The document details the rising importance and market size of contextual communications, highlighting a projected $48 billion market within the broader $1.4 trillion communications services landscape in 2019. It emphasizes the transition from traditional communication systems to cloud-based, agile solutions that enhance customer interactions through real-time, personalized communication. The report outlines various technologies and strategies employed by businesses to meet increasing customer service expectations, improve retention, and innovate communication practices.

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Contextual Communications
September 2019
Kyle Howard-Johnson, Grady Kidder, and Mia Hegazy

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Contextual Communications Overview
Sources: Gartner, Jan 2019; “Worldwide Unified Communications and Collaboration Forecast, 2018-2022” IDC, May 2018; “Magic Quadrant for Customer Communications Management Software” Gartner, Nov 2014; “Worldwide Voice and Text Messaging Communications
Platform-as-a Service Forecast, 2018-2022” IDC, May 2018; “How APIs Enable Contextual Communications” Nexmo, Dec 2016
• Market Size: Gartner estimates that $3.9 trillion will be spent on information technology globally in 2019, 38% of which will be attributable to
communications services – more than three times what will be spent on enterprise software and more than six times what will be spent on data
centers
o Gartner estimated that more than 70% of customer communications would be digital, contextualized, and consumed on-demand via multiple
channels (including the web, mobile devices, and social media) by 2019
o Of the $1.4 trillion expected to be spent on communications services in 2019, IDC estimates contextual communications will account for
~$48.0 billion
o While Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) represents a ~$44.0 billion market today that is expected to grow at an 8% clip, the
Communications Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) market is roughly $4.0 billion in size but expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 40% over the
next three years, indicating the direction the market is headed – cloud-based solutions
• Investor’s Perspective: The market migration from legacy hardware- and network-centric systems of communication to a more agile, customer-centric,
cloud-based approach has enabled businesses to rethink how they approach communications
o This is an exciting time to back the differentiated, mission-critical companies that are innovating how businesses communicate, both internally
and with their customers, on a vertical and functional basis
o We also see opportunity in the robust infrastructure layer that empowers companies to transform their communication strategies
• Contextual communications refers to the two-way transfer of information between two parties, where both sides are aware of the relational,
environmental, and cultural context of the exchange (i.e., a conversation where both parties understand the background of the conversation), typically
with the goal of providing a more engaging and efficient experience
o Contextual data includes user identity, history, location, reason for engaging, preferences, etc.
• This report focuses on i) the underlying technology that enables companies and their customers / prospects to engage in real-time, personalized,
consistent communication across touchpoints (e.g., text, voice, in-app chat, email) and ii) the vertically- and functionally-focused applications that
leverage this infrastructure to inform and deliver communications
• A few examples of contextual communications include reminding users of appointments via SMS, click-to-call or message functionality, web-based chat,
call tracking, anonymized communications, and SMS surveys

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Market and Business Drivers Inform Solutions
Sources: “Gladly 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey” HubSpot, 2018; “2018 Customer Service Expectations Report” Bandwidth, 2018; “The Ultimate Guide to CPaaS” Gladly, 2018; “Businesses Lose $75 Billion Due To Poor Customer Service” Forbes, 2017; “The Hard
Truth About Acquisition Costs (and How Your Customers Can Save You)” HubSpot, 2018
Customer expectations continue to rise, and the businesses that serve them are responding by adopting contextual
communications strategies to make interactions more efficient, engaging, and informative
• Customer expectations for service are higher
than ever before, and engaging in trusted,
consistent, personalized communication via
preferred channels promotes higher-quality
interactions
o According to Gladly’s 2018 Customer Service
Expectations Report, 71% of consumers
want consistent experiences across any
channel, but only 29% receive it
• Personalized service matters more than speed –
customers want companies to remember their
history, follow up, and greet them by name
• Texting has become the most widely-used app
on smartphones – 97% of Americans text at least
once per day
• Click-to-call, according to consumers, is the most
important feature available during their online
shopping experience
• Communications tools that either integrate into
existing workflows or enable more efficient
workflows benefit from a seamless adoption
into business processes
o Employing a vertical or functional approach
enables these solutions to focus on specific
workflows or integrations
• A unified view of customer interactions helps to
inform business decisions
o Integrating with CRMs and other apps helps
provide a holistic view of the customer
o Collecting data to inform comms strategies
can also allow businesses and developers to
iterate on their solution and drive retention
• Communications are mission-critical, so quality
matters
o Robust network infrastructure with a high
level of quality and reliability can serve as a
major differentiator, though not all modes
of communication use cases require direct
access to network carriers
Customer Preferences
• Businesses lose >$75 billion a year from poor
customer service, and it is 5-25x more costly to
acquire a new customer than retain an existing
one
• Businesses seeking to improve customer
interactions and experiences are increasingly
adopting contextual comms strategies to:
o Improve customer satisfaction and
retention through personalized interactions
o Increase market penetration by reaching,
engaging, and converting new customers
o Save cost and time by leveraging contextual
data for more informed and efficient
interactions
o Reduce risk exposure by addressing
security and compliance issues
• Ingesting data from various sources helps inform
future exchanges – over time, analytics and AI
will automate interactions while maintaining
the personalization that customers seek
Business Benefits Contextual Comms Solutions

