If you are a CPaaS provider or a UCaaS platform serving Indian businesses, this means navigating a transformed compliance landscape. Here’s what actually changed, what it means for your business, and how to adapt. 

Current Scenario of Telecom Sector 

The transformation of India’s telecom revolution began with the modernization of public networks in the 1980s. The government set up the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) in August 1984 to design indigenous digital switching systems. 

Liberalization provided the real ignition. The 1999 National Telecom Policy shifted the sector from high fixed license fees to a revenue-share regime. This stabilized operators and accelerated rollout.  

Within a decade, teledensity leapt from 2.32% in March 1999 to 62.51% by October 2010. The subscriber base surged from 14.88 million in 1997 to 300.49 million in March 2008. By March 2006, India had already crossed 140.32 million users, a steep climb captured in the chart below.  

By mid-2025 the market’s scale and structure looked like this: 

• 1,171.91 million wireless subscribers (including 5G FWA) 
• 48.11 million wireline users, for a total of 1,220.02 million connections.   

Overall teledensity stood at 86.15%, with 125.74% in urban India and 59.19% in rural areas. These figures frame both the achievement and the remaining inclusion gap.  

What Does GST 2.0 Actually Include? 

The next-generation reforms implemented under GST 2.0 have simplified tax slabs to 5%, 18%, and 40%. The Council has simplified the structure into a 5% slab for essentials, 18% for standard goods, and 40% for luxury/sin items, replacing the earlier complex categories.  

The Big Picture Numbers:  

• 78% of all goods now fall under the 5% slab, down from previous higher categories 
• Electronics saw major relief with items like TVs moving from 28% to 18%    

The changes have become effective from September 22, 2025. 

Elaborating upon the new regime, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman called GST 2.0 a “system cleaning reform.” She said that “These reforms have a multi-sectoral and multi-thematic focus, aimed at ensuring ease of living for all citizens and ease of doing business for all.”  

Telecom’s GST Status 

The new regime impacted a wide variety of goods and services, leaving out a few. The verdict for telecom? Services have remained largely untouched by rate reductions. Here is the transformation in a nutshell: 

Zero Direct Relief 

Despite widespread speculation about potential rate cuts, GST on telecom services maintained its 18% rate. This affects: 

• Mobile voice calls and SMS 
• Data services and broadband 
• Value-added services 
• Roaming charges 
• Enterprise telecom solutions 

Why no change? The GST Council focused its rate rationalization efforts on goods that could provide immediate relief to final consumers. Telecom services, generating approximately ₹3.36 trillion in annual revenue, remain a crucial tax revenue source for the government. 

What Changed Behind the Scenes? 

While consumer bills saw no direct GST relief, you as telecom operators, might face significant operational changes: 

1. Place of Supply Rules for Intermediary Services

New Rule: Place of supply for intermediary services shifted to the recipient’s location. 

Impact for Telecom: 

• India-based aggregators and resellers can now qualify more services as zero-rated exports 
• International Application-to-Person messaging services, i.e.. text messages sent from a business application or platform to a person in another country benefit significantly 
• Carrier service brokering sees improved margins 

Example: A Mumbai-based CPaaS provider routing international SMS traffic can now treat more transactions as exports, reducing domestic GST liability from 18% to 0%. 

2. E-Invoicing Compliance Gets Stricter

Critical Deadline: Companies with Annual Aggregate Turnover (AATO) ≥ ₹10 crore must upload e-invoices within 30 days to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). 

What this means for telecom operators: 

• Time to upgrade billing systems, delays won’t cut it anymore 
• You’ll need real-time compliance tracking to stay on top of the rule 
• Miss the 30-day window? Your invoice could be rejected, impacting GST credit and reporting 

3. GSTAT Is Now Live for Dispute Resolution

The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is officially up and running and has started accepting appeals. Hearings are expected to begin in December 2025. 

Why this matters for telecom: 

• Faster resolution for prepaid voucher valuation issues 
• Clarity on how to classify roaming and interconnect charges 
• A more streamlined way to handle discount and commission disputes 

It’s a welcome move, finally, a clear path to resolve long-standing tax ambiguities. 

4. Input Tax Credit 

The GST rate on telecom services remains unchanged at 18%. However, the changes in GST rates on goods have opened some real opportunities to optimize your ITC strategy. 

Equipment & Infrastructure

• Most network hardware still attracts 18% GST 
• Some peripheral equipment may now fall under lower-rate slabs, time for a classification review 
• Bundled device + service plans might need re-evaluation under the updated HSN codes 

Consumer Electronics Boost

GST cuts on items like TVs, appliances, and gadgets could fuel higher consumer spending. That translates into more data usage, an indirect win for telecom operators. 

Adaptation Over Expectation 

GST 2.0 brought significant tax relief for goods, but telecom services were left untouched at 18%. So instead of waiting for a rate cut that might never come, your focus can now shift to: 

• Strengthening compliance systems 
• Finding new ITC optimization opportunities 
• Reworking export and intermediary service strategies 
• Reviewing equipment classifications and procurement plans 

As GST reshapes telecom operations and compliance, ensure your customer engagement evolves too. Explore how a strong customer experience strategy can help your telecom business stay compliant while delivering exceptional service

Key Takeaways for Telecom Operators 

• No GST reduction on consumer bills 
• Compliance requirements are getting tighter 
• Export and cross-border service opportunities are growing 
• Equipment procurement and bundling strategies need fresh analysis 

What Success Looks Like 

The telecom companies that move fast, embrace the new compliance landscape, and rework their tax strategies will be in a stronger position. Those still waiting for rate cuts may fall behind. 

In this new phase of GST, agility beats expectation. 

Want to stay compliant and efficient under the new GST regime? Explore how BPO call center software can help streamline operations and reduce cost burdens. 

FAQs 

The post How GST 2.0 is Going to Influence the Telecom Sector  appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

Thus, businesses must deliver an experience that is a class apart. It is this experience that becomes the defining element of any business’ success. 

While one may think it is easy to deliver a great customer experience (CX), many successful companies have a hard time dealing with it. As the radar of the customers starts to get bigger, the challenges also increase.  

Let’s break down the ins and outs of a robust customer experience strategy and how you can create one.  

What is a Customer Experience Strategy?

A customer experience (CX) strategy is a clear, actionable plan designed to create meaningful interactions between brands and customers. 

An effective CX strategy is built on key elements like: 

• Insights into competitors 
• Consumer behavior research 
• Market trends and data 
• Your company’s mission and vision 

It’s important to involve all departments in shaping this strategy, not just the teams that interact directly with customers. Gathering input from across the organization helps ensure everyone is aligned and working toward the same goal: enhancing the overall customer experience and strengthening customer relationships. 

Why Is a Customer Experience Strategy Important? 

Many businesses mistakenly assume that a customer experience strategy is only relevant for frontline or customer-facing roles. In reality, it affects every aspect of a business, from branding and operations to long-term financial performance. A well-crafted CX strategy brings a range of significant benefits. 

Here are five key reasons why developing strong customer experience strategies is essential:

1. Increased Customer Loyalty & Reduced Churn

A single bad experience can drive customers away. In fact, 54% of customers say they’d stop engaging with a brand after just one negative interaction. On the flip side, companies that invest in CX improvements see real results. For example, McKinsey noted that a telecom company reduced churn by 75% after redesigning its customer experience.

2. Revenue Growth

Loyal customers stick around longer and tend to spend more, especially in industries with high customer lifetime value (CLV). Companies known for exceptional customer experiences often double their revenue growth over time. While results don’t happen overnight, consistent improvements can lead to a significant competitive edge.  

3. Stronger Brand Advocacy

Happy customers talk. A positive customer experience encourages word-of-mouth referrals and social sharing, building brand reputation and attracting new business. Tools like the Net Promoter Score (NPS) help measure this advocacy, showing how likely customers are to recommend your brand. 

4. Competitive Differentiation

In saturated markets, a product or price alone may not be enough to stand out. A great customer experience becomes a powerful differentiator. When your service feels seamless, thoughtful, and consistent, it becomes much harder for competitors to lure customers away. 

5. Better Internal Alignment & Efficiency

A well-defined CX strategy fosters collaboration across departments. When everyone from marketing to operations understands their role in the customer journey, it reduces friction, improves communication, and streamlines workflows, all of which contribute to a smoother experience for the customer. 

How to Create a Customer Experience Strategy? 

