Another new year, another new era for enterprise communication. With the PSTN shut down, the new world of collaboration built on shiny new technology is here to stay. We’ve gathered another list of emerging trends to look out for in 2026, including big platform updates, AI integrations, and new methods for businesses to improve their user and customer experience.
It’s much more common now for all three platforms to coexist inside the same organization, with bring-your-own-carrier (BYOC) architecture and cloud SBCs smoothing the edges. Interoperability is only improving, and fears of increased expenses from “shadow IT” are a thing of the past.
As the year goes on, we’ll see more Teams users joining Zoom meetings, and more Webex users receiving Teams messages on multi-vendor platforms like Continuant Connect. Expect third-party integrations to also embrace vendor-agnosticism. This new level of interoperability promises to reduce complexity, lowers costs, and supports hybrid work models where flexibility is non-negotiable.
Speaking of flexibility, that’s been a selling point of modern communication since the invention of the internet. This year, flexibility continues to improve, as Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) solutions embed themselves further into the workflows of organizations large and small.
Low-code builders and mature APIs let users trigger calls, messages, and notifications from any app or site. For example, customer service agents at a retail store can text their customers important information, such as delivery dates, inside a CRM app like Salesforce. Meanwhile, an EHR system at a hospital can send automated appointment reminders to patients, reducing no-shows and improving engagement.
Looking ahead, expect CPaaS to go beyond messaging and voice. This coming year will show us just what API-drive communication is capable of, like embedding video consultations in ERP or HR platforms. These tools keep users from needing to switch apps, saving time and headaches.
AI in UC is now shipping as a core feature for all the major platforms.
Teams, Zoom, and Webex are rolling out built-in AI assistants that summarize meetings, suggest next steps, and enforce compliance policies in real time. Where before meeting AI was optional and gimmicky, now it’s a pillar of global collaboration.
Imagine a project team just wrapped up a 90-minute Zoom call. Within seconds, Zoom’s AI assistant has drafted a concise summary, highlighted key talking points, and pushed action items into Jira or Microsoft Planner. This process ensures that important information doesn’t get missed, even by users not sensible enough to take notes, while also preventing the need to scrub through an hour and a half of video.
In another example, a sales rep who just finished a call on Teams uses Microsoft Copilot to draft follow-up emails based on meeting context, complete with sentiment analysis to prioritize high-value leads.
There’s a lot these AIs can do, and as 2026 continues, it’s only going to get better. The next step for tools like Copilot is to become more predictive and proactive. This includes offering real-time coaching during calls, flagging engagement dips, or suggesting language adjustments for better outcomes. Compliance will also get smarter, with AI-driven policy enforcement across voice, video, and chat channels.
Terms like “meeting Hell” and “death by meeting” are nothing new. They reflect the memetic notion that meetings aren’t unfun, unfriendly, and often a waste of time. 2026 brings the possibility of personalized meetings replacing the one-size-fits-all approach for good and all.
UC tools like Teams, Zoom, and Webex now leverage behavioral analytics and machine learning to tailor experiences for each user. This allows them to adapt dynamically to users’ roles and preferences. The AI-driven applications highlight personalized tasks, restructure layouts, prioritize notifications, and surface relevant data at the moment it’s needed.
A product manager joining a meeting will automatically see the latest roadmap documents, while a sales rep in the same meeting gets CRM insights and a deal’s current progress without switching apps. Global teams will have access to AI-driven translations and analyses to improve communication across languages and cultures.
Even meeting summaries are personalized. Executives receive high-level decisions, while engineers get detailed action items and technical notes. This level of contextual intelligence transforms meetings from passive events into active, role-specific workflows.
Looking ahead, hyper-personalization will extend beyond meetings into the entire collaboration lifecycle. Expect platforms to anticipate your next task, suggest relevant participants, and even adjust audio or video settings based on your environment.
It’s all but tradition to talk about security when it comes to emerging trends. Phishing, deepfakes, and other cyberattacks continue to plague cloud-based communications. Fortunately, encryption, identity verification, and other security features are improving across different platforms.
Microsoft Teams now uses real-time identity verification and watermarking in video calls to prevent impersonation attacks, while its Safe Links and Safe Attachments features scan shared content for phishing attempts before users click it. On the contact center side, AI-driven voice authentication in contact center platforms like Genesys and NICE CXone detects anomalies in speech patterns to block deepfake audio before it reaches an agent.
AI has proven to be the best tool to fight AI, but that fight never really ends. Expect the coming year to show us even more new threats, along with a laundry list of new methods to stop them.
Uptime and performance are no longer the only important metrics for success. User and customer experience have become strategic priorities; therefore, organizations have a vested interest in experience management and observability.
Experience management involves monitoring and improving the quality of user experience across voice, video, and messaging. Are calls clear? Are meetings glitching or dropping? These are important things to stay on top of to keep employees and customers satisfied.
UC platforms like Teams now include quality of experience dashboards tracking jitter, packet loss, and device health across organizations. CX platforms monitor calls and chats for latency and audio distortions, then take proactive measures to mitigate the problem.
Features like these are poised to get even better through the rest of 2026.
Voice, video, and interactive collaboration happen in real-time, and therefore have a much greater demand on networks. AI tools increase demand even further. There’s a need now for improved networks designed for low latency, high reliability, and global scale.
Low latency ensures that voice and video packets move instantly, avoiding delays that break the flow of conversation. High reliability means those packets arrive intact, even when traffic spikes or routes fail. Achieving this requires smarter routing, edge-level prioritization, and constant performance validation.
AI-driven optimization is the next leap in network modernization. Instead of reacting to congestion or outages, AI predicts them before they happen by analyzing traffic patterns, device behavior, and historical performance. The result is a self-tuning network that keeps voice, video, and interactive collaboration smooth—even as demand spikes or conditions change.
The “digital front door” in healthcare started as a simple concept: give patients an easy way to book appointments online. Now healthcare organizations are moving beyond basic scheduling tools to create integrated experiences that span telehealth, messaging, and automated workflows.
Best of all, it does all of this while staying HIPPA compliant.
This digital front door promises to include voice-enabled navigation, predictive care suggestions based on health history, and integration with wearable devices for continuous monitoring. It’s on track to become a foundational aspect of healthcare in 2026.
Education in 2026 looks nothing like the static classrooms of the past. Schools, universities, and training programs are embracing technology to create flexible, immersive learning experiences that meet students wherever they are.
Platforms now combine video collaboration, interactive content, and AI-driven personalization to make education more engaging and accessible for all learners. This includes virtual lessons, AI assistance with complex coursework, and other innovations that remove barriers to learning.
The next wave of education modernization will focus on adaptability and analytics. Expect platforms to predict learning gaps before they occur, recommend personalized study paths, and integrate with credentialing systems to improve the overall experience.
2026 is set to be a year where enterprise communications will be more interconnected than ever before, and the AI-integrations that have been such hot-button topics for the past few years will continue to improve.
At Continuant, we’re also looking forward to how our solutions and services will evolve and adapt in 2026. helping organizations embrace smarter workflows, stronger security, and more personalized experiences. The future of communication isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about building strategies that anticipate change and create lasting value. We’re ready for what’s next. Are you?
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