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Example: Weave’s unified phone service, two-way texting, chat, and other features allow businesses to engage in
personalized exchanges with patients and customers by integrating with practice management software,
extracting relevant information, and providing it to the office processionals during these interactions
Cloud Solutions Enable Contextual Communications
Innovations in the early 2000s such as smart phones and APIs, coupled with the migration of communications technology to
the cloud, set the stage for today’s contextual communications solutions
UCaaS
(8x8, RingCentral, Fuze)
CPaaS
(Twilio, SendBird, Ytel)
Analytics/
Automation
(Afiniti, Clarify, Invoca)
UCaaS solutions are bought by businesses and typically consist of hardware and software with out-of-the-box functionality
that allows businesses to take an omni-channel approach to communications by bundling various modes of communication
and collaboration – some offer APIs to provide greater interoperability, but they are typically less flexible than CPaaS solutions
Example: Canvas (owned by Jobvite) leverages Twilio’s Programmable SMS product to offer a text-based
interviewing platform that enables recruiters to source, engage, and screen more job candidates while
amplifying employment brands
CPaaS solutions are leveraged by developers, allowing them to embed voice, text, and other capabilities within their existing
business applications through open APIs/SDKs, removing the need to own hardware or network infrastructure and
empowering developers to take a simpler, faster, and more cost-effective approach to communications by moving them to
where most business applications exist today – the cloud
Example: Voci’s Customer Experience application offers their customers the ability to generate and analyze call
center call transcriptions to understand, in real-time, their customers’ pain-points and address them more quickly
Analytics and automation represent additional layers that can be integrated with applications through APIs or other developer
tools – analytics further inform communications strategies by empowering businesses to act on operational insights while
automated workflows and communications, through the use of AI/ML, increase efficiency by streamlining basic tasks

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Competition is Driving Innovation
In the highly competitive contextual communications market, we have identified a set of ‘Minimum Standard’ traits that providers must
demonstrate in order to remain a viable option and another set of ‘Differentiators’ that allow certain companies to stand out from the crowd
Analytics
InfrastructureCompatibilityEfficiency
Functionality Affordability
Security & Compliance
Automation
Minimum Standard Differentiators
Ability to streamline
communications and
increase efficiency
when compared with a
businesses existing
comms strategy
Platforms offered at a competitive
price point geared towards the target
customer segment with the ability to
flex up and down as required
Multiple modes of communication
(e.g., voice, text, chat) and
customized workflows for the
segment of the market the company
targets
Standard integrations
with all apps required
by the target customers
(e.g., Salesforce,
HubSpot, ServiceNow)
Sophisticated, secure, and
proprietary communications
infrastructure, providing a
higher level of quality and
reliability
Analytics layered on top of a
communications platform,
providing operational insights
that further inform comms
strategies and customer
interactions
Security and compliance
capabilities that ensure
collected data remains secure
and end users adhere to
applicable regulations
Automated workflows and
communications to increase
efficiency and streamline
basic tasks
Reliability
Leading network
uptime and reliability,
minimizing dropped
calls, poor connections,
and other service gaps

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Contextual Communications Landscape
Note: this landscape is intended to be a representative sampling and is not an exhaustive list. Please direct inquiries to kyle@catalyst.com.
HorizontalVertical
Customer Success / Contact Center Sales & Marketing Operational (Internal)
Healthcare E-Commerce / RetailFinancial Services OtherRecruiting
Business Intelligence / Analytics
Education
CPaaS / APIs / Developer Tools UCaaS
ApplicationsInfrastructure/Tools
Sources: Company websites

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Please send any inquiries to kyle@catalyst.com