SawasdeeShop Co, a cloud telephony communication service, has broadened its horizons to support chatbot and cloud-based communications. The move is intended to capitalise on digital marketing and transformation.
"We see a growing trend of omni-channel communications, bridging the digital and physical worlds," said founder and chief executive Aswin Phlaphongphanich.
The company will enhance its latest cloud-based communications, Cloud Dee 3.0, to support chatbot technology.
By the first quarter of 2018, the company will introduce new features that support artificial intelligence, as well as chatbots enabling organisations to offer chat-based communications to their customers.
"Startups and enterprises can use the new chatbots to provide call centre functions instead of agents," said Mr Aswin.
SawasdeeShop uses the open Application Programming Interface for its Cloud Dee service, which uses "Voice SDK" (system development kit) for other applications, enabling "in-app calling".
The cloud-based app service targets mobile banking, ride-hailing, e-commerce, logistics and online booking services as well as the insurance industry.
"[The in-app calling feature] is suitable for ride-hailing apps, where users may not want to have their personal mobile numbers visible to drivers," he said.
In the future, in-app calling will no longer be limited to mobile apps, but can be integrated with other Internet of Things-based applications, like connected cars.
Recently, the company introduced Cloud Dee 2.0, a smart communication system that integrates all social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Google Analytics, Line and WeChat. The system, which provides customer support for all channels, also functions offline, while online media analytics provides businesses insight into customers' behaviour.
He said cloud communication is still new to Thailand and many organisations do not understand it, unlike in Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and the US, where adoption of the service is growing.
Cloud telephony helps reduce hardware costs for conventional PBX systems and the pay-per-use model, while offices that still have an 02 prefix telephone number and extensions can route calls to the Cloud Dee app on an employee's mobile phone.
To encourage customers to adopt cloud telephony, the company is offering unlimited calling through its office package with a 50% discount.
"Digital transformation and the Thailand 4.0 scheme will lead to shifting to cloud telephony," said Mr Aswin.
He said consumers' shift to chat messaging and over-the-top services has threatened international calling card operators, as over 10 players have vanished from the market in recent years. Only Sawasdee has survived in that segment, said Mr Aswin.
