Already Spent Millions on Premise-based Solutions But Still Need More? Hosted Solutions Can Help

By Joshua Shale;
Director of Marketing, VoltDelta

Hosted solutions” is the latest revolution in contact center technology and it seems that every technology and provider has at least some hosted offering and contact centers have been taking advantage of what they have to offer. Centers that have made significant investments in premise-based technologies may tend to shy away from considering a hosted solution. Who would want to advocate a hosted, Op-Ex solution when an investment in premise-based solutions is still new to the center?

Hosted versus premise-based is not an all or nothing prospect; successful centers have learned to use a blend of both in order to maximize, affect and minimize capital expense. This is done by enabling hosted solutions to compliment premise-based in order to meet the needs of center.

Hosted Solutions to Compliment Premise-Based Systems
Every implementation of contact center technologies involves some sort of compromise; no solution will address all needs and requirements. Expense and functionality considerations force decisions that are required by the laws of diminishing returns. There are several ways in which Hosted Solutions can compliment premise-based systems to provide a more complete and effective center.

Hosted for Seasonal Volume Spikes
Contact centers that experience seasonal call spikes may have trouble justifying the purchase and maintenance of infrastructure that will be idle except for those peak volume times. Hosted solutions can be brought on board to handle the spikes on an operational expense basis reducing the capital expenditure on equipment that would handle high volumes.

Hosted to Address Specific Needs
Almost all contact centers could realize some value from a speech automated IVR integrated into their premise-based platform but few can develop the business case for making the up-front investment necessary to implement it. A Hosted Speech-Automated IVR can be seamlessly integrated into any contact center’s existing systems and without the capital expense to do it.

Hosted for Promotional Events and Short-term Projects
A new product roll-out or a one-time promotion will increase traffic in the contact center and may require the center to invest in more capacity or to develop new call flows, use new software or new databases. The expense of delivering the capability to handle the limited time event or project, which will be difficult to justify as part of a business case, can be avoided by using a Hosted Solution.

Hosted as Part of Disaster Recovery Planning
All contact centers have at least some level of disaster recovery planning yet few can afford to maintain complete redundancy. A Hosted Solution can be an integral part of the Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity planning by delivering “Agent at Home” capabilities, by implementing automated ACD and failover, or by enabling voice and data transport to a back-up or overflow center.

Hosted to Explore the Feasibility of New Technologies
Contact centers are always exploring and examining new technologies yet the business case is the instrument for making a purchase decision. Business cases are very good at stating the cost of an investment but stating the benefit can be hard to quantify without actual empirical data. Contact centers can implement a new technology without the capital expenditure to understand its exact worth and then make a more informed decision as to whether a full investment is worthwhile. The center may just decide to maintain the Hosted version of the technology. CIS

About VoltDelta Hosted Solutions
VoltDelta Hosted Solutions provides contact centers of all types access to leading edge technologies including speech automation, IVR, ACD, VoIP transport, multi-modal messaging and outbound alerts on the per-minute used model. To learn more please go to www.voltdelta.com/voltdeltahosted-solutions.

Please visit us at Call Center 2.0 in Los Angeles in booth # 306.

When Disaster Strikes
Deploying hosted solutions can afford an enterprise many benefits, not the least of which is the ability to more readily implement a disaster recovery plan. In our post-9/11, post-hurricane Katrina world, the need to prepare for unexpected disasters is a clear objective that must be addressed in any deployment.

Traditional, premise based disaster recovery pans can be expensive when you factor in the multiple levels of redundancy, failover, networking between disparate locations, etc. Hosted solutions offer a much less expensive option than traditional premise-based disaster recovery plans. If a disaster hits, call centers can simply redirect calls to a temporary number, enable their agents to work from home or relocate equipment to another facility serviced by the hosted solution. The call processing and the features associated with the individual applications are tied to network-based servers ensuring availability in the event of a disaster. And the plan can encompass resources spread across a vast geography allowing for widely dispersed locations to handle the call volume while the affected areas are brought back online.

– Greg Galitzine (News - Alert) is editorial director at TMC.

CIS Magazine Table of Contents

TMCnet's Online Communities™

TMCnet Magazines

TMCnet Events

TMCnet's Technology Sites

Browse News by Topics

TMCnet BLOGGERS

TMCnet Resources

About TMCnet

Subscriptions

Follow Us Your Way

CHANNEL BY TOPICS

QUICK LINKS

Already Spent Millions on Premise-based Solutions But Still Need More? Hosted Solutions Can Help

Technology Marketing Corporation

IMPORTANT

SUBSCRIPTIONS

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY