CPaaS for Higher Education: Transforming Campus Communications

CPaaS eliminates the need for legacy, siloed communication systems, “improving student engagement, streamlining administrative workflows, automating notifications and supporting virtual learning environments,” Heikes says.

That’s vital in today’s competitive landscape. “Universities and other higher education institutions can use CPaaS to deliver seamless, real-time communication across channels that today’s students expect and use,” says Fredrik Gessler, head of global network platform product management for Ericsson and its subsidiary Vonage.

A CPaaS platform can give professors and staff  “flexible, digital communication tools — such as video lectures, virtual office hours and real-time student support — seamlessly within existing online platforms,” Gessler says.

CPaaS Use Cases in Higher Education

By leveraging key features of unified communications in CPaaS, universities can realize measurable improvements in a number of areas.

Campus safety, for example, can benefit.

“If there is a 911 call that has been made from a particular dorm, campus safety wants to know where the call was made from,” says Ritu Mukherjee, vice president of product management at Zoom. “CPaaS makes that possible.”

EXPLORE: Collaborate with nontechnical colleagues to optimize the student campus experience.

In call centers, CPaaS supports both efficiency and security. It offers “agentless voice calls, AI agents for self-service, two-factor authentication and other advanced capabilities,” Heikes says. “Sample use cases include proactive notifications for admissions alerts, emergency notifications and virtual office hours, along with self-service offerings for student IT support, course registration and appointment scheduling.”

With rich communication services in CPaaS, “reminders and notifications become more interactive, increasing response and engagement rates,” Gessler says.

Integration With Student Information Systems

Seamless integration with student information systems delivers a number of advantages, enabling “automated, personalized communications triggered by events such as grade postings, enrollment changes or financial aid updates,” Heikes says.

Through SIS integration, students can be more easily identified and assisted.

“Let's say a phone call comes in, a student is calling to get some information,” Mukherjee posits. “The agent can see immediately who the student is, based on the ID. It can see what type of classes they're in, what type of help they need.”

When CPaaS and SIS work hand in hand, that allows institutions “to automate and personalize communication,” Gessler says. “Important actions such as course registration, financial aid status changes or upcoming deadlines can automatically trigger real-time notifications via SMS, email or chat.”

When a student’s enrollment status is updated in the SIS, “CPaaS platforms can instantly send a confirmation message or appointment link,” he says. “Integrating with SIS ensures that communication is timely, consistent and contextually relevant while maintaining data integrity between systems.”

FERPA Compliance and Data Security Considerations

In higher education, “FERPA compliance and data security are critical. You absolutely want to protect the identity and personal information of the student,” Mukherjee says.

Schools need to look for FERPA-compliant solutions with strong data security measures built in. “When evaluating providers, universities should request detailed information about the vendor’s compliance with FERPA and other higher education security standards,” Gessler says.

To that end, “IT teams can review vendor security certifications, audit logs and data policies before integration,” Heikes says. In addition, “schools should review what information they send via CPaaS systems and ensure that sensitive information is shared only on secure channels.”

DIG DEEPER: Higher ed institutions share how to stay FERPA-compliant.

Measuring ROI: Cost Savings and Engagement Metrics

A CPaaS solution can “reduce expensive communication platform infrastructure and maintenance by replacing it with scalable, pay-as-you-go cloud services,” Gessler says. “Higher education can measure ROI by looking at cost efficiencies and engagement metrics.”

Institutions can also track “reduced telecom costs, lower IT overhead, and fewer administrative hours spent on manual communication tasks,” he says.

Success goes beyond the anecdotal student testimonial: Engagement metrics can help prove ROI.

“You can measure the satisfaction score of the student doing a class registration,” Mukherjee says. “Is that going through seamlessly? Same thing for parents. Are they satisfied when they deal with these higher education institutions?”

Ideally, CPaaS metrics will show “reduced communication costs, increased staff productivity and higher student engagement,” Heikes says, as well as “improved retention rates and streamlined workflows that lead to measurable administrative efficiencies.”