Avaya's Top Tech Trends for 2016: Wearables, Virtual Reality, Data

Avaya (News - Alert), a global provider of business communications software, managed to end 2015 with a bang, having been named 2015 Technology Partner of the Year by Axis Communications (News - Alert). And yet Avaya doesn’t seem interested in lingering in its successes of the year past; rather, the company is looking ahead at 2016 with its recently released list of technology predictions for businesses and the channel for the coming year.

At the top of the list of Avaya’s top tech trends is a merging of people’s physical and digital selves. As Avaya sees it, each person has an ‘online m’ and an ‘in-person me’ and it expects customer-focused brands to begin tapping into this trend, learning about both versions of its customers and merging these seemingly disparate entities into one. However, most brands are being held back by siloes and legacy IT. As organizations move to an omnichannel customer experience, though, these hurdles will be overcome.

Next on Avaya’s list is wearables, which will grow based on a few notable factors. First, the market will expand to embrace a new breed of wearable companies, namely household, fashion and sports brands. Second, the business world is expected to make an impact, where devices that enhance the smartphone’s capabilities will take hold. Third, Avaya sees wearables making an impact in customer service, particularly the contact center.

Virtual reality is also expected to be a top tech trend this year, led by the anticipated release of the Oculus before the end of 2016. As for how virtual reality will be used, it’s expected to go far in revolutionizing the fan experience for sports enthusiasts.

Lastly, Avaya expects data to continue being a dominant trend in 2016. In particular, companies will start turning to big data statisticians to harness a massive point of differentiation in terms of delivering the ideal customer experience.

“As we say goodbye to 2015, I think about what the big tech trends will be for 2016 and how they might impact the UK midmarket and the channel,” said Aaron Miller, Avaya’s European chief technology officer. “We’ve witnessed a massive surge in the consumption of digital technology, partly owed to the amount of communication tools that have been made available to businesses to communicate with their customers. Undoubtedly this trend brings with it a massive potential for the channel.”