Engagement of Things: Why IoT is missing a link, and how CINNOX completes it

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a defining trend. But it is fragmented. In the IoT ecosystem not everything is compatible, and there’s no framework in place to guide their development.

IoT put simply? Communication between a network of interoperable devices (that can work with each other) as a big information system. Without compatibility at its core, the fragmented IoT ecosystem is missing a link to improve communication and ultimately; customer experience. That’s where CINNOX comes in, to go beyond IoT and deliver on experience by making customer engagement simple – a concept we call the “Engagement of Things” (EoT).

Why is IoT fragmented? How the downfall of the 80s PBX market shaped our modern IoT ecosystem

The first PBX and video conferencing systems were introduced in the 1960s, and within 10 years the PBX market skyrocketed – due in part to the interoperability of telephones (all phones could communicate with each other, just like today where an iPhone can message an Android – they’re interoperable). Video conferencing however, didn’t take off for three key reasons;

• No interoperability (you couldn’t video call someone that didn’t have the exact same software and infrastructure as you)
• Extreme costs and dedicated expert operators
• Privacy concerns from paranoid staff, convinced that employers were spying on them

By the late 1980s, the highly profitable PBX market had passed its peak – because the product was already too perfect and no one needed to replace their systems. This taught businesses that in order for the tech market to succeed, it had to rely on churn – people replacing old with new; such as Apple slowing down iPhones to induce purchase of the latest models.

This mid-twentieth century mind-set of developing new technology and upgrades without interoperability led to the fragmented state of IoT, and the ecosystem that formed without customer experience.

The (not-so) hidden costs to business of a fragmented IoT ecosystem

60 years later the covid pandemic struck, and the issues of a fragmented IoT ecosystem hit hard. In the age of smart phones and smart homes, video conferencing software still wasn’t interoperable. Businesses unprepared for lockdowns were cut off from partners, and teams were unable to efficiently collaborate with other departments using different conferencing software.

Programmes like Linksys, Zoom, WebEx suddenly became commonplace, and then “zoombombing” reminded everyone of the serious security concerns that held video conferencing back for the past 60 years. Why couldn’t the popular, easy to use, experience-led platforms connect with the more secure platforms? Why couldn’t a team in a Microsoft Teams room, video call with a team in a Zoom meeting room?

Video conferencing is only one example of the issues caused by fragmented IoT. In the US, a centralised communication system for the healthcare industry would have saved US$30 billion. Managers were forced to use a mix of everything from databases and spreadsheets to emails and Post-It notes to control supply of gear, medicine, triage rooms, and manpower hours because of a lack of connection between systems of health facilities.

What is the Engagement of Things?

At CINNOX, the Engagement of Things (EoT) represents our philosophy for the future of both B2B and B2C communication. EoT is the link between the channels and devices customers use to connect with and order from a business, or conduct business. This link ensures a seamless and streamlined experience from channel to channel so every engagement is consistent and improved by data. Businesses can say goodbye to multiple records for the same customer – and efficiently collaborate for better communication. It also ensures impeccable record keeping, so businesses can keep contacts and communication history with partners even when staff leave the company, or they suddenly need to work from a different location.

Beyond business as usual: How CINNOX empowers seamless customer experiences

CINNOX makes customer engagement simple – for both customers and staff. As an easy-to-use platform, CINNOX brings together all chats, off-net and on-net calls into a singular chatroom for each individual customer, with the same easy-to-use chatroom interface for external and internal communication.

Provide real-time customer data and analytics for personalised service

With the chatroom led design, all customer communication history and intelligence across channels, such as location, language, device, browser, and previously visited web pages/products are available at every point of engagement. Along with CINNOX’s lightweight CRM for external contact management, businesses can integrate their own CRM such as Salesforce – streamlining full customer data and session notes from offline, loyalty programmes, events and more into the communications interface. By leveraging this, businesses can truly provide the best service and experience to a customer no matter what channel they choose.

With all of this data, comes great responsibility. CINNOX uses the latest standards of encryption, is ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant.

Unify customer and staff communication

As the greatest ambassadors for a business, great staff deserve great tools. In 2021 the intrinsic link between employee and customer communication gets even more important, with a majority of customers expecting businesses to have fast and efficient internal collaboration. CINNOX was designed for both customers and staff, to maximise performance with smart features, data, and efficient tools such as easy call and chat forwarding, video conferencing, call and video recording, ticketing systems, and smart routing.

Optimise customer experience and business performance through omnichannel data and analysis

With a fragmented IoT ecosystem, businesses struggling to analyse data have been waiting for practical implementation of blockchain technology – but still in its infancy, application of blockchain for customer service outside of financial services is still visionary. CINNOX’s omnichannel data and analysis offers a comprehensive look at all business communication for both customers and staff. Businesses can allocate resources and manpower where needed, identify top talent and high-performing channels, and effectively evaluate them with comparative data rather than various datasets in different formats that don’t match.

CINNOX’s transparent pricing enables accurate budgeting for communication expenses such as SMS, staff and customer calls, toll-free numbers and more in the same platform, making life easier for expense forecasting. With choice between PTSN and VOIP calls, businesses use the most effective option when making international calls, or even open local access numbers in regions with high traffic for better support, or a strategic approach to communication costs.

Beyond IoT with EoT: Improving customer’s overall experience

CINNOX empowers businesses to go beyond the limitations of IoT by putting customer experience at the fore. The Engagement of Things is your ticket to unlock growth, curate seamless communication experiences, strategically leverage data and analytics, and practically forecast communication costs for improved RoI with convenience.

CINNOX – customer engagement made simple: One person, one conversation, one interface.