To devise an effective customer experience strategy, focus on the common problems that your customers face. Take an in-depth look to learn more about their issues and figure out how your product can help. When you start doing this, you begin inching closer to delivering unparalleled CX.  

1) Know Your Customers In and Out 

It is imperative that businesses know their customers’ behaviors. In an ever-changing landscape, it is crucial to figure out the actual needs and demands of the customers.  

How can you find these needs? 

Feedback is always the best and safest way of knowing what’s working and what’s not working for your customers. Businesses must focus on extending multichannel support to collect customer feedback, that is via emails, social media handles, calls, SMSs, and chats. Other options, such as surveys, also help us to know what the customers really need. 

Customer reviews are an important aspect while collecting feedback as they directly evaluate a company’s products and services. These reviews can further be forwarded to the departments concerned and will help in improving the services. Additionally, customer calls can be recorded and used to train new agents and deliver more engaging and satisfying service. 

Don’t just stop there, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and analyze if your services are able to eliminate their pain points and make their lives easier.  

2) Pay Attention to Negative Feedback 

Both positive and negative feedback offers an insight into the customers’ perspective. While the former motivates the employees, the latter helps the business identify bottlenecks and proactively resolve these issues. It also aids in identifying the strengths and leveraging them in a better fashion. 

Your support and marketing team must address these responses effectively and take considerable action wherever required. This will also show the customers that their opinions are taken seriously. 

Such an approach benefits the business in two ways, it makes the customer feel valued and improves the quality of customer service.  

3) Improve the Support Efficiency 

To emerge as the best in this competitive world, it is essential to work on how efficiently you service your clients. It is to be noted that several other companies provide services of almost the same standard as yours. Thus, efficiency becomes an essential differentiating factor that cannot be overlooked.  

All this cannot be achieved without a proper Customer Experience Strategy, a dedicated support team, and actionable goals. Customers should be segmented based on their feedback, analytics, and all other data available to the business. You should focus more on building a customer-centric culture not in your team, but overall company.  

Delays in any services should be minimized or avoided altogether. Communicate using calls, emails or other channels to capture key insights. Use all-in-one contact center software like tools to collate the insights on one dashboard. 

4) Increase the Scope for Innovation and Creativity 

As the popular saying goes: ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. While racing to become the best, one should always be aware of what their competitors are doing.  

Giants like Apple, Disney, Tesla are now looking for innovative ways to deepen their connections with existing customers rather than making new ones. In this regard, rich technology has been a real help to businesses, it ensures gratifying experiences for, both, customers and the company.  

Keeping pace with the modern, technology-driven world is important if you want to stay ahead in the race. Not using the latest tools can hinder the growth of any business. Use these tools to devise new techniques to stay connected with your customers at all times. Make the most of platforms like WhatsApp to send follow-up messages, updates, and other information. 

Omnichannel support will help build a strong relationship with the customers. And you can also use separate channels to manage grievances so that your clients don’t have to send out lengthy emails or wait in long queues to get heard. An innovative and creative approach is not only authentic and creative but also cost-effective. 

5) Engage Your Customers on Social Media 

Customers love getting social. Everyone is on social media, if you are not, then you are absolutely missing out on something that can take your company to new heights. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, to name a few, have become synonymous with people’s voices.  

Customers love taking to social media to write reviews and leave suggestions for businesses. It is these reviews and feedback that, then, influence others. Thus, social media is an effective tool to capture and easily engage with your target audience.  

Another important factor is that the option of raising concerns via social media is always open. Customers can submit their issues over the various channels available to them, and the customer support executives can track them and resolve the error as soon as possible.  

This is a very convenient and easy way to retain your customers. Social media customer support also helps to look at the problems on a bigger scale. Moreover, whenever a query is solved openly and promptly on such networks, people can see how well the business treats their customers and handles their issues. 

6) Rewards Your Loyal Customers 

Prospective customers will want to do business with you only when they know that your products and services are of high quality. This is where loyal customers are an invaluable asset to the company, they become brand ambassadors and help with organic word of mouth promotion.  

One way to ensure customer loyalty is by rewarding them for their engagement, bulk orders, hosting giveaways, and offering them discounts. This will be a good way to acknowledge customers that are truly invested in your brand and spread good word about your company. 

Customer Experience Strategy Template 

Creating an exceptional customer experience isn’t magic, it’s methodology. Just like following a proven recipe, successful CX strategies combine essential ingredients in the right proportions.  

Our template breaks down these six critical components into actionable steps, helping you build a comprehensive strategy that resonates with your customers and drives business results. 

Ready to elevate your CX with Acefone?

Contact us Now

To Wrap Up 

Since the customer is the king and will always be one, it is important to retain and engage with them over and over. When an organization makes customers their priority, it reflects in their actions and even in their numbers. It also speaks of how much they value their customer relationship, how they treat loyal clients, and how they resolve any and all issues. 

More than anything, it is important to make an emotional connection with humans, this is where the winning points lie. Loyal customers play a big role in your success and are a part of your family. Thus, you must take good care of their emotional needs and win their loyalty and trust. 

Frequently Asked Questions

The post What is a Customer Experience Strategy? A Guide For Customers appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

You’re not alone. According to a study by Clockify, employees spend 62% of their time on repetitive tasks. Their time is occupied by writing emails, updating timesheets, formatting documents, and entering the same data on different apps.  

Maybe you just brush them off as a part of your daily office routine. But did you know that these tasks amount to a total of 209 hours a year? That’s a lot of wasted time, particularly for mundane things that are not even part of the skilled work that you were hired to do!  

 Luckily, the solution is not to work longer hours. Rather, it’s to work smarter.  

This is where templates and automation come in. These two strategies serve as your real-life shortcut button. They help you get rid of routine tasks, reduce mental load, and make your workflow more streamlined.   

Let’s explore how you can use them both to reclaim your time and be your most Productivity Hacks self below. 

What Are Templates?  

Templates are preformatted samples for designs and documents. They serve as a framework using which you can easily duplicate work without starting from scratch every time.  

 They are perfect for tasks that need to be repeated regularly but don’t need a custom, revolutionary look each time.  

 Let’s say you need a reminder post for an event that happens every week. You probably don’t need a new design each time, especially if the only changes are the date and time.  

 A template is then the best fix for this. You can create a set layout that already has your logo, color palette, and typography in place. You’ll then just need to edit the text when needed.  

 See? Fast and easy! 

How to Use Templates to Boost Efficiency? 

Some ways you can use templates are: 

1. Email Content 

Emails are one of the most frequent forms of communication in the workplace, and many messages tend to follow similar patterns. Creating email templates for common situations such as client onboarding, follow-ups, or feedback requests, can help you save time.  

For example, when welcoming a new client, instead of drafting a new message every time, you can have a polished, professional template ready that only needs minor personalization. This approach speeds up your workflow and helps maintain a consistent brand voice. 

2. Social Media Posts 

Consistency is key in social media marketing, and design templates make it easy to maintain a cohesive brand identity across platforms. Whether you’re posting on Instagram, running Facebook ads, creating YouTube channel covers, or designing LinkedIn banners, templatizing allows quick customization. 

3. Marketing and Branding Collaterals 

Beyond digital content, templates are also invaluable for offline marketing materials and branding collaterals. For example, when promoting a new product or event, you can simply update the details in your template rather than designing a new flyer from the ground up. This not only saves time but also reduces the need to hire external designers for every new campaign. 

4. Reports and Presentations 

Creating reports and presentations can often be time-consuming, especially when you need to include detailed charts, tables, and graphs that update regularly. With pre-set templates for these documents, you can quickly plug in new data without worrying about redesigning layouts. Templates help ensure that your reports look consistent, clear, and professional every time you present them.  

How To Create Effective Templates? 

