Control is essential, especially for smaller call center players, and sacrificing the ability to oversee any of the utilities holding your organization together is generally something that most call centers look to avoid.
It is perhaps for that reason that there are some call centers still reticent to employ a cloud based option. But while removing on site appliances and the teams to oversee them can at a high level look like a sacrifice of control, when you look deeper, employing cloud-based call center services provides quite a few benefits. While the cloud based call center option is expanding, if you haven’t considered it previously here are a couple reasons why you probably should.
Capital expenditure is an issue for many call centers trying to get a foot into the industry, but because cloud based centers can be operated from nearly any sufficiently connected PC, you benefit from not having to buy expensive appliance based solutions right off the bat. Operational expenditures can also be reduced with a cloud based option. With version checks and maintenance conducted off site, you can continue utilizing the tools you typically would have without allocating staff or space to handle a new appliance.
As indicated above, cloud based solutions can be used with nearly any connected computer, this simple fact basically takes the center out of “call center” and can allow you to significantly increase your hiring pool. Utilizing cloud based call center software you can, for example, find and hire agents that would otherwise be too far away to utilize in a premise based model. Agents can be hired for their superior knowledge in a certain sector of business, or hired in a seasonal capacity to help address volume peaks regardless of location. Considering how much the call center revolves around staffing, the ability to scale as needed without additional equipment investment makes virtual call centers an attractive option in and of itself.
The ability to scale and the reduction in cost only scratches the surface of the advantages a cloud based call center can offer. Keep an eye out on the cloud based predictive dialer channel on TMC (News - Alert) for more information on how cloud based call center solutions can work for you.
Chris DiMarco is a Managing Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page. Follow him on Twitter (News - Alert) @cpdimarco.
Edited by Stefanie Mosca