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In May of 2024, we published an article discussing emerging trends in the world of business communications to look out for in 2024. Now that 2024 has ended, we’d like to look back and review our projections. We’ll see where we were right and where we were not entirely accurate, along with what this means for the coming years in business communications.
Companies were migrating to the cloud at an unprecedented rate in 2024, and that hasn’t slowed down in 2025. A new factor to consider about this trend is the PSTN switch-off, which is slated to come about in December of 2025. With this change, transitioning to the cloud is no longer an option for organizations.
Fortunately, 2025 will introduce methods to make cloud migration easier than ever. Platforms like Continuant Connect integrate existing technology with cloud architecture and migrate users with the press of a button. It allows an organization to easily switch between many different cloud platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, RingCentral, Five9, Genesys, C4, and more.
This trend is going to continue into 2025, with more organizations moving faster and easier to the cloud than ever before.
With certain industries demanding a return to the office, the need for mobile communications may change. There’s a long and complicated conversation to be had in the coming year about hybrid work.
Nevertheless, remote options remain, and therefore improvements to mobile communications continue to be made. Organizations have the option to build private 5G networks to dramatically improve their connection. Modern collaboration environments are stronger now than ever, for both remote and in-office users.
As for accessibility, modern UCaaS and CCaaS solutions continue to add game-changing features like keyboard optimization, voice command integration, and high-level customization for user interfaces. These features continue making the workplace more inclusive and the employee experience more altogether pleasant.
Of course, there’s another major change in the industry that’s continuing to improve accessibility.
AI continues to change the world, making systems like UCaaS and CCaaS more efficient and accessible. Helpful bots free up customer service agents to focus on more important work, while AI-driven transcripts and meetings summaries make it easier for employees to engage with meetings.
As we predicted in the earlier article, AI has evolved over the course of 2024. Has it changed for the better? That depends on who you talk to. The opensource platform DeepSeek has introduced the R1 model, which is comparable to leading GPT platforms at a much lower cost. There are also multimodel AI platforms in development that can accept multiple different kinds of input, including audio and video.
In UCaaS and CCaaS more specifically, AI integration is becoming cheaper and more efficient. Chatbots are evolving into more versatile virtual agents that can do more than just answer customer questions. Multimodel AI incorporates all methods of communication to personalize the customer experience and optimize communications.
Cybersecurity threats have continued to expand, affecting organizations like Microsoft and even the US government. Concerns remain about data encryption and privacy as fraud and cyberattacks only seem to become more common.
Security in business communications seems to have gotten more complicated towards the end of 2024. It’s become increasingly clear that organizations need to make careful plans to protect their data in the future. It may also be necessary to reevaluate which platforms and providers will be the most reliable for enterprise security.
AI is also making quite a name for itself. It presents a problem in that it makes fraudulent material easier to produce, but it can also be used to monitor suspicious behavior and potentially automate fraud detection.
Changes in cybersecurity were a major trend for 2024 and will only be even more so in 2025.
Finally, we come to the integration of UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS. This is something that’s changed quite a lot in the past year, especially for us at Continuant. Our own platforms, Continuant Connect and C4, have dramatically changed what we offer our customers.
Continuant Connect is a cloud-based communication platform that lets users integrate existing systems in the cloud, making a cloud migration easier than ever. It also makes it incredibly simple for users to manage multiple platforms such as Teams, Zoom, Webex and RingCentral.
The Continuant Connect Contact Center (C4) is a cloud-based, omnichannel contact center similar to the ones offered by Five9 and Genesys. It combines the best features of each platform, leveraging AI and CRM integration to automate and personalize customer interactions.
As 2024 ends, we’ve realized that the terms UCaaS and CCaaS may not be appropriate for these new Continuant solutions. Conversations have even occurred in 2024 about the possibility that UC is dead.
While we don’t necessarily agree with this, we would suggest that Continuant Connect is a CPaaS solution rather than UCaaS. It uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to give users a more versatile platform.
With the end of 2024, we can look back now and see how these emerging trends affected the industry. At the same time, we’re also ready for the future and all its new challenges, new successes, and new solutions to make business better for our customers.
2025 marks Continuant’s 29th year in Communications, and we’re sure it’ll be another year of excellent service. It’s also a year with its own emerging trends, which we’ve written about here.
Look for more information later this year about Continuant Connect and C4—and how they can positively impact organizations ready going through all phases of transformation.
