The open-ecosystem strategy, which we at Avaya are deeply committed to, is one that offers peerless integration options for organisations. In our recent survey commissioned by Avaya, one of the key takeaways was consumer preferences in contacting enterprises—of all the digital channels available, consumers favoured WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger above the rest. Each were used, in the past six months, by 26% of those surveyed.

This is why we welcome WhatsApp’s recent decision to deliver an API for large enterprises, to accompany the one that it offers to SMBs—a bold and vital move that will provide companies like Avaya the means to broaden their communications platforms and give more choice to businesses and their customers.

Omnichannel communication is an obvious boon to the customer experience and APIs have become an indispensable part of this. This is most evident in the financial sector, where banks now recognise the need to cater to digital natives. Millennials can no longer be serviced by traditional channels alone; social-media options are imperative to meaningfully engaging with them and securing their business and loyalty. As a proof point, last year, in partnership with YouGov, we conducted a survey of banking customers, and 62.8% of EMEA respondents told us they expected the same level of service regardless of how they choose to contact their bank. Avaya’s strategic partnerships with the world’s 10 largest banks positions us as a CX leader in this sector, and we maintain this position by constantly gathering data on consumer preferences and tailoring our solution offerings to meet these customer needs.

Delivering APIs accelerates integration and rollout, allows platform providers to enhance CX at greater rates, and provides more security and cost efficiency.