Now that you understand the importance of templates, here’s a simple guide on how to create some: 

1. Identify key elements – Take a look at your previous work. Is there a set layout, placement, or language that you use? Then look at what changes each time. Maybe it’s the client name or date. Or maybe it’s the hero image. Recognizing patterns like these can help you craft a usable template.  
2. Add your branding – Make sure to always add your logo design, color palette, typography, imagery, and other visual elements. If it’s written content, ensure that it uses your brand voice. This helps create more cohesive and on-brand templates.  If you don’t already have a strong visual identity, especially a good logo, consider using a logo generator to quickly create a professional design that reflects your brand’s personality and values. 
3. Make your placeholders obvious – Use brackets, highlights, or bold text for the placeholder content that you need to replace so you can easily find them. This way, you avoid errors like sending an email that still says “[Client Name]”.  
4. Make them accessible – A great template is useless if your team can’t find or use them. Your templates should be saved on accessible places like shared folders, internal wikis, or cloud storage. You can also save them directly on the tools you use (ex. Gmail, Notion) to save even more time.   
5. Continuously tweak and improve- Your templates shouldn’t be static. Over time, you should update it with feedback and historical data. Maybe you noticed that your customers prefer a shorter message. Maybe they respond better to pastel-colored backgrounds. Or maybe they find your text a little small to read. And so on. This can help you create better templates that suit your customers’ preferences and needs.  

Tools To Create Your Templates 

Interested in using templates for your work? Here are our top recommendations of tools to try:  

• Gmail or Outlook – to set up canned responses or email messages 

• BeeFree, Mailchimp, or Stripo – for those who need to create more visual and dynamic emails for email marketing 

• BrandCrowd, Canva, or Figma – to create social media and marketing assets. Here you can find tools like Facebook cover maker, Instagram Reel maker, invoice maker, poster maker, and more.  

• Airtable or Coda – to create database-style templates like sales trackers, monthly reports, customer analytics, and so on.  

• Confluence or Notion – to create templates for internal documentation or a wiki. These tools provide the storage needed to access your templates.  

What Is Automation? 

Automation is the use of technology, tools, or software to perform tasks with little to no human assistance. The tools run in the background while you’re getting your work done. The only real task you need to do is to set up the process or the system. But once that is done, you don’t need to lift a finger after.  

For example, you can set up your email tool to send a welcome email to anyone who subscribes to your newsletter. You can also send a thank-you message once their package is marked received.  

Additionally, with automation, you can save your files to specific folders in Google Drive. Or set it up to auto-fill forms in Google Forms.   

Have you ever used a password manager? Or finance software that automatically sends payments every 30th of the month? Yes, those are automation tools as well!   

As you can see, automation is a great way to reduce menial tasks so that you can focus on things that actually matter.  

How to Use Automation to Reduce Repetitive Tasks? 

Some other ways you can use automation is through:  

1. Social media posting 

You can use it to schedule posts in advance and post them at a specific time and date. Alternatively, you can also set it to post updates across different platforms the moment a blog or a video goes live.  

2. Calendar scheduling  

Instead of messaging back and forth just to find the right time for a meeting, some scheduling tools can automatically sync your calendars across platforms. These tools can also handle the booking itself, plus automatically send reminders and follow-ups.  

3. Task or ticket creation  

Some project management tools can automatically set tasks to repeat weekly, monthly, or whatever custom time you need. Some can also be linked to your CRM so that once a customer submits a request, a corresponding ticket will automatically be assigned to the right person.  

4. Report distribution 

Instead of manually compiling data, automation tools can pull it and create a summary that can be automatically sent through email or Slack.  

5. Data sync 

Automation can help you move data from one place to different platforms. For example, if a customer fills out a form on your website, this information will be sent to your CRM, project management tool, and email tool.  

Another is your inventory. Once a customer purchases an item on one of your third-party ecommerce platforms, it will automatically reflect on your website or in-store inventory.  This reduces the need for manually copy-pasting data and also ensures that your data is always up to date.  

Popular Automation Tools for Productivity Hacks

Convinced by the power of automation? Here are some of our recommended tools to use: 

• Acefone: Cloud-based communication system provides solutions like call center software for enterprise and auto dialer software for business, helping you automate customer outreach workflows and boost team productivity. 

• Zapier – an automation tool that can connect different platforms (such as your email to Slack to Trello) to automatically sync your work and take care of repetitive tasks for you.  

• IFTTT – an automation tool that uses the “If This Then That” logic. For instance, if you post on Twitter, it will automatically post it to Instagram as well. You can also use it to automatically log any mentions of you on social media on a tracking spreadsheet.  

• ActiveCampaign, Brevo, or Klaviyo– email tools that can handle more powerful and complex automations. 

• Calendly or SavvyCal –  for scheduling your meetings. 

• Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later – to schedule your social media posts. 

• Asana, ClickUp, or Jira – project management tools that can integrate with other tools for easy automation. 

Conclusion 

Being productive doesn’t mean doing constant overtime or working harder than most.  

What you need to do is work smarter by using templates and automation tools that can handle the busy work for you. This includes not just documents and data, but your communications as well. 

Automating communication processes, like call routing, follow-ups, or team notifications, can drastically reduce manual effort and improve response times. 

That’s where Acefone comes in. You get a cloud-based communication solution with features like intelligent call forwarding, IVR systems, and real-time analytics. It helps you streamline workflows, stay connected effortlessly, and focus more on meaningful conversations instead of repetitive tasks. 

The post Productivity Hacks: Using Templates and Automation appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

What makes these awards truly meaningful is that they’re based entirely on user feedback and product performance. Unlike many industry recognitions, they aren’t influenced by marketing spend or paid nominations. 

In other words, this win comes straight from the people who use our products every day. 

Where We Stood Out

The Capterra Shortlist is a trusted resource for software buyers. It features products that are highly rated by users and show strong popularity in the market. 

Being included in the Call Center Software category means Acefone has consistently received positive reviews for usability, customer support, and feature reliability. These ratings are all based on real feedback from users. It also reflects that many businesses are actively choosing and using Acefone to manage their contact center operations. 

This shortlist is designed to help businesses quickly identify tools that perform well in real-world scenarios, and we’re proud to be among the top picks in 2025. 

The Front Runner badge from Software Advice recognizes products that offer outstanding customer satisfaction and functionality. 

Being named a FrontRunner in the Cloud Telephony category means Acefone stands out in several key areas. These include ease of use, performance, feature quality, and overall user experience. 

This recognition is especially meaningful because it speaks directly to the core of what we do — help businesses simplify communication. It shows that our users not only trust our platform, but also find it effective, intuitive, and scalable. 

About Capterra and Software Advice 

Capterra is a Gartner‑owned software marketplace featuring over 2.5 million verified reviews across 50,000+ products in 900+ categories. With more than 5 million monthly business users, it helps decision-makers compare and select software based on real user feedback and objective research.  

Software Advice, also part of Gartner Digital Markets, assists businesses in choosing technology solutions. Its Front Runners reports evaluate software based on recent verified user reviews, scoring products on Usability and Customer Satisfaction (including support, value, and recommend‑ability). Products with at least 20 reviews in 24 months qualify for the evaluation, after which the best get featured. 

Shoutout to Our Customers 

We couldn’t have done this without you. 

The honest reviews, thoughtful feedback, and day-to-day trust you’ve placed in Acefone have helped shape what we are today. We’re constantly learning from you, and that learning drives our roadmap. 

Here are a few things customers have said that keep us going: 

Capterra 

Software Advice 

Software Advice 

What’s Next? 

This recognition gives us fresh motivation to keep doing what we do best. We will continue building a next-gen communication platform that works better for everyone. Advanced AI-led functionalities, smarter workflows, and even easier onboarding, are just a few initial steps toward what’s coming next. 

Here’s to more growth, more learning, and more moments to celebrate together in 2025 and beyond. 

The post Acefone Leads in Call Center and Telephony Category in 2025 appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

It’s easy to see why too; the talent pool is deep, the time zone is friendly for global coverage, and the costs are significantly less than hiring in the likes of mainland Europe or America.  

But it’s not all roses. Hiring internationally tends to come with more red tape than is easily managed. What about all the legal aspects, payroll tasks and compliance tick-boxes involved in cross-border recruitment?  

Well, that’s where Employer of Record (EOR) platforms step in. No local entity? No problem. 

In this guide, we’ve rounded up the 10 best EOR platforms to help you build a VoIP-enabled support team in India. Let’s jump in. 

1. Remote – Best Overall for Global-Scale Compliance

Remote gives you full control over your hiring — you can onboard Indian support reps in a few clicks, manage localized payroll, and ensure watertight compliance with Indian labor laws. Plus, they integrate easily with major HR and comms tools, meaning your VoIP setup (whether you’re using Acefone or something else) will slot in without a fuss.  

Standout features: 

• Owns legal entities in India (no outsourcing middlemen) 
• Automated payroll, taxes, and benefits tailored for Indian law 
• Solid contractor-to-full-time upgrade path 
• Integrates with your existing tech stack (hello, VoIP systems) 

Best for: Mid-to-large companies looking for a reliable, scalable EOR with high compliance standards. 

Minor gripe: The price point can be steep for startups just dipping their toes into India. 

2. Deel – Best for Fast, Plug-and-Play Hiring

Deel has become one of the most recognizable names in the global employment market, and it’s easy to see why. It’s fast, slick, and takes care of the heavy lifting when it comes to onboarding, contracts, and compliance across 150+ countries — India very much included. 

Deel makes it simple to get Indian support agents up and running with localized contracts, automated payroll, and benefits all handled from one dashboard. It integrates well with the likes of Slack, Zoom, and most popular VoIP tools, making it easy to drop new hires into your support workflows without technical drama. 

Standout features: 

• Fully owned legal entity in India (no third-party providers) 
• Quick onboarding — often in under 5 minutes 
• 24/7 global support if you hit any snags 
• Built-in integrations with popular VoIP and collaboration platforms 

Best for: Startups and scale-ups looking to move fast and keep the hiring process lean. 

Minor gripe: The interface is highly streamlined, but if you prefer more control or customization, it can feel a bit locked down. 

3. Remote People – Best for Cost-Effective, Compliant Hiring in India

Unlike many global-first platforms, Remote People is deeply focused on Indian market compliance, with a standout local footprint and support. They combine the precision of a top-tier EOR with pricing that won’t blow up your budget, making them a great fit for scaling support teams. 

Their India Employer of Record service handles everything from onboarding and payroll to taxes and benefits. All fully compliant with national and state-specific labor laws. And yes, their infrastructure plays nicely with your VoIP stack, whether you’re using Acefone, or any other provider. 

Standout features: 

• Transparent, flexible Employer of Record (EOR) pricing models, starting from $199 per employee per month 
• Local labor law compliance without the need to set up an Indian entity 
• Assistance with both employee and contractor hiring 
• Optional add-ons like private insurance and equity benefits to stay competitive 

Best for: Businesses looking to build VoIP-enabled teams in India with a cost-efficient, compliance-first EOR partner. 

Minor gripe: Currently focused primarily on India. Perfect for local growth but may require a second EOR if expanding globally. 

4. Rippling – Best for All-in-One HR + IT Setup

Rippling isn’t just an EOR platform — it’s more like an HR, IT, and finance command center. If you’re looking to hire support agents in India and ship them laptops, set up accounts, and manage their access to 15 tools in one click, Rippling’s your solution. 

 Rippling shines when you need to manage both the people and the tools. You can provision VoIP software like Zoom Phone, RingCentral, or Dialpad directly through Rippling’s IT automation system. That means your team in India can start talking to customers the same day they’re onboarded. 

Standout features: 

• EOR coverage plus full HRIS and IT management 
• Entity in India (via partners, but well-managed) 
• Automated app provisioning — including VoIP tools 
• Localized payroll, tax, and benefits handling 

Best for: Tech-forward companies that want HR, IT, and compliance in one clean stack 

Minor gripe: The EOR side isn’t Rippling’s core product — it’s solid, but not as refined as Remote or Deel. 

5. Papaya Global – Best for Complex Global Payroll Needs

Papaya Global stands out for its payroll infrastructure. If your support team in India is just one piece of a very international puzzle, Papaya is great at handling multi-country complexity without losing its mind — or yours. 

While not VoIP-specific, Papaya’s extensive integrations and APIs make it easy to connect with your comms stack. They support local employment in India and offer strong reporting tools, so you can manage compliance and payroll while keeping your VoIP metrics in check. 

Standout features: 

• Global payroll engine with deep local compliance 
• India coverage via local partners 
• Supports contractors and full-time employees 
• Custom reporting and analytics (great for ops managers) 

Best for: Companies hiring across multiple countries with complex payroll needs. 

Minor gripe: The interface isn’t quite as polished, and support can be hit or miss. 

6. Multiplier – Best for APAC-Focused Hiring

Multiplier is a rising star, and notably strong when it comes to hiring in the Asia-Pacific region. If India is your focus (or the starting point), Multiplier offers great local expertise and competitive pricing. 

Why it’s great for VoIP-enabled teams in India? 

With offices situated in India, Multiplier offers faster onboarding and stronger compliance adherence. It also integrates with a wide range of tools, including communication platforms and VoIP services — so your support team won’t be stuck in onboarding limbo. 

Standout features: 

• Strong coverage across Asia, including full legal presence in India 
• Simple dashboard with localized contracts and payroll 
• Integrates well with your tech stack, including VoIP tools 
• Offers global benefits packages and IP protection 

Best for: Companies focused on India or broader APAC expansion. 

Minor gripe: Smaller platform, so some niche features are still catching up to the big players. 

7. Skuad – Best for India-First Expansion

 Skuad is a lesser-known but fast-growing EOR provider with particularly deep roots in India. If your plan is to build out a serious support operation in the country, it’s worth a closer look. 

Skuad has a strong local infrastructure and offers tailored services for companies hiring large support teams. Their platform includes pre-configured compliance templates and VoIP-friendly integrations, so you’re not manually duct-taping workflows together. 

Standout features: 

• Deep focus on India and other emerging markets 
• Built-in compliance workflows for fast onboarding 
• VoIP-ready with integrations into major platforms 
• Simple pricing and responsive local support 

Best for: Businesses prioritizing India as their main support hub. 

Minor gripe: Smaller global footprint if you’re planning to expand beyond Asia later. 

8. Borderless AI – Best for AI-Powered Onboarding & Automation

Borderless AI is one of the newest entrants in the EOR space, and it’s already turning heads. Built with automation in mind, it leans heavily on AI to speed up global hiring, onboarding, and HR processes. A huge leverage if you’re scaling fast and want to cut down on admin overhead. 

Borderless AI allows for fast, compliant hiring with localized contracts, payroll, and benefits. Their AI assistant, Alberni, automates everything from document collection to answering HR questions. That means less time onboarding, more time training your support team — and yes, your VoIP stack can plug right in. 

Standout features: 

• AI-driven onboarding and HR automation 
• Full EOR capabilities with coverage in India 
• Localized benefits, contracts, and payroll 
• API access and integrations with common HR/VoIP tools 

Best for: Tech-savvy companies wanting to automate HR processes and reduce manual labor. 

Minor gripe: Still new to the market, so bugs aren’t unheard of. 

9. RemoFirst – Best for Contractor + EOR Hybrid Teams

RemoFirst has carved out a niche as a solid, affordable EOR provider with strong global reach and stellar focus on supporting hybrid teams. Teams that combine full-time employees and long-term contractors. 

RemoFirst covers India through trusted in-country partners, and while the dashboard is fairly minimal, it handles all the core EOR functions like contractor invoicing and onboarding pretty well. VoIP tools are easily integrated through third-party apps or manual provisioning. 

Standout features: 

• Hybrid-friendly: supports both contractors and employees 
• Decent coverage in India, with local payroll options 
• Transparent pricing and no hidden fees 
• Simple dashboard for onboarding and management 

Best for: Companies building flexible support teams with a mix of employment types. 

Minor gripe: Support response times aren’t always as fast as Deel or Remote. 

10. Gloroots – Best for Startups Testing International Hiring

Arguably the least talked-about entry in our list, Gloroots is nevertheless building momentum fast. Especially startups that want to dip a toe into international hiring before scaling. 

With a clean interface, low-friction onboarding, and competitive India coverage, Gloroots gives you just enough infrastructure without the enterprise-level complexity. It supports VoIP tools through manual and API-based integrations, and its customer support is notably responsive for a smaller platform. 

Standout features: 

• Local hiring and payroll services in India 
• Clean UI and easy onboarding 
• Transparent, startup-friendly pricing 
• Helpful support team and growing integrations list 

Best for: Early-stage companies exploring India as their first international hiring hub.  

Minor gripe: Still growing — not as many integrations or features as the more mature platforms. 

So, there you have it — ten of the top EOR platforms to help you build a VoIP-enabled customer support team in India, without losing sleep over a mountain of paperwork and red tape! You’ve got the tech, now all you need to do is unlock the talent. Now go forth and hire — legally! Or, if you fancy more reading, check out our guide to managing a new remote workforce.

The post 10 Best EOR Platforms to Build a VoIP-Enabled CS Team in India appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

They’re not just managing customer interactions, they’re orchestrating them. 

The Customer Experience as a Service (CXaaS) market is projected to grow from USD 12.65 billion in 2025 to USD 26.11 billion by 2034. There’s a compelling reason behind this explosive growth. Forward-thinking leaders are discovering that CXaaS isn’t just another tech buzzword. It’s their competitive weapon for transforming fragmented touchpoints into seamless, revenue-driving customer journeys. 

But what exactly is CXaaS, and why should it matter to you? 

Let’s understand. 

The Customer Experience Crisis 

Picture this scenario: A customer calls your bank at 2 AM with an urgent transaction issue. They get transferred three times, explain their problem repeatedly, then get asked to email documents. The next day, they follow up via chat, only to start the entire process over again. 

Sounds familiar? You’re not alone. 

Most businesses today operate what we call “channel silos.” They have separate systems to manage calls, email, chat, and messaging apps, such as WhatsApp. Each channel operates independently, creating a fragmented nightmare for customers.

The US Context: Digital Expectations Are Skyrocketing 

The US market consists of 322 million internet users with 93.1% smartphone penetration. This means that, the average American customers spend 7 hours daily on digital devices, with 67% expecting instant responses to customer service inquiries. 

This creates unique challenges such as: 

• Privacy regulations surrounding customer data including CIRCIA and some state-level laws like CPRA along with other emerging federal requirements 

• Omnichannel sophistication with high integration expectations across all touchpoints 

• Premium experience demands with at least a three-nines uptime system and zero tolerance for delays or friction 

• Enterprise-grade security requirements for data protection and compliance 

• Real-time expectations where 90% of customers expect immediate responses 

What is CXaaS?

So, what exactly is Customer Experience as a Service (CXaaS)? 

Think of CXaaS as your customer experience orchestra conductor. Instead of having separate musicians (channels) playing different songs, CXaaS ensures every touchpoint plays in perfect harmony. 

It operates through a cloud-based platform that unifies all customer communication channels into a single, intelligent system. Th main aim is to provide consistent, personalized experiences across every interaction. 

The Four Pillars of CXaaS 

Here’s a breakdown of the main components of customer experience as a service: 

1. Omnichannel Orchestration 

Think about how frustrating it is when you start a conversation on chat, then call customer service, only to have to explain everything all over again. That’s exactly what omnichannel contact center software solves. It creates smooth transitions between voice, video, chat, and messaging so customers can interact with agents on multiple channels without losing context.  

Each caller profile travels with you across every touchpoint. This way, the context of your conversation is preserved no matter which channel you are jumping to. No more repeating yourself or starting from scratch. 

2. AI-Powered Intelligence 

Unlike human agents, AI doesn’t just wait for customers to dictate what they need. Instead, it actually anticipates their needs before they even ask. It’s like having a customer service rep who can read minds.  

AI-powered customer experience systems analyze sentiment in real-time, picking up on whether someone is frustrated, confused, or just needs quick help. Then they route the customers to the right agent. This means no more getting bounced around in different departments or waiting in the wrong queue. 

3. Cloud-Native Architecture 

Here’s what makes modern platforms so reliable: they’re built for the cloud from the ground up. Whether it’s Black Friday sale or a sudden surge in support requests, the cloud contact center system automatically scales up to handle the load without breaking a sweat.  

You can reach a global audience while still following the necessary rules and regulations. Plus, everything connects easily with your existing systems through APIs, so you’re not starting from scratch or dealing with compatibility nightmares. 

If you want to learn more, reach us at Virtual Call Center solutions

4. Advanced Analytics & Insights 

You know how you wish you could see exactly what’s happening in your customer service operation at any moment? That’s what real-time dashboards give you – a clear view of everything that’s going on right now. But it goes deeper than just current stats. You can map out the entire customer journey to see where agents are getting stuck or having great experiences. Beyond that, you also get predictive analytics that help you spot problems before they happen, so you can fix things proactively instead of always playing catch-up. 

CXaaS vs. Traditional Customer Service 

According to a Gartner report, 80% of all customer interactions take place through AI-powered communication channels. This shift marks a fundamental transformation, not just in tools, but in the entire customer experience strategy.  

While traditional customer service often struggles with fragmented systems and slow, reactive responses, Customer Experience as a Service (CXaaS) differs. It offers an integrated, intelligent, and scalable model suitable for today’s world.  

Here is a breakdown of how the two approaches differ: 

The CXaaS Implementation Playbook 

Now that you understand the unified CXaaS model in detail, let’s explore how to successfully implement it within your organization.  

This playbook outlines a structured 90-day rollout plan divided into three key phases: Foundation, Implementation, and Optimization. Each phase builds upon the previous one, ensuring a smooth transition and measurable outcomes. 

Critical Success Factors for CXaaS Implementation  

Your CXaaS transformation will only succeed if you build it on a strong strategic foundation. Here are a few critical factors you need to consider for successful implementation. 

• Executive Sponsorship 

Transformation starts at the top. Having C-level support will ensure faster decision-making, budget approvals, and cultural momentum. 

• Data Quality 

High-quality, unified data is foundational to any customer experience system. Invest in cleansing and normalizing your datasets before going live. 

• Change Management 

Prepare teams for new tools and workflows. Communicate benefits clearly, offer training, and celebrate quick wins. 

• Gradual Rollout 

Don’t attempt a massive switch overnight. Pilot first, measure results, learn from them, and expand in phases. 

Common Implementation Errors to Avoid 

Even the most promising CXaaS transformation can go off track without the right precautions. Here are some common pitfalls you need to actively avoid, during implementation: 

• Big Bang Approach – Trying to transform everything at once can cause chaos. Phase your rollout. 

• Neglecting Training – Teams need guidance to adopt new systems. Don’t assume “they’ll figure it out.” 

• Ignoring Integration – Poorly integrated systems lead to fragmented data and broken experiences. 

• Overlooking Mobile – A mobile-first design is essential in today’s customer landscape. 

• Skipping Analytics – Without measurement, you won’t know what is working or failing. 

Future-Proof Your CX Strategy: Complete CXaaS Guide for 2025

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The Future of CXaaS 

CXaaS platforms have already made a big difference in how businesses connect with customers. But the real game-changer is what’s coming next. New tech and evolving business models are set to shake things up even more. 

What can you expect to see in the customer service experience market? Let’s take a look at them. 

• Generative AI Integration 

Generative AI enables more natural, contextual conversations that feel genuinely human, while simultaneously generating personalized content. So far, its impact has been significant – with the global Gen AI market projected to reach $967.65 billion by 2032.   

The technology’s ability to understand context, generate relevant responses, and learn from each interaction creates a more engaging customer experience. You can also provide 24/7 support that doesn’t feel robotic or scripted. AI systems today are capable of handling complex queries while maintaining the natural conversational flow customers expect from human agents. 

• Edge Computing 

Edge computing is a technology that processes data closer to the source, near the user or device, instead of relying on a centralized cloud. Moving computational power closer to the end user slashes latency to under 5 milliseconds, compared to the 20-40 milliseconds typical of cloud computing, creating a noticeable improvement in user experience. 

The technology also enhances data privacy and security by processing sensitive customer information locally rather than transmitting it to distant cloud servers. By the end of 2025, 75% of data is expected to be created outside central data centers. This makes edge computing essential for delivering responsive customer experiences while keeping customer data secure. 

• Outcome-Based Pricing 

The traditional model of paying for software features is giving way to outcome-based pricing, where you pay for measurable results rather than capabilities. That means success metrics drive the cost, making the whole setup more transparent and keeping both providers and clients more accountable. 

This pricing model encourages continuous optimization and innovation, as providers must consistently deliver measurable improvements to justify their fees. You get predictable costs tied to performance, and they stay focused on creating solutions that actually move the needle around your customer experience. 

• Industry-Specific Solutions 

The one-size-fits-all approach to customer experience platforms is evolving into industry-specific solutions designed for particular sectors. Healthcare organizations require different compliance and privacy features than financial services companies, while retail businesses need different integration capabilities than manufacturing firms.  

Think about the healthcare sector for a moment. A major U.S.-based healthcare provider needs more than just a standard CX platform. They need something that is truly tailored to medical procedures. That means staying HIPAA compliant, protecting sensitive patient data, and working with workflows that make sense for hospitals and clinics. 

Now imagine if they had a CXaaS solution built just for that. 

Instead of forcing a generic platform to work, a healthcare-specific solution could come with: 

• Built-in Compliance: HIPAA-ready features and audit trails made for healthcare. 

• Tailored Workflows: Pre-set processes for things like patient scheduling, medical records, and provider communication. 

• Relevant KPIs: Dashboards that track what really matters, like patient satisfaction scores and appointment efficiency. 

• Enterprise Grade Security: The kind of protection you need to handle Protected Health Information (PHI). 

With the right setup, this kind of platform could boost visibility, help employees work smarter, cut costs, and improve regulatory compliances and patient experience. And let’s be honest, that’s hard to pull off with a generic, cookie-cutter system. 

This just goes to show how much more effective industry-specific CXaaS can be. When a platform understands your world, you’re not stuck trying to make it fit; it just works. 

Ready to Transform Your Customer Experience? 

The way we connect with customers is changing fast. It is no longer just limited to answering queries. It involves creating seamless, personal, and consistent experiences across every channel. 

To do that, you need more than a few disconnected tools. You need a platform that brings everything together. That’s where a unified CXaaS solution comes in. 

Acefone helps you do just that. Our platform ties all your channels into one smart system. You get real-time insights, smooth automation, and the flexibility to grow without missing a beat. 

The post What Is CXaaS? A Complete Guide for 2025 appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

This shift signals more than just a technological upgrade; it marks a fundamental change in how work gets done. AI is becoming a proactive partner in operations, helping agents resolve queries faster, automate routine tasks, and deliver consistently high-quality customer experiences. 

Need more powerful automation? Discover top auto dialer service companies that integrate seamlessly with AI-driven workflows.

Let’s understand in detail how AI automation is transforming agent productivity and what it means for the future of customer support. 

Core AI Capabilities That Drive Agent Productivity 

AI has greatly simplified the way agents handle customer interactions, boosting efficiency, accuracy, and confidence on every call or chat. Here are the key capabilities that make this possible: 

Smart Routing and Agent Matching 

AI-powered intelligent routing ensures each customer query reaches the right person, the first time. The system uses multiple routing strategies, AI filters, and voice bots to connect clients with the best suited agent. It then routes each interaction to a compatible agent to resolve the issue efficiently and effectively. 

This minimizes call transfers, improves first-contact resolution, and saves valuable agent time. 

Live Interaction Assistance 

AI-powered chatbots assist agents during live conversations by analyzing customers’ sentiments and recommending the best next steps. These systems can process customer messages instantly, whether written or spoken. After that, they provide precisely what agents need without having to dig through resources.  

They also ensure seamless escalation by smoothly handing over conversations to human agents when needed. This helps agents stay efficient and informed throughout interactions. 

Instant, Intelligent Knowledge Access 

Instead of navigating folders or memorizing where information lives, agents can now ask natural-language questions and receive accurate answers instantly. AI scans internal documentation, help articles, and knowledgebases instantly. It then fetches the most relevant content in seconds, saving agents time and effort.  

Generative AI enhances this process by quickly adapting responses based on brand-specific content and past interactions. 

Analytics for Ongoing Improvement 

AI continuously evaluates call recordings, chats, and emails to detect trends, pinpoint bottlenecks, and identify recurring questions. These insights are used to refine scripts, optimize training, and streamline operations.  

Sentiment analysis and speech pattern recognition also enable real-time suggestions during calls and help summarize interactions, supporting better service and ongoing refinement. 

Automated Post-Call Processing 

After-call work often eats up a large chunk of an agent’s time. With AI, much of this is taken care of automatically, summarizing conversations, entering disposition codes, tagging call types, and updating CRM records. This slashes wrap-up time and helps agents get back to serving the next customer faster. 

Key Benefits of AI in Contact Centers 

So far, we have covered the core capabilities of AI that help boost agent productivity. Now let’s look at how it can help your contact centers ace every metric: 

Lower Average Handle Time (AHT) 

With access to instant information, task automation, and guided assistance, agents resolve issues faster. Time spent searching, summarizing, or switching systems is dramatically reduced. 

Improved First-Contact Resolution 

AI equips agents with everything they need to address issues in a single conversation. Fewer repeat contacts mean better customer experiences and less workload for agents. 

Higher Agent Engagement and Morale 

When AI removes tedious tasks like data entry, call logging, and form filling, agents feel more in control and less stressed. This leads to higher job satisfaction, better performance, and improved retention. 

Faster Onboarding for New Hires 

New agents ramp up quicker with AI-driven guidance, automated workflows, intuitive access to answers, and insights from call recordings. Training cycles shorten, and productivity starts earlier, helping teams scale faster with confidence. 

AI Agent automation enhancing productivity in the real world

1. Waiver Consultation Group- Automating lead capture with a human touch

Turning website visitors into paying clients doesn’t need to drain your sales team. Waiver Consulting Group transformed this process with the help of an AI-powered lead generation bot. 

The bot acts as a 24/7 digital assistant—welcoming every visitor, answering questions, collecting contact details, and booking consultations on the spot. But it doesn’t stop there. It also: 

• Sends personalized calendar invites and reminders 

• Updates lead trackers in Google Sheets 

• Instantly alerts the sales team about new leads 

Rather than replacing existing forms, the bot works alongside them, helping Waiver keep web traffic conversion steady while dramatically improving lead quality. Within just three weeks, the bot delivered: 

• A 25% increase in booked consultations 

• 9x more engagement from site visitors 

• Sharper lead qualification, so sales teams avoid time-wasting pursuits 

With automation handling the grunt work, Waiver’s team can focus on high-value conversations—and prospects love the fast, frictionless experience.

2. Ruby Labs- Deliver Lightning-Fast, Scalable Support That Feels Personal

Managing over 4 million customer chats each month, Ruby Labs needed a support solution that scaled without sacrificing speed or satisfaction. They deployed AI agents that now resolve 98% of inquiries; no human needed. 

When users open the help widget, the AI agent guides them through actions like canceling accounts, asking about billing, or troubleshooting technical issues. But it doesn’t stop at reactive support: 

• The bot flags accounts at risk of churn 

• Offers personalized discounts to prevent cancellations 

• Saves over $30,000 per month by improving retention 

By eliminating wait times and reducing agent workload, Ruby Labs ensures users get real answers fast. With all that out of the way, their support team stays focused on the most critical issues. 

3. American Express-Boosting Productivity with Hyper-Personalized Recommendations

When you’re supporting thousands of clients across 19 markets, delivering personalized travel plans at scale can be overwhelming. American Express tackled this challenge with the help of AI to support their 5,000 human counselors. 

This assistant doesn’t just speed things up; it adds depth to every recommendation. It: 

• Pulls real-time data from across the web 

• Factors in each cardholder’s preferences, past bookings, and spending behavior 

• Delivers live, location-specific suggestions 

• Handles research in seconds, freeing up counselors to focus on relationships 

The result? More relevant travel plans, faster turnarounds, and a better customer experience. Over 85% of Amex’s counselors say this AI tool saves them time and enhances the quality of their recommendations, making luxury travel planning feel effortlessly personal.

4. JP Morgan- Equipping Teams with Instant Market Insights

When there was a drastic shift in market conditions, advisors at JP Morgan needed to respond with confidence. As a result, they used AI to help their sales teams stay one step ahead of client questions and deliver more tailored recommendations. 

 It supported advisors by: 

• Surfacing relevant research in seconds 

• Anticipating client questions based on market trends 

• Recommending personalized responses during high-pressure calls 

Turning complex research into fast, actionable support, AI enabled sales professionals to focus on what they do best: building trust and delivering value. 

Empowering Productivity with Real-World AI Agents Automation

AI is no longer a future vision. It’s the engine driving agent productivity today. At Acefone, we bring cutting-edge AI into our cloud communication platform. This helps your teams do more with less effort. 

From real-time assistance during calls to voice bots handling routine queries, our solutions have it covered. Post-conversation analytics are automated too. Each feature is designed to make your agents sharper, faster, and more focused. 

With Acefone, you don’t just get automation. You get a true partner in performance. Your agents spend less time on manual tasks. And more time creating meaningful customer moments. 

Let AI do the heavy lifting so your team can focus on what matters. 

The post Improving Productivity with AI Agent Automation  appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

This move led to a significant reduction in human staff, with the company’s headcount dropping from 5,000 to 3,800, primarily through attrition. It grabbed a lot of headlines in the tech world, and the buzz around ‘AI-will-take-job-away’ gained momentum.  

