The Complete Guide to Changing Your Phone
System Provider

Ch. 1 : Executive summary

AI has long been seen as exclusive to large enterprises with deep pockets. Yet
today, every business, no matter its size, can unlock the value of AI—they just
need to know where to start.

That is the inspiration for this global report, which analyzes the behavior and attitudes of 3,500 employees of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Alongside actionable tips on deploying AI, it arms businesses with new insights that uncover.

AI has long been seen as exclusive to large enterprises with deep pockets. Yet today, every business, no matter its size, can unlock the value of AI—they just need to know where to start.

That is the inspiration for this global report, which analyzes the behavior and attitudes of 3,500 employees of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Alongside actionable tips on deploying AI, it arms businesses with new insights that uncover:

• The current state of AI in SMBs: Revealing the level of understanding of AI in businesses, barriers to its implementation, and where it can have a significant impact on productivity.

• The AI ambitions of teams: Showcasing the aspirations teams have for AI, as well as their concerns around its effects—particularly when it comes to human connections.

•  Where the future of AI is heading: Highlighting the trajectory of AI in SMBs and the key use cases where businesses expect it to start delivering value in the year ahead.

Ch. 2 : Introduction • Delivering for Customers with AI. 

The era of AI is well underway. Compared to the overall software market, AI is growing 50% faster. New innovations are being launched on a daily basis, and 77% of businesses are actively using or exploring AI.

For SMBs, there’s an urgent need to improve customer and employee experiences by unlocking the value of AI, while cutting through the hype. At the same time, there’s a wariness toward AI, stemming from a lack of understanding of its applications, budgetary concerns, and fears of jobs being replaced. With lean budgets and teams, SMBs need to identify targeted use cases and solutions that will deliver real value and competitive advantage while demonstrating the value of AI to both employees and customers.

A key place to start is how sales, customer support, and service functions stand to make significant gains from AI. 

These teams:

•  Face an uphill battle against repetitive manual work. AI can streamline transcription, note-taking, data input, and more—boosting efficiency. 

• Need effective training and coaching resources. Whether recording real-world scenarios or creating new ones based on call and voicemail data, AI can help build training and coaching programs that prepare teams to deliver standout customer experiences.

• Thrive on human connection. AI can support teams in identifying customer insights faster, enabling sales, support, and service reps to focus on forging meaningful connections that drive return purchases—particularly through voice calls where AI is easily integrated.

Remaining focused on how AI can address these challenges will guide SMBs to build effective strategies that help teams deliver their best work.

Ch. 3 : The Current State of AI in SMBs.

Part 1: Understanding AI’s value.

Most employees at SMBs (59%) state that, individually, they have a good understanding of AI and how it can benefit their business. This rises even further to 73% among executives and dips to 53% of junior team members—showing that recognition of AI’s value is high at the top level of businesses but greater education is needed the closer you get to the front line.

When it comes to specific business functions, confidence in AI is even higher, with 70% stating they are confident about using AI in customer support or service and 65% in sales.

Yet in the rapidly evolving world of AI, workers recognize there’s much more to discover about its uses. In fact, almost three-quarters (74%) of employees state they would be very interested in learning more about how AI can benefit them. Sourcing those learnings from trusted and credible partners will be key—with 59% stating they agree there’s a lot of misinformation about the value of AI in the workplace.

Part 2: Barriers to AI implementation.

While awareness of AI’s value is high according to individual employees, they also report several barriers to its implementation in their businesses. 

When it comes to the percentage of employees who identify the following as barriers to AI implementation: 

• 63% report a lack of understanding across the business about what AI can do.

• 56% report a lack of the proper technology infrastructure for AI implementation.

• 56% report that they lack of the skill sets to implement AI.

• 51% report that stakeholders have failed to give the green light.

• 50% report that their business has concerns about moving too fast with AI.
  
  The disconnect between individual awareness of AI’s benefits and the barriers to
  implementation appears to stem from several sources. The pace of change driven by AI is causing some to put on the brakes, while others note that a lack of technological prowess is holding them back. Yet the biggest barrier of all remains education—63% state there is a lack of understanding across the business of what AI can do.