Ramesh Lal
Sr. Digital Marketing Executive
Being an integral component of phones, apps are responsible for “smart” in the term smartphones. Apps improve different areas, such as payments,...
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Being an integral component of phones, apps are responsible for “smart” in the term smartphones. Apps improve different areas, such as payments, health and fitness, productivity, and more. Among its many uses, communication apps are the most popular and are used by individuals and teams alike.
Global Industry Analysts share that the number of messaging apps may reach 2.2 billion users by 2024. If you want to launch a communication app, this is good news as the statistics mentioned above provide a glimpse of the market potential.
The global penetration of communication apps on the Android platform is nearly 99 per cent. The market for communication apps varies, and in the past few years, there has been an increase in the adoption of such apps by large enterprises as well.
There can be many reasons behind such an increased adoption rate. To give you a clearer picture, first, I would like to share information on different types of communication apps.
Communication apps are of three different types, and it is essential to know the uniqueness behind each type.
Live Chat Solution (Web)-This type of communication app can be used by businesses to provide customer support on their websites. By leveraging this solution, customer support representatives can answer the queries shared by prospects in almost real-time as well as provide post-sales support.
Team Chat Solution (Web + Mobile)- A team chat solution can be a stand-alone app, or it can also be a part of a more extensive solution that is already deployed, such as project management software. Such a solution exists to improve the productivity of multiple teams spread across the globe.
Instant Messaging Solution (Mobile)- Instant messaging apps have experienced massive adoption by individuals and businesses alike. Such an application has two use cases that are meaningful for staying connected with friends and family or engaging with prospects and providing support.
Opportunity 1: By launching a communication app, you are no longer limited, and the entire world can be your playground. While a few areas like Asia-Pacific can be challenging to compete in, there are ample opportunities if you focus on the weaknesses of competitors to add value.
Opportunity 2: Developing and under-developed nations are gradually improving their telecom infrastructure. As the internet becomes affordable, the number of mobile internet users is projected to increase exponentially.
Multiple Revenue Streams: You can leverage multiple revenue streams by launching your instant messaging app. Here are a few sources of revenue — advertisement, bulk sponsored messages, separate business accounts, and more.
If you are Targeting Businesses
Opportunity 1: The traditional medium to engage prospects or customers was call centres. However, changing expectations and always-on behaviour have led consumers to prefer apps to ask their questions. E-commerce is one such sector that has benefited immensely.
Opportunity 2: According to a study, an employee spends only 39 per cent of his time working productively. The remaining time is divided between internal communication, email management, conducting research, and more. By creating a communication mobile app for teams, you can add value by enabling businesses to improve productivity.
Support Ticket Management: The customer service representative may handle many queries, but it is difficult to answer all of them in a single day. Hence, a live chat solution can include a support ticket management module that can enable the representative to change the status (open and close) of the query.
Email Management: The live chat solution adds effectiveness to sales. After answering the queries shared by a person, the email management module can be used to share relevant emails and push the prospect towards conversion.
Login: A team chat solution often involves a senior sending an invite to his subordinate. Hence, there is no primary need to sign up using a phone number. To shorten the registration process, you can use a social login option using which the profile photo, first and last name, email, and more can be fetched and used during the signup.
Privacy: Not every conversation is meant for all. For example — planning a surprise birthday party for a team member, discussing salary increments of an employee, and more. Hence, privacy features can be developed in the communication mobile app to enable relevant people to see the thread.
Login: To ensure only real people sign up on your communication mobile app, you can make it mandatory for the user to register using a phone number.
Groups: A communication mobile app can be used for different reasons. People can discuss topics ranging from technology to politics. Hence, it becomes essential to add a feature that can enable an end-user to create groups on different topics. Doing so will improve the user experience as people can have a meaningful conversation.
Optimization: People can exchange thousands of messages in a single day, and a communication mobile app can easily consume Gigabyte's worth of space locally as well as on the database server. To optimize the system, the auto-delete option can be integrated into the communication mobile app that can delete old data.
Security: It is suggested to use end-to-end encryption for enhanced security. The use of 2-factor authentication is also recommended to lower the risk and improve the overall protection of user accounts. The One-Time Password generated in the process can be sent through a system-generated email.
The web and mobile app development process comprises different phases. However, due to volatility in the market, it is suggested to adopt minimum viable product (MVP) development using the agile methodology. Doing so may result in the agility to adapt as per the market dynamics. To make an informed decision, please check our resources on custom MVP and agile app development.
To launch a communication app, you need to know the different types of mobile apps that can be developed. In this blog, we shared insights on live chat, team chat, and instant messaging to enable you to make an informed decision.
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