However, by May 2025, Klarna had to reverse their course of action. 

Recognizing the limitations of an AI-only approach, the company began rehiring human agents to ensure customers could speak with a real person.  

The CEO of Klarna, Sebastian Siemiatkowski acknowledged that while AI chatbots were cost-effective, they resulted in lower-quality service. This one-sided approach prompted the company to invest in the quality of human support and reintroduce the element of humanized personalization. 

Key Lessons Learnt From Klarna’s Journey Towards A Blended Approach  

This pivot in Klarna’s journey offers several key lessons for businesses considering AI integration: 

AI Should Assist, Not Replace, Human Interactions  

While AI can handle routine inquiries efficiently, it lacks the empathy and nuanced understanding that human agents provide. Which is why businesses must focus on using AI functionalities to assist agent customer conversations and not replace them. Agents can benefit from using tools like sentiment analysis, post conversation analytics, live call monitoring, and more. 

Pre Screening for Agents 

Before a human agent becomes involved, Klarna’s AI system performs a comprehensive pre-screening test to collect and synthesize critical information. Details like name, account history, transactions, previous interactions, preferred language, sentiment, and emotional tone of the customer’s message. By using advanced voice recognition, the AI can detect whether a customer is frustrated, confused, or calm.  

Additionally, the AI can organize this data into a summary or case file that is passed directly to the agent’s interface, allowing them to quickly understand the context and plan their approach before initiating the conversation. 

Maintain Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Systems 

Ensuring that customers have access to human support when needed is crucial for maintaining trust and service quality. Finding a compatible solution for the customer may require more ‘natural’ intelligence based on their language, accent, product understanding, and other vital factors.  

Like Klarna’s approach, you can use AI to identify and adapt to regional speech patterns, allowing faster and more accurate interpretation of customer queries. AI tools can be trained on large datasets of regional accents, dialects, and language nuances, ensuring better understanding of customer intent. 

AI Model Retraining and Optimization 

Agents regularly assessing the AI systems’ performance helps identify areas where human intervention may still be necessary. Comparing AI outputs with agent made decisions highlights the AI’s learning so far, and areas of improvement. 

As we know every system has some scope of optimization, it becomes even more essential to measure AI outputs. Not just quantitative metrics, but also qualitative terms as well. With Klarna’s story in review, we can allow agents to monitor every AI-decision, provide feedback to the AI’s training model, and help it grow. 

Flexible Strategies 

Being willing to adjust strategies in response to customer feedback and service outcomes is vital for long-term success. Klarna has shown a great example of flexibility here as it is not moving completely away from AI bots but adding human agents to remain available if needed. The company claimed that within a month of implementation, AI handled 75% of the company’s customer chats, which is almost 2.3 million conversations. 

Hybrid Models Are Effective 

Global leaders like Amazon, Alibaba, Mastercard, and Salesforce have found the blend of AI and human agents to be highly effective for customer interactions. Combining AI for routine inquiries with human agents for more complex issues enhances customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. While several brands initially tried to replace human agents with AI, such examples tell otherwise. 

Acefone’s AI-Human Blended Approach 

Klarna’s experience underscores the importance of a balanced approach to AI adoption, where technology enhances human capabilities rather than attempting to replace them entirely. Acefone, following the same approach offers a cloud-based communication suite that incorporate AI to enhance customer interactions. 

AI-Powered Virtual Assistants  

It utilizes advanced speech recognition to understand and respond to customer queries in multiple languages, providing instant support for common issues. 

Intelligent Call Routing 

Acefone’s solutions analyze customer data to direct calls to the most appropriate agent based on query nature, customer history, and agent expertise, reducing wait times and improving resolution rates. 

AI Agent Assist 

This feature provides agents with on-screen prompts and relevant data during live interactions, by analysing and documenting discussion points, added notes, and other details. It helps enhance the agent’s ability to resolve issues efficiently. 

Sentiment Analysis  

Acefone solutions leverage AI to detect customer emotions through voice and text analysis, enabling agents to tailor responses and escalate issues when necessary. 

Bottom Line 

Both Acefone and Klarna demonstrate the significance of integrating AI with human expertise in customer service. Acefone’s approach emphasizes a balanced model, leveraging AI for efficiency while maintaining human agents for complex interactions. 

Curious how to prevent call center shrinkage while scaling AI? Discover proven strategies to maintain staffing balance and customer experience.

The post Klarna’s AI U-Turn: Key Learnings About Reliable AI Adoption in CS appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

Skype’s shutdown comes as no surprise—its user base has steadily declined while Teams has surged ahead, offering a more integrated, feature-rich experience.

However, the transition isn’t automatic. Skype chat history will not transfer by default to a new program or device unless users move to Teams. Those who want to keep their conversations must manually download their data via the Skype Data Export Page before the shutdown date. 

While Microsoft recommends Teams as the natural successor, there are other viable alternatives like WhatsApp, Google Meet, FaceTime, and Zoom. depending on your communication needs. Regardless of the platform you choose, it’s crucial to act before May 5, 2025: if choosing Teams, remember to back up your chat history. Other than that, inform your contacts, and get familiar with the new environment to avoid disruptions. 

Let’s understand how Microsoft Teams compares to Skype and the steps you should take right now to ensure a smooth transition. 

Skype’s Journey 

Skype’s story began with its launch in 2003, changing the way people around the world stayed connected. By offering free voice and video calls over the internet, Skype quickly evolved from a small startup into a global phenomenon. With “I’ll Skype you” becoming a part of our day-to-day vernacular, the platform reshaped the future of online communication. 

Let’s trace Skype’s incredible journey, from its modest origins and game-changing innovations to its meteoric rise and gradual fall against rising competition. 

Skype’s Birth (2003) 

Skype was created by Niklas Zennström from Sweden and Janus Friis from Denmark, with Estonian engineers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, and Jaan Tallinn. 

Global Launch (August 2003) 

Skype made its debut as a peer-to-peer voice-over-IP (VoIP) platform. The goal was to allow users to make free voice calls over the internet — a game-changer at the time. 

Rapid Rise (2004–2005) 

The platform rapidly attracted millions of users worldwide, expanding its features to include instant messaging and video calling. 

Microsoft’s Big Purchase (2011) 

Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion, embedding it deeply across its ecosystem — from Windows to Outlook to Xbox. 

Moving to the Cloud (2013–2017) 

Skype transitioned from its original peer-to-peer network to a cloud based phone system, improving reliability but facing backlash over design changes. 

Losing Ground (2018–Present) 

As competition from Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams intensified, Skype’s dominance faded, and Microsoft began shifting its focus to Teams for business communication. 

The Final Chapter (2025) 

Skype still operates but no longer commands the communication world — with Microsoft clearly backing Teams as its future-facing platform.

Want to take your communication tools further? Discover how customer experience strategies built around Teams or Skype can deepen engagement and loyalty.

Enter Microsoft Teams — More Than Just a Skype Replacement 

Microsoft Teams made its official debut on March 14, 2017, born from Microsoft’s ambition to create a collaboration platform that could compete with the likes of Slack. Developed internally by a team led by Brian MacDonald, Teams was built on top of the Office 365 ecosystem, offering seamless integration with Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools. 

The Core Promise 

Its core promise was clear from the start: bring together chat, meetings, calling, and file collaboration into a single, secure platform. 

Feature-Rich Foundation 

From its early days, Teams stood out for its rich feature set. It offered private and group messaging with advanced formatting, along with integrated audio and video calling. Real-time document collaboration via OneDrive and SharePoint, and a vast marketplace of third-party app integrations further enhanced its utility. 

Key Milestones in Teams’ Growth 

• 2017: Official launch and positioned as Skype for Business’s successor 

• 2018: Introduction of a free version to attract small businesses and individuals 

• 2020: Surge in users during the COVID-19 pandemic; reached 75 million daily active users 

• 2021: Hit 250 million monthly active users, integrated with Windows 11, launched Teams Essentials 

• 2022: Released Teams Premium with AI-powered features and enhanced security 

• 2023: Crossed 300 million users; introduced Copilot and Mesh for 3D meetings 

Microsoft’s Vision for the Future of Work 

Fast forward to 2025, and Microsoft Teams has solidified its place as the global leader in unified communication and collaboration. It is not only replacing Skype but is now central to Microsoft’s broader vision for the “future of work.”

Skype vs. Teams 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the key features of Skype and Teams to help you get a clearer understanding of each platform:  

What Businesses Should Do Now?  

