Twilio Expands Customer Engagement Platform

Customer engagement platform provider Twilio today at its SIGNAL 2022 event introduced Twilio Engage, Silent Network Authentication, and enhancements to its Flex and Voice products.

"My conversations with Twilio's customers are changing rapidly right now. While the focus before was on a passion for growth, leaders today are concerned about the economy, durability, and are looking for ways to do more with less," said Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Twilio, in a statement. "There's a real desire out there to know customers so deeply that investments become targeted, personalized, and highly efficient. This is the promise of Twilio's Customer Engagement Platform, a single platform that can create superior, data-driven customer experiences that increase lifetime value and strengthen your digital business to withstand these uncertain times."

Twilio Silent Network Authentication (SNA) provides a possession authentication method and the ability to quickly move new users through registration without interrupting the sign-up flow, with the help of authoritative, deterministic mobile carrier signals. By partnering with more than 50 mobile operators across more than 30 countries, Twilio can verify the device and phone number with an operator without the need for additional pin codes or visual tests from users.

Twilio Engage, a marketing solution that combines a customer data platform with omnichannel capabilities, lets users act on data in real time and via any digital channel.

"In building Twilio Engage, we set out to help marketers deliver exceptional omnichannel campaigns fit for the digital era. Today, pressure to lower acquisition costs and to bolster lifetime value has intensified, and the need for personalized customer engagement at scale is greater than ever before. But current marketing solutions can't meet this need because they don't have data at the foundation or they just have a CDP bolted on," said Kathryn Murphy, vice president of product at Twilio, in a statement. "Twilio Engage is built data up on a native CDP with native channels, so personalized experiences can be informed by consented, first-party data and powered by one platform."

Twilio has also added an integration between Google Dialogflow CX and Twilio Voice to equip virtual agents with advanced AI capabilities in ionteractive voice response systems and Flex. With this integration, callers’ needs can be addressed promptly by virtual agents capable of natural-feeling conversations and of making personalized routing decisions. With little to no code, businesses can automate self-service use cases while scrapping frustrating IVR experiences that can damage customer relationships and increase the cost per call.

This follows the recent announcement of Twilio Flex's integration with the Google Cloud Contact Center AI (CCAI) suite of technologies, deployable using the Sabio connector solution.

"In 2022, we've continued to bring industry-leading customer engagement innovations to Flex, including Flex Conversations, HIPAA eligibility, and an expansion of our Flextensions partner program," said Simonetta Turek, general manager of customer experience products at Twilio, in a statement. "We believe that with Flex, brands can turn interactions into opportunities. Don't ever pass by the opportunity to deepen a long-term customer relationship by arming representatives with complete context on a customers' needs. We've seen this CDP-powered approach pay dividends for savvy brands like TravelPerk, and are constantly inspired by the creative ways we see customers leveraging data to bolster lifetime value."