Why Hosted Contact Centers Make Sense for Today's Organization

Contact centers play a vital role for the organization, but can they deliver more value if they operate on-premise or as a hosted solution? For a number of industries and organizations, the on-premise contact center model is becoming obsolete while the hosted platform is gaining in adoption rates. In fact, on-demand contact centers are increasingly recognized as a smart way for companies to maintain agility while still delivering high quality service to customers.

On-premise contact centers were once the only viable choice for the enterprise and one they had to endure, regardless of the cost. The introduction of the SaaS (News - Alert) (Software-as-a-Service) platform changed this reality, enabling vendors to deliver value and driving a fundamental shift in the way technology is delivered and managed. With the constant maturity of SaaS, sweeping changes have been occurring throughout the IT landscape and companies of all sizes are seeking to leverage the benefits of the hosted

While on-premise contact centers were the only available model for a number of years, they were not without their problems. For one thing, all contact centers required significant capital expenditures to setup, as well as tremendous ongoing costs such as maintenance and support. These centers also required substantial integration, which required a lot of time and complexity. On-premise contact centers also had a high degree of vulnerability to disaster, could not accommodate off-site agents and were difficult to manage with fluctuating demand.

According to research firm Gartner (News - Alert), cloud computing is one of the research firm’s Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2010. Technologies included in this list are those that impact the organization’s long-term plans, programs and initiatives.

In reality, there are a number of benefits the hosted contact center can deliver to the overall organization, including the elimination of capital expenditures, a reduction in the ongoing IT maintenance and support costs, and increase in the flexibility of staffing, the ability to be prepared in the event of a disaster, stay nimble as demand fluctuates according to the industry or time of year, and the ability to enjoy a future-proof contact center.

Hosted contact centers, offered through key industry players such as

Contactual, enable the organization to more fully engage with customers and increase satisfaction rates. This platform also allows for access to the latest technology to minimize process times and maximize overall performance. Cloud-based contact centers have matured into a stable solution that enables an organization to not only save money, but also to improve the overall customer experience. Companies can eliminate the need to buy hardware and the build out of a burdensome infrastructure and instead free up funds for other areas of the business.contact center model.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Chris DiMarco