Skype is all set to officially shut down on May 5, 2025. It is important for you to act quickly to avoid communication disruptions. Here are a few steps you can take:

1. Back Up Your Data

Your Skype chat history won’t transfer automatically to another platform. Make sure you manually export and save any important conversations, call logs, and files using the Skype Data Export page. It’s crucial to complete this before the shutdown.

2. Assess Your Communication Needs

Take a moment to review what your team really needs. Are you looking for simple messaging and calling, or a complete collaboration suite with meetings, file sharing, and task management? Understanding your needs will help you choose the right alternative.

3. Consider Moving to Microsoft Teams

If you’re already using Microsoft 365, transitioning to Microsoft Teams makes perfect sense. Teams offers richer collaboration experience, seamless Office integration, enhanced security, and reliable enterprise communication tools, all designed to help your business thrive.

Looking to understand the difference between inbound and outbound call centers? Learn more in our guide.

4. Explore Other Alternatives

If Teams isn’t the right fit for your business, consider platforms that better align with your team’s size, budget, and workflow. Acefone’s unified communication suite integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, and other popular platforms, letting you centralize all your business interactions in one place. 

With features like cloud telephony, smart call routing, IVR, real-time analytics, and CRM integrations, Acefone offers a comprehensive UCaaS solution designed for flexibility, scalability, and enhanced customer engagement.

If you want to learn more about “Call center software features”

5. Prioritize a Fast, Compatible Setup

With Skype’s shutdown just around the corner, time is critical. Choose a platform that’s quick to deploy, compatible with your existing tools, and minimizes data loss. 

Set it up immediately, migrate essential data, and run basic tests for calls and meetings. Focus on getting core functions up and running fast to avoid disruption. 

6. Inform Your Clients and Partners

If you use Skype externally, make sure to update your clients, vendors, and partners. Share your new contact details, meeting links, and any relevant instructions so they know how to reach you—especially if you’re transitioning to platforms that offer inbound call center services for more structured communication.

For more details, visit us at call center software.

7. Train Your Teams

Don’t assume everyone will pick up the new platform immediately. Offer short training sessions, share quick guides, and help your employees feel confident using the new tools. 

Final Word 

As Skype’s shutdown date approaches, it is essential to act now to ensure your business communication remains uninterrupted. Backing up data and transitioning to a suitable alternative can help you avoid the disruptions that come with change. 

If you choose another Teams alternative, our experts can help you set them up. To ensure a seamless transition, Acefone is here to support you every step of the way, making the switch effortless and efficient. 

The post Is Microsoft Teams the Same Thing as Skype? What Should Businesses Do? appeared first on Blog | Acefone.

To achieve this, static data isn’t enough. What you need is real-time data, and not just numbers, but insights from actual customer interactions through calls, SMS, and WhatsApp. 

If you are aiming to sharpen cloud communication strategies, real-time interaction data is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic asset. 

Let’s understand a few essential ways it can help you improve strategic planning.  

What does Real-Time Data Analytics do? 

Real-time analytics do more than just report data. They deliver live visibility into customer interactions across voice, email, messaging, and other channels. The dashboards are continuously updated with incoming data, ensuring that what you see is not from last week or even an hour ago, but from right now. 

Dynamic monitoring isn’t limited to basic metrics. It expands QA coverage, enables proactive coaching, and ensures immediate insight into both contact center agent performance and customer behavior. You’re not just measuring performance, you’re managing it in motion. 

Take call volume and wait times, two of the most critical communication metrics. Traditional analytics might highlight spikes after they happen, useful for future planning but not immediate intervention.  

With real-time insights, however, you can spot surging volumes or rising queues as they unfold. Then, you can take instant action like rerouting calls, bringing in backup agents, or triggering self-service options.  

But calls aren’t the only channel that matters. Today’s real-time systems also track messaging and email metrics in the moment like: 

• Email response time 

• Open and click-through rates 

• Message read receipts on WhatsApp 

• Drop-off points in SMS or IVR journeys 

• Abandonment and opt-out rates per campaign 

• Engagement spikes during certain times of day or week 

With this level of granularity, you can optimize your communication strategies. It’s not just about knowing what went wrong. It’s about knowing while you can still make it right. 

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How Does Real-Time Data Enhance Strategic Planning? 

Now that you understand more about real-time data analytics, let’s look at how it can help you take your communication strategy to the next level:   

Enhanced Customer Experiences 

Creating a seamless, responsive customer experience across their journey is essential. This is because 72% customers say they are likely to switch brands after just three or fewer negative experiences.  

Real-time analytics allows you to identify and resolve friction as it unfolds, rather than discovering it through retrospective reports weeks later. 

Suppose a customer encounters an issue while trying to complete a transaction, say a login error or a failed payment. Frustrated, they call the support line but face a long queue. With no quick help, they abandon the call and, likely, the brand. 

In a setup with only retrospective data, this incident would show up much later as a missed opportunity or part of a general drop-off trend. By then, you might’ve already lost the customer. 

With real-time analytics, however, the spike in call queue times and drop-off would trigger an alert immediately. You’d be able to notice a surge in specific complaint keywords like “login” or “payment” and take instant action. You can resort to rerouting calls, deploying quick fixes, or sending out status updates via SMS or WhatsApp. 

This way, the issue will get addressed while the customer is still engaged, drastically improving satisfaction, reducing churn, and building trust. 

Improved Operational Efficiency 

Operations thrive on data, but only when it is timely. Traditional methods involve evaluating metrics like Average Handling Time (AHT) or First Call Resolution (FCR) in post-mortem reviews. While this offers strategic direction, it doesn’t help you today.

Real-time analytics flip that script. Through real-time data integration, you can monitor AHT or call volume as it happens and compare it to the last hour, last week, or last campaign. If you spot a spike in wait times, you can immediately reroute calls to other agents to reduce congestion.

This immediacy helps you manage the workforce proactively. You’re not just learning from data, you’re using it to drive outcomes on the floor. 

Stronger Quality Assurance (QA) Support 

Conventional QA processes involve reviewing recorded calls, transcribing them, and manually scoring performance. Even with AI tools, this often happens hours or days after the customer interaction. That delay can cost you both insights and opportunities to improve. 

Real-time analytics, however, enable live call monitoring, sentiment detection, and keyword flagging as the conversation happens. This allows supervisors to step in for escalations, provide agents with real-time tips, or even automate next steps based on call context. 

Instead of checking only a few calls, you can review every single one using automated QA. AI integration can help you transcribe and analyze conversations in real time or soon after they happen. This way, you spot and fix issues much faster. 

Greater Agent Feedback & Empowerment 

Agents are the frontline of your business, which means they need to be the first recipients of feedback. However, in most setups, it reaches them too late to make a meaningful impact. By the time a specific call is reviewed, the agent has already moved on to dozens more.  

A continuous feedback loop solves this.  

With live monitoring, supervisors can offer guidance during or immediately after calls. This timely input helps agents adjust their approach on the spot. Over time, this loop empowers agents to deliver better customer experiences consistently. 

Real-time analytics close this gap. Using speech and text recognition, systems can detect emotional tone, frustration keywords, or compliance flags mid-call. This lets you nudge agents with on-screen prompts, knowledge base suggestions, or even suggested responses. 

The result? fewer escalations, better agent confidence, and faster issue resolution. 

It also creates a culture of continuous learning. Agents can review their performance right after calls, when the context is fresh. This can lead to more receptive feedback and faster improvement. 

How does Real-time Data Enhance Strategic Planning

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Real-Time Data is Your Strategic Edge 

The future of strategic communication isn’t in the past; it’s in the “Now”. 

With real-time insights from calling, messaging, and WhatsApp systems, you can elevate communication from operational to transformational. They can empower you to plan better, respond faster, and personalize deeper. 

In your transition from static to real-time, Acefone’s UCaaS solution is a great way forward.  

Our intuitive dashboards give you access to live metrics such as call volume, wait times, agent availability, and resolution rates. This way, supervisors can identify trends and allocate resources more effectively.  

Live call monitoring features help improve the quality of conversations through immediate coaching opportunities. Other than that, Acefone’s integration with industry-leading CRM integrations ensure that all call data and customer notes are synced instantly. All these power-packed features help you create data-driven strategies.  

The post How does Real-time Data Enhance Strategic Planning? appeared first on Blog | Acefone.