SMS is a key pillar channel for almost all of our customers across all regions. Although the trend for adopting multiple channels to communicate with customers is well advanced, in 2025 SMS still accounted for 62% of the traffic on our platform. 

It is used for core use cases where reliability and speed of delivery are the highest priority. SMS is the go-to channel for notifications, OTP messages, and any situation where a small piece of information needs to be communicated quickly.

As a mature pillar channel that is firmly entrenched in the workflows of our customers, we would not expect a significant increase in SMS volumes globally.

2025 high growth regions:

These sharp increases have been somewhat offset by regulatory changes in the significant Indian market, where we are already seeing the effects of the changes by the Reserve Bank of India to phase out SMS OTP messages. Banks and payment providers must adopt alternative 2FA methods by April 2026 for domestic transactions and by October 2026 for cross-border payments. This has led to a 14% decrease in SMS messages in India in 2025, and we expect an even more significant drop off during 2026.

As one of the original pillar channels of B2C communication, you might assume that SMS has reached its peak. In reality, next major shift will happen in the orchestration layer, where Agentic AI will play a greater role in managing interactions.

But that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been a lot of minor improvements that add up to a significantly better user experience over time.

Take OTP messages for example. We take them for granted now – we make a transaction that requires verification by SMS and the message arrives immediately.

That wasn’t always the case just a few years ago. Sometimes an OTP message arrived late and expired before you could use it, or maybe it didn’t arrive at all if you were travelling in another country. These days OTP delivery is far superior, the improvements just happened slowly so maybe we didn’t notice it.

From our perspective a lot of work has gone into these improvements; no ground-breaking advancements, but rather a constant refinement to our platform and systems to where we are today. These include: 

5-year trend

While there are still some regions where other OTT messaging apps or RCS have higher usage levels, for our global enterprise customers WhatsApp has become a pillar channel in their customer communication strategies.

With its mature set of features WhatsApp has been a key channel for brands evolving their conversational maturity.

Several reports highlight that about 25% of markets globally still face slow carrier adoption, which directly suppresses RCS rollout and feature availability. These regions include parts of the Middle East and Africa, where operators have not fully unified around the RCS standard, resulting in inconsistent service readiness and fragmented deployments.

This includes issues such as:

RCS requires modern Android devices or newer iPhones (iOS 18+) to use rich messaging features. Regions with a large base of older, non‑Android smartphones or legacy devices naturally have lower RCS‑ready user bases.

32% global growth in 2025

Brands are increasingly turning to voice and video communication to create faster, more human, and more immersive customer interactions. As consumers demand more authentic, real‑time support, businesses are integrating voice technology into customer journeys – from voice‑activated purchasing and support to voice recognition tools that streamline interactions. The rise of smart speakers and voice assistants has empowered brands to offer hands‑free, conversational experiences that feel personal and intuitive.

North America remains one of the most voice-centric markets globally, where voice continues to play a critical role in customer engagement, particularly for support, authentication, and high-value interactions. Unlike many regions that have shifted heavily toward OTT messaging, consumers and businesses in the U.S. still rely on voice as a trusted, real-time channel. This is now being accelerated by the rise of AI-powered voice agents, alongside innovations like Branded Calling, which restore trust in voice by displaying verified business identity, logos, and call reasons directly on the handset. 

At the same time, video communication is becoming a core component of digital customer service, helping brands deliver richer, more engaging interactions. Video enables face‑to‑face support, product demonstrations, and guided assistance that builds trust and reduces friction, meeting customer expectations for immediacy and authenticity. As highlighted in digital communication trend reports, real‑time voice and video channels provide a level of emotional connection and clarity text‑based channels can’t match, positioning them as essential tools for modern customer engagement strategies.

WhatsApp Business Calling 
(API-based voice calling)

After a successful Beta release in limited markets, WhatsApp Business Calling became generally available globally in July 2025.

*Note: Voice and video interactions are measured in seconds of call duration, unlike message-based channels which count discrete interactions. This means the volume metrics are not directly comparable to SMS, Email.

32% global growth in 2025

Viber experienced strong growth across 2024 and 2025, driven by rising adoption in Eastern Europe, Asia, and especially Southeast Asia. The app reached a significant milestone in 2024 reaching 800 million monthly active users, with a 25% year‑over‑year increase, with particularly high penetration in markets like Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey, where usage exceeds 70%. Growth continued into 2025, with Viber’s global user base surpassing 1.1 billion, supported by over 70 million hourly interactions and rising engagement among younger demographics and business users.

The fastest‑growing region for Viber is APAC, which saw a 45% surge in Viber messaging interactions, driven by rapidly expanding digital ecosystems in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian markets. This expansion is fueled by cultural relevance, strong demand for cost‑effective communication, and Viber’s focus on privacy, large community features, and business messaging tools that make it appealing for both personal and commercial use.