a proprietary/native Platform platform or leverage a Native Native Native Native Native Native platform via third-party partnership? Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 27

Top CCaaS Providers

Detailed research for the top cloud contact center providers in 2023.

Workforce Optimization (WFO) includes Proprietary WFO; partner Proprietary WFO; partner Workforce Management Proprietary WFO; Partner with Teleopti, Verint with CSI, Envision, Partner with Calabrio, Workforce Optimization (WFM) - agent scheduling Avaya Workforce with Calabrio, Call Miner, (Monet), and others Proprietary WFO; can Loxysoft, Observe.ai, Observe.ai, and forecasting - as well as NICE, Verint; can integrate AppFoundry; integrate with any 3rd- PlayVox, Teleopti, Tethr, SuccessKPI, and Verint; Offerings Quality Monitoring (QM) - Engagement Suite with many 3rd-party through party solution Verint (Monet); can can integrate with any 3rd- recording analytics, solutions integration with 3rd-party integrate with any 3rd- party solution customer surveys, solutions party solution coaching tools. WFO Offered Standalone provider will sell WFO No No No No No No standalone GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2, Regulatory compliances ISO 27001, ISO 27018, CCPA, FedRAMP, GDPR, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 Compliance the supplier meets GDPR, HIPAA, PCI GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 HITRUST HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, SOC 2 Roadmap: FedRAMP Roadmap: FedRAMP Key customer wins Atento, Engagent Health, A ac, Aviva, CVS, FedEx, Carmax, Empire Today, Google Fitbit, Instacart, Notable Clients (references available upon Hydro Ottawa McKesson, Siemens Case Studies LinkedIn, Valvoline IBM, OpenTable, Peloton Turo request) Verticals in which supplier BPO, Healthcare, Higher Finance, Healthcare, Energy/Utilities, Finance, Legal, Retail, Healthcare, Finance, Healthcare, IoT, Top Customer Verticals has historically had the Education Finance, Healthcare, Retail Manufacturing Healthcare, Hospitality Financial Services Retail most success On-Site Implementation / Does the supplier charge Yes Yes (25+ seats) Yes Yes Yes Yes Training extra for these services? Implementation Description or link Available Upon Request Available Upon Request Implementation Overview Available Upon Request Available Upon Request Available Upon Request Overview providing further detail does provider integrate with external Knowledge Base(s) or offer its own Integrated Knowledge Base Knowledge Base for Integrated Integrated Native Native Integrated customer to populate the Native CCaaS platform to reference in AI or Agent Assist situations? 11 Utility Patents around real-time smartphone and in-App actions, including Visual IVR and biometric user validation from a smart device (e.g.use your Genesys Cloud CX face or thumbprint to vaya CPaaS platform is engineered to authenticate yourself in Ability to add A AppConnect marketplace communications-enabled deliver 100% availability with pre-integrated free real-time) business applications, NPS of 90 for pro services trials (30-45 day) of including AI virtual agents, and NPS of 88 for Day 2 All deployments use at CCAAS tools like WFM, Synchronous & social media hub, support in 2022 least three Amazon QM, Dialers and advanced asynchronous chat knowledge management, availability zones in an Industry leader with analytics inclusive of SMS/MMS, unique features of the voice biometrics, multi- Five9 Workforce active-active-active robust omni-channel and photo, video, screenshots, Differentiators provider factor authentication, and FA) architecture, and are load- workforce optimization Commissions are paid on and push noti cations to a language translations Automation (W balanced across multiple solutions, including speech smart device. solution can streamline a AZs analytics and AI AppConnect revenue Native AI agent assist can variety of tasks such as Chosen by Google as its deliver screen prompts to emailing an invoice or If issues are detected, the Global availability in over CCaaS platform and can be employees based on saving notes to a case. traf c is spread across the 100 countries with purchased through the dustry leading MOS keywords/phrases spoken remaining healthy in Google marketplace, by customers Genesys Cloud CX score of 4.3 which will retire Google instances licensing quota Email routing is handled by CRM as Ujet doesn't store any customer data. Ujet can provide a front-end web form Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communications, Inc. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 28

Click to edit text

The Complete CCaaS Evaluation, Implementation, and Adoption Service We help you evaluate the Contact Center as-a-Service (CCaaS) providers, implement the solutions, and adopt the technology company-wide with a comprehensive approach as your trusted advisor and partner through the entire process from start to finish. Here’s what we do step-by-step… We do the vendor/provider research so you don’t have to! Avoid wasting time Expert Preferred investigating providers & scouring Google hunting for research reports. We do Provider Research 01 this for you and save you weeks of time and effort in the process. We use our proprietary evaluation soware and decades of experience to Guaranteed Vendor short-list the top vendors so you find the best provider. Don’t waste time 02 Short Listing with vendors who aren’t a perfect fit. (IQA) Intelligent We finalize your needs & requirements for a solution and then coordinate with our dedicated contact center engineers to summarize and Questionnaire 03 centralize your requirements. This means you don’t have to repeat yourself over and Assessment over as we meet with preferred vendors and avoid feeling like you’re “starting over” on every call. Allows us to hit the ground running with each vendor because we have all the information we need up front at our fingertips. We handle all aspects of vendor coordination so you can quickly schedule Professional Vendor meetings that fit your busy calendar. This means you don’t waste time 04 contacting each vendor directly as we handle all that for you. Coordination Service Custom Demos & We handle all aspects of vendor coordination so you can quickly Proposal Evaluations 05 schedule meetings that fit your busy calendar. This means you don’t waste time contacting each vendor directly as we handle all that for you. We have the vendor “finalists” provide live demos in your environment to See The Solution Live ensure the solution will work for you and your team. This enables you to In Your Environment get buy-in from the key stakeholders in your organization. This critical 06 (Proof of Concept to step ensures the solution is truly right for your needs. demonstrate the viability) 07 08 09 10 Vendor Selection and Project Rapid Adoption Post-Sale Escalations Contract / Services Implementation Training and Dedicated Support Negotiation Coordination Choose the best provider based on all We stick with you to ensure your Increase revenue by increasing We provide aer the sale support so you can the criteria and demonstrations done. project is delivered on time & the speed of adoption by all avoid the frustration of working your way We negotiate the best terms and within budget. This means we work team members and stakehold- through the vendor’s “help desk.” Cut to the conditions for the contract to protect closely with you to keep the vendor ers to get the most out of your front of the line for next level support and you as the buyer, as well as obtain any on track and meet their new solution. Cut down on the service to receive timely resolution to critical and all discounts and concessions commitments and agreed timeline. delay between implementing issues. We are your “concierge” for the long possible. We consistently get discounts your solution and seeing the haul to ensure no matter which vendor you you will not get on your own. benefits in your organization. choose, you always receive the expert care and attention your business deserves. AVANT | CCaaS 6-12 Report | 29

Copyright © 2021 AVANT Communcations