Supporting Local Businesses Globally During the Pandemic

How Cliff Kuo, CTO of maaiiconnect, the only cloud-based platform is unifying digital and telecom communications to help businesses engage and build deeper connections with their customers.

First of all, how are you and your business doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Cliff Kuo: Busy and thankful to be based in Taipei, which has been relatively safe! Business-wise, many businesses have been struggling with all the uncertainty. But I’ve been truly humbled to see that our solutions have been able to provide businesses support to sustain and thrive during these times, keeping them productive and even growing in revenue. We even offer a free plan for businesses to get started. 

Tell us about you and your career.

Cliff Kuo: I studied Business Administration before being inspired at my first job to focus more on tech and system engineering. Eventually, I did my masters and doctorate in computer science and worked for a few different tech startups in Shanghai and Taipei. By 2019, I was working hard developing maaiiconnect to disrupt the communications industry!

My focus has always been on empowering a team of high-performing visionaries to build the next big thing in tech! I’ve always been involved with high-potential startups, and you can also see this vision coming into maaiiconnect, with our focus not only on customer engagement and communications but also on enabling team collaboration to keep employees engaged the same way you would your customers. 

How was maaiiconnect conceived, and why?

Cliff Kuo: maaiiconnect is an omnichannel customer engagement platform. The only cloud-based platform that brings digital and telecom communications together to help businesses deliver seamless customer experiences and grow sales. 

Given the pandemic, businesses became isolated from their customers and staff, which led to poor communication, revenue loss, and sometimes lasting damage to the brand’s reputation. While maaiiconnect was still in its younger stage, we decided to launch at the start of the pandemic to support businesses around the world. 

We conceived an all-in-one solution to connect, collaborate, and convert – empowering businesses to maximize sales potential at every touchpoint of the customer journey and even expand their business beyond 4 walls to bigger global audiences. We opened up new channels and new online experiences for face to face engagement and sales while also keeping staff connected with each other on the same platform. 

When we developed maaiiconnect, we wanted to ensure that businesses could easily and securely capture communications data to acquire, engage and retain their customers faster than before. 

How does maaiiconnect innovate? 

Cliff Kuo: While other communications platforms also connect channels like WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger, SMS, and Virtual Numbers, maaiiconnect is the only platform that converges them as part of our system, instead of a third-party API or plugin that’s added later. That’s how we can ensure that the data we provide businesses about their customers and overall communications is robust and useful rather than just an add-on so that those businesses can provide relevant personalization, customization, and data-driven strategies. 

We also started with security as a top priority instead of something we looked into later. Security is only getting greater in importance as the world digitizes. When starting a business, beginning with security as your foundation means you have the best platform to build on for further innovation. 

How has the pandemic changed the business world, and how does your solution help a business? 

Cliff Kuo: Small businesses have been hit hardest by the pandemic, yet many new startups have been launching – a silver lining, you could say. 

With maaiiconnect, launching a startup or expanding your small business has never been easier. Instantly available with worldwide coverage, maaiiconnect provides a full suite of communication and support channels, empowering you with the tools you need for every step of the customer journey from marketing to engagement, taking orders worldwide, and retention retargeting. The platform scales with businesses as they grow and are always prepared for the next big thing in marketing and communications. We’re constantly adding new channels, like Google’s Business Messages, to greater support businesses when opportunities arise. 

A one-stop shop for communications means stronger ROI, startup costs, smoother collaboration, and seamless customer experiences for a competitive edge. Best yet, maaiiconnect offers a quick start with no installation required.  

How do you see the future of customer experience when social distancing relaxes?

Cliff Kuo: Hybrid. Customer experience moving forward will be increasingly more hybrid – a mix of offline and online – for everything from events to retail. I think people realized online experiences are not as bad as they feared, while businesses realized they can expand their reach and audience tenfold. We see a lot of businesses pick up our QR codes for instant calls/live chats/video experiences. They are displaying the codes in stores, events, product packaging, and advertising enabling their customers to immediately connect with them via their smartphones from offline locations. These customers are instantly connected to someone that speaks their language and knows the product well to answer all the questions and close the deal.  

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Cliff Kuo: A few prospects compare us to the likes of RingCentral, Nextiva, Zendesk or Twilio, however at the end of the day, maaiiconnect is unique in the market when you look at the architecture and design of the system. We’re the only platform with an omnichannel wound into our DNA rather than as add-ons and will keep on developing new capabilities and features that address the pain points of different industries. We believe businesses like yours deserve the best solution for the business they spent their career building.

Where can we find out more about maaiiconnect?

maaiiconnect.com