When cloud-based contact center solutions first became widespread during the previous decade, most installations were small businesses looking to gain real functionality at affordable costs. In fact, cost was the number one driver for these solutions. They allowed small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to offer multichannel options to customers just like the big players.

According to a recent paper produced by 1Stream, the market for hosted solutions is changing today as companies find additional benefits of working in the cloud aside from cost, particularly the ability to please rising customer expectations and multiple channels.

“While cost continues to be a driver, it is no longer the most significant driver to the cloud: fast deployment and flexibility is,” wrote the authors. “Call center technology providers have to enable their clients to respond to customer needs faster, and across a wider range of media, than ever before. Social media has already imposed the need for multichannel integration and responses on companies, who are finding their customers both complimenting and complaining about various aspects of their businesses’ on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter (News - Alert).”

Social media, of course, is much talked about, but it still represents a small fraction of customer inquiries. The inquires that do come in via social media, however, have the power to make or break a brand. (U.S. Airways would certainly agree this week.) This makes them ultra-critical to handle properly. A cloud-based solution can tie social monitoring and media in with other channels, giving the contact center a 360-degree view of the customer regardless of channel.

But it’s no longer just about cost and multichannel flexibility, either. It’s about geography. As organizations look to save more money, the idea of a free-standing brick-and-mortar contact center is starting to wane. The very nature of cloud-based contact centers means that companies can use any configuration of agents they wish: agents at multiple offices or even their homes, to build a virtual workforce that acts like a physical contact center but costs less.

It’s also about staying up to date. A recent blog post by cloud contact center solutions provider Five9 (News - Alert) outlined how companies are recognizing the benefits of a cloud-based solution in patches, updates and upgrades.

“When it comes to software in the cloud, the ability to provide updates both large and small has been streamlined – giving customers efficient and simple ways to take advantage of new capabilities quickly. Rather than collecting dust in a closet, cloud solutions have the potential to get better every single day.”

It seems clear at this point that the contact center of the twenty-first century lives and works in the cloud. Whether companies choose to meet their customers there is up to them. In their absence, their customers will certainly find someone to talk to, and turn their money over to.