Messaging as a Platform (MaaP) and its Opportunities for Operators

Through sophisticated application programming interfaces (API’s), Messaging-as-a-Platform (MaaP) is changing how businesses interact with consumers via messaging. The change is timely. As we approach 2020, consumer expectations are increasingly centered on the flexibility and immediacy of voice/text “intelligent assistance.”  This is now the era of AI-powered chatbot messaging, accessible via a mobile device at any time, place, and occasion of one's choosing.

According to Think With Google, consumers have twice the interaction with brands on mobile than on any other medium. Of more than 17,000 brand experiences, 60% report more disenchantment with a brand if they encounter a negative mobile interaction. So, with mobile accessibility becoming the measuring stick for consumer satisfaction, its no wonder 53% of study respondents admitted to abandoning a company’s mobile site if it took longer than 3 seconds to load before starting their interaction.

According to Business Insider, Internet giants Facebook, Microsoft, and Google have been investing in the expansion of chatbot technologies for decades. To date, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, QQMobile, and WeChat are driving the increase in this type of technology-enhanced messaging applications. WeChat and Facebook Messenger leverage powerful Messaging APIs to facilitate commercial interactions between businesses and consumers. Essentially, Facebook Messenger, Amazon Echo, and WeChat have changed how modern commerce is being transacted from the couch and desktop, and MaaP is enabling this change on the mobile device straight from your messaging inbox.

With these facts and stats in hand, and with eMarketer predicting that by 2018 global chat app users will top 2 billion and constitute 80% of smartphone users, its safe to say MaaP interactions will be easily adopted with this chat heavy behavior already ingrained in users digital life. That is why it is imperative that mobile operators capitalize on the rising popularity of AI and chat platforms and prepare for the Messaging-as-a-Platform ecosystem as it represents an opportunity for operators to increase customer interactions while uncovering revenue opportunities..

The GSMA’s Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging (UP) is a unique paradigm shift, where a triumvirate of OEMs/OS providers, platform vendors and mobile operators will deliver a ubiquitous global messaging service across networks for almost 7 billion consumers worldwide.

UP is currently supported by 58 global operators, OEMs, and OS providers and it will allow their subscribers to access a range of secure chatbot or Al-based services within the MaaP ecosystem through the native messaging app on their mobile device. With UP’s Rich A2P RCS messaging, consumers need only utilize one powerful messaging application to:

• Perform secure, encrypted bank account queries through a chat messaging interface instead of waiting in long lines to speak to a customer representative. Query their airline about available flights, change seating arrangements, and order in-flight meals through the MaaP interface instead of waiting for an available phone rep.
• Conduct bank-to-bank wire transfers with secure authentication and even block compromised credit cards using the secure MaaP interface on weekends instead of waiting for the next business day
• Integrate their location services and calendar application with public APIs to allow chat functionality to suggest itineraries, and route logistics for shared events.

The range of enhanced experiences mobile operators can now offer through the UP 1.0 platform will confidently secure their position as the arbiters and source of advanced messaging because of their well established and trusted reputations with their subscribers. Furthermore, with the upcoming deployment of the GSMA, UP Version 2.0 for advanced messaging, mobile operators will continue to increase subscriber QoE through the conversational commerce exposure and custom interactions with brands they will provide through the growing MaaP ecosystem. The more entrenched in their subscriber’s mobile life an operator can become, will reduce net churn rates and potentially increase ARPU due to the layering of additional revenue generating services. The GSMA even forecasts that mobile operators who deploy advanced communications services could see a 2%-14% revenue increase between 2015 and 2020.

With the intrinsic benefits in adopting Rich Communications Services (RCS)-based MaaP so clear, there’s never been a better time to participate in the value chain of messaging. If you’re interested In how you can uniquely leverage the MaaP ecosystem to your advantage, contact us. At Interop Technologies, we're focused on helping you find your better way forward.