ISG Research is happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Communication Platforms: ISG Research Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by ISG Research.
The need for communication with consumers and customers has evolved dramatically in
These CPaaS platforms have become essential for enterprises aiming to improve efficiency and interactions while delivering impactful communication experiences. With the rapid advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and collaborative capabilities, enterprises must carefully assess communication platforms to ensure they meet both current and future business requirements while providing flexibility, security and scalability in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.
ISG Research defines Communication Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) as a cloud-based software infrastructure that facilitates communications across multiple channels and interfaces while enabling integration with carriers and devices. These platforms support encryption, data residency, privacy and authentication. They are evolving to interface with Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS), combining chat and messaging across networks using APIs and developer studios to create seamless interactions across various systems.
Over the past decades, the evolution of text messaging along with programmatic interactions through APIs has advanced to support multimedia messaging and phone number provisioning via telecommunications carriers. Communication platforms serve as the foundational layer for interacting with consumers, facilitating everything from basic text chat and calling to sophisticated video conferencing, workflow automation and AI-enhanced experiences. CPaaS provides a technical framework that enables enterprises to standardize the communication technology stack while allowing flexibility to meet diverse business requirements and addressing emerging sustainability concerns through carbon footprint optimization.
The evolution of communication platforms began with unified communications and collaborative software that have continued to develop over the past two decades. With the transformation of cloud computing, these technologies have transitioned into more accessible platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service models offered through subscription-based pricing. Consequently, the industry has established requirements for CPaaS, which support unified communications alongside collaborative tools and embedded communication experiences.
The market is evolving as AI technologies and consumer expectations shift beyond CPaaS and UCaaS to enable more interactive experiences. Recently, these platforms have integrated advanced artificial intelligence that goes beyond basic chatbots, including AI meeting assistants that can transcribe discussions, summarize content, create action items and provide real-time language translation. Additionally, the support for omnichannel communications and the availability of low-code/no-code development studios have simplified the deployment of communication systems.
To address the need for seamless communication, enterprises require platforms that integrate effectively with existing business processes and applications through workflows. Expanded low-code/no-code capabilities empower business users to create sophisticated
Enterprises need platforms that scale globally while ensuring consistent interactions and compliance with expanded data sovereignty requirements regarding where communication data can be stored and processed, particularly in Europe and Asia. These platforms must also adhere to stricter emergency services regulations (E911/NG911) for remote workers and address increasingly stringent web accessibility standards, including updated Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAG), Section 508, and regional requirements like European EN 301 549. Additionally, the platform should support both current communication needs and emerging use cases through flexible deployment options, open APIs and robust integration capabilities.
Successful communication platform software must provide several critical capabilities to meet enterprise requirements. It should be built on a cloud-computing foundation with edge computing capabilities to enhance performance and reliability, supporting all communication modalities through automation and workflows, along with comprehensive analytics and insights across text, audio and video interactions. Integration capabilities must extend beyond basic interoperability to encompass contact centers, CRM systems, marketing, sales, websites and customer experiences, reflecting the increasing convergence between internal communication platforms and customer-facing systems.
Consumers should be able to switch seamlessly between devices and communication methods, including chat, collaboration tools and telephony across various carriers and networks. Advanced enterprise deployments require platforms that support extensive APIs and multiple languages, protocols and routing capabilities to enable internal and external interoperability. This includes features such as authentication, WebRTC, programmable numbers, emergency calls, social messaging, mobile identity and notification systems. Additionally, the platform must offer robust administration features for effective governance and management, supporting users, groups and organizations with configurable policies and procedures.
Enterprises should view the selection of communication platforms as a strategic investment by assessing the current communication landscape to identify fragmentation, redundancies and communication gaps. When evaluating software providers, buyers should prioritize platforms that offer comprehensive API and integration capabilities, support multiple communication modalities and embrace AI while also providing the flexibility to adapt to evolving business needs. Enterprises should take into account the provider's innovation roadmap, particularly in terms of AI capabilities beyond basic chatbots, edge computing options and compliance with enhanced data sovereignty regulations. By choosing the right technology, enterprises can establish a cohesive foundation for long-term communication excellence in an increasingly complex and regulated digital environment.
The ISG Buyers Guide™ for Communication Platforms evaluates software providers and products in key areas, including platform support with AI, analytics and insights, chat support, communication administration and integration, intelligence workflow and a marketplace for third-party applications. This report evaluates platforms based on the ability to unify APIs and methods across communication channels with carriers and networks, integrate with business workflows and provide comprehensive management capabilities.
This research evaluates the following 21 software providers offering products that address key elements of communications platforms as we define them: 8x8, Bandwidth, Bird, Cisco, CM.com, Gupshup, Infobip, Microsoft, Mitel, Oracle, RingCentral, Route Mobile, Sangoma, Sinch, Syniverse, Tanla, Tata Communications, Tencent Cloud, Twilio, Vonage and Zoom.
This research-based index evaluates the full business and information technology value of communication platforms software offerings. We encourage you to learn more about our Buyers Guide and its effectiveness as a provider selection and RFI/RFP tool.
We urge organizations to do a thorough job of evaluating communication platforms offerings in this Buyers Guide as both the results of our in-depth analysis of these software providers and as an evaluation methodology. The Buyers Guide can be used to evaluate existing suppliers, plus provides evaluation criteria for new projects. Using it can shorten the cycle time for an RFP and the definition of an RFI.
The Buyers Guide for Communication Platforms in 2025 finds Infobip first on the list, followed by Twilio and Zoom.
Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.
The Leaders in Product Experience are:
The Leaders in Customer Experience are:
The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:
The overall performance chart provides a visual representation of how providers rate across product and customer experience. Software providers with products scoring higher in a weighted rating of the five product experience categories place farther to the right. The combination of ratings for the two customer experience categories determines their placement on the vertical axis. As a result, providers that place closer to the upper-right are “exemplary” and rated higher than those closer to the lower-left and identified as providers of “merit.” Software providers that excelled at customer experience over product experience have an “assurance” rating, and those excelling instead in product experience have an “innovative” rating.
Note that close provider scores should not be taken to imply that the packages evaluated are functionally identical or equally well-suited for use by every enterprise or process. Although there is a high degree of commonality in how organizations handle communication platforms, there are many idiosyncrasies and differences that can make one provider’s offering a better fit than another.
ISG Research has made every effort to encompass in this Buyers Guide the overall product and customer experience from our communication platforms blueprint, which we believe reflects what a well-crafted RFP should contain. Even so, there may be additional areas that affect which software provider and products best fit an enterprise’s particular requirements. Therefore, while this research is complete as it stands, utilizing it in your own organizational context is critical to ensure that products deliver the highest level of support for your projects.
You can find more details on our community as well as on our expertise in the research for this Buyers Guide.