Contact Center Software

We confess we weren’t good at math in high school, but we know this sounds like a good deal -- “The New Math: Double Your Results for Half the Cost.” That’s the title of a recent white paper from Contactual (News - Alert), and the subtitle makes it sound even better: “How Cloud-Based Contact Centers Minimize Risk and Increase Customer Satisfaction.”

This paper discusses “the vital role of contact centers, and examines the differences between on-premises contact centers and hosted alternatives,” according to Contactual officials: “It looks at the reasons why on-premises contact centers are becoming obsolete, and offers suggestions for how enterprises can eliminate capital expenditures while increasing customer satisfaction and staying on the forefront of innovation.”

Far too much good stuff to cover here, but some of the main points in the paper:

As SaaS (News - Alert) has matured, it has instigated sweeping changes across the IT landscape, transforming industries like CRM and ERP; now contact centers are also undergoing a radical change. Among the underlying technologies supporting this change are VoIP (Voice- over IP) and internet-based communications, which provide superior functionality at a far lower cost than traditional systems.

Purchasing the hardware and software required to set up a new call center runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Given the tremendous complexity and cost, the technology often becomes outdated soon after it is up and running. Even worse, this upfront capital expenditure only represents the tip of the iceberg of the total cost of ownership.

The SaaS model is disrupting industries, making early adopters more agile and altering the competitive landscape. Solutions that were previously out of reach for small to mid-sized companies are now within their grasp, putting more pressure on larger companies that want to maintain an edge.

One of the initial attractions of hosted contact centers is their affordable cost structure. In sharp contrast to on-premises solutions that require a steep capital expenditure, a hosted solution requires only a one-time set up fee plus a modest monthly per-seat price.

The remote agent model is rapidly gaining acceptance across organizations of all sizes, for three primary reasons: speed, cost savings, and agent retention. Since no unique hardware or software is required, on-demand contact centers enable companies to add remote or home-based agents quickly and easily. All the agent needs to get started is an Internet connection, a web browser, and a phone. No on-site IT help is needed.

One of the biggest advantages to using a hosted contact center is the ability to access new and emerging technologies without buying them upfront. Companies can freely experiment with a wide variety of interactive tools, such as chat, desktop sharing, and social media to determine which modes of communication are right for them.