Report Combines Insights on the Biggest Conversational Business Trends of the past 12 Months – Including Chatbots, Voice and AI – with 2019 Predictions from Leading Industry Players like Google, Uber, Hubspot, Intercom and Genesys

Leading omnichannel conversation platform Smooch announced the release of its second annual report on conversational business, State of Messaging 2019. For the report, Smooch spoke with over 30 distinguished experts at the forefront of the conversational revolution — from channel gatekeepers and software vendors, to industry analysts, brand stewards and startup innovators.

Companies involved include Google, Uber, HubSpot, LVMH, JetBlack, Ovum, Frost & Sullivan, Viber, Hootsuite, Intercom, SnapTravel, Freshworks, iNovia, LiveChat, Genesys, Sparkcentral and Conversocial.

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The report unpacks the biggest messaging industry stories from the past 12 months, including the launches of WhatsApp’s Business API and Apple’s Business Chat, Google’s fightback with RCS technology and the emergence of innovative conversational commerce startups such as Steph Curry-backed SnapTravel and Walmart-incubated JetBlack.

Experts weigh in with their predictions on how the messaging landscape will evolve in 2019, from the blending of visual/voice conversational interfaces, the shift from ‘chatbots’ to more sophisticated ‘digital assistants,’ to the myriad use cases for conversational AI that’s able to navigate the nuance of human language.

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“We take an enormous amount of pride in publishing our annual State of Messaging report and making it an invaluable resource, both for those inside the industry who are playing their part in the transformation, and those who are seeking to understand how modern messaging is changing the way we communicate and, increasingly, how we do business.” said Smooch Co-Founder & CEO, Warren Levitan. “I’d like to say a huge thank you to every one of the experts who generously took part and offered their expertise and insights.”

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