Call Center Management Featured Article
Cloud Contact Centers Enable New Functionality
While contact centers are often tempted to move to a cloud-based model based on the promises of lower cost, there are far more reasons why it makes sense, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Cloud-based solutions can offer smaller businesses the kind of functionality that was, in the past, available only to larger organization with deep pockets, large IT departments and extensive infrastructure.
For companies looking to add new updates to their contact centers – new communications channels, new capabilities – it makes sense for call center management to consider pursuing the cloud, according to a recent article by Neha Mirchandani writing for Customer Think.
“Trying to wrestle new functionality into your legacy system can not only be costly but difficult, and they lack the agility, functionality, and hassle-free advantages of cloud alternatives,” she wrote.
Organizations may wish to add new self-self service solutions or mobile apps. They may also be in a seasonal business that needs to scale up and scale down according to call/contact traffic, and doing so is impossible with premise-based solutions.
“Traditional communications platforms are much too rigid to accommodate growth, and any business that undergoes a merger or acquisition expands to a new location or hires new team members will quickly understand why flexibility is so important,” wrote Mirchandani.
Cloud-based solutions can also help call center management achieve the twin goals of every contact center: improving customer satisfaction and increasing agent performance at the same time. (Two goals that, on the surface, seem like they would work against each other.) Many cloud contact center platforms today have analytics built in, which help companies keep an eye on metrics and offer information in real-time that allows call center management to make changes on-the-fly to improve performance. Accomplishing this with older solutions, or manual processes, is impossible, as many organizations are discovering when they try to grow.
“Currently, 59 percent of contact centers measuring agent performance are still using spreadsheets and notes, followed by informal discussions at 44 percent,” wrote Mirchandani. “Luckily, the increase in remote workers, data, analytical tools and the number of contact centers moving to the cloud enable more modern approaches for measuring agent performance and improving customer experience.”
Last but not least, cloud-based solutions are far superior to premise-based setups when it comes to unforeseen events such as outages. In fact, after reduced cost, the high availability, disaster recovery and business continuity of the cloud is the next biggest reason why contact centers choose cloud-based solutions.
“Connections are continuously maintained so in the event of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or severe weather situation, calls in a cloud-based system can automatically be routed to mobile phones, enabling employees to stay connected with their customers no matter what,” wrote Mirchandani.
Edited by Alicia Young