Twilio partners with Google to release a Chromebook communications package

Cloud telephony firm Twilio today announced Twilio CX for Chromebooks, a new partnership with Google that bundles its WebRTC-powered client, 7,500 voice minutes, a Plantronics headset and a Chromebook together to offer an out-of-the-box communications solution to enterprises.

Since Twilio operates as a platform, it’s relying on additional partners to take Twilio CX to market. Customer service startup LiveOps has signed up as one of the first integrations, offering the package with its LiveOps Engage and LiveOps Voice Advantage for Salesforce products for call centers.

Twilio CX customers will pay a monthly subscription fee to services like LiveOps for the Chromebooks. Theoretically, enterprises could file the subscription as operating expenditure instead of the capital expenditure associated with purchasing computers, phones and other hardware.

With the partnership, Google gains some powerful momentum for its Chromebook effort. Chromebooks haven’t always made the most sense for businesses, but leveraging them as part of a subscription package for call centers is a great use case. Chromebooks and VOIP both require reliable connections, and customer service representatives don’t require machines with a huge amount of horsepower.

While LiveOps is the launch partner for Twilio CX, the offering will extend beyond customer service. In an interview, Lynda Smith, Twilio’s Chief Marketing Officer, mentioned other potential use cases, such as an internal help desk, sales teams, and replacing traditional office phones.

Twilio’s platform has already taken several steps toward rendering legacy telecoms obsolete. If businesses take to Twilio CX for Chromebooks, phone companies might be in jeopardy of losing some of their biggest clients.

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