Call center businesses must keep up with the ever-changing expectations of their customer base or risk being put out of business completely. A way to measure up to increasing demands now and in the future is by transitioning to the cloud. Cloud-based systems offer richer and more varied communication channels, cut costs and drive scalability, just to name a few benefits.
"It's all the buzz now, "Mitch Lieber, principal at Lieber & Associates, told CRM Buyer in a recent interview.”It's especially good for companies that don't have the IT resources because there's less management involved, or if they want to pay by the month. If you're a startup or you're starting a call-center operation, it's a good option."
The cloud is not only enabling call centers to bring the level of efficiency within their environment to a much higher level than previously seen in the past, but is also enabling these centers to enable employees to work remotely. Due to the fact that data stored in the cloud is accessible at anytime and from anywhere with a reliable Internet connection, firms can also reduce expenses associated with managing and maintaining an extremely large facility.
Further, "cloud-based systems allow call centers to be geographically independent," Colin Taylor (News - Alert), CEO of The Taylor Reach Group added. "If you think of call centers as a process rather than a physical location, the call center agents can literally be anywhere. We're increasingly talking to organizations that are interested in virtualizing their infrastructure."
When turning from an on-premises contact center to one that is powered via a cloud infrastructure, organizations will also be able to significantly reduce their total cost of ownership since additional hardware and software is no longer needed. And, updates to this software can be made right after they are unveiled with ease.
Stephanie Zou, product marketing manager with Zendesk, commented, “Cloud-based call center software is basically modernizing how call centers work. Setting up call centers doesn't need to be costly or time-consuming."
Voicent is a company heavily involved in the call center business space that serves as an alternative to cloud service companies. Company officials revealed, “We provide cloud-enabling software that our customers can install on a cloud service like that offered by Amazon. This basically allows them to create their own private cloud call center.”
Some of the biggest advantages of this service when compared with a cloud service include:
1. Extreme flexibility offered when choosing the best VoIP service to meet your individual company needs, which could cut nearly 50 percent off monthly operating costs.
2. Complete control of customer date since these businesses run their specific cloud call center
3. An optional managed service offered by Voicent allows for peace of mind, enabling enterprises to focus on improving overall operations rather than focusing on fixing communication-related issues.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey