To say the contact center has evolved over the past couple of decades would be a pretty major understatement. When I first began writing about communications technologies 15 years ago, we called it a call center and this thing known as the cloud hadn’t taken shape yet. Sure, call center solutions were already changing at that point and VoIP and unified communications were coming onto the scene and shaking things up, but call center technologies were pretty standard and hardware and software were installed and maintained at the premises.

Now we have cloud contact centers that only vaguely resemble the PBX (News - Alert), ACD and IVR architectures of days past. Legacy hardware and software still exist of course, but they have changed quite a bit to keep up with the pace of technology. Customer demand for unified communications (UC) offerings along with enterprise demand for more scalable, flexible, cost effective and feature-rich solutions have helped the contact center space evolve to where it is today. The cloud represents the next step for today’s contact centers, and brings with it a vast number of benefits.

I recently wrote about Hoffman (News - Alert) Southwest Corp., a California company that handles contact center services for Roto-Rooter. The company created a private cloud for the plumbing giant to route voice calls at its dispatch center 24/7 to plumbing and drainage service technicians. They are also researching cloud-based UC services to add more value to their customer service offerings. It only makes sense that businesses built on providing high levels of response and superior customer service would migrate to the cloud due to a massive variety of benefits.

Cost savings are usually the main variable in major business decisions and the cloud-based contact center certainly delivers. By moving hardware and software off premises, companies are no longer burdened with procuring, managing and supporting costly equipment. The result is reduced capital expenses as well as operational savings since IT resources are freed from maintaining and upgrading on-site architecture. A nice bonus is that IT is now available to focus on core business initiatives.

Scalability is a huge benefit in making the move to a cloud contact center. With the holidays looming, we are reminded that certain times of the year create a massive spike in call volumes for various businesses. The cloud enables easy scalability so contact centers may rapidly add more agents and support on an as-needed basis. And with cloud pricing models in place, businesses only need pay for the bandwidth and resources they use, instead of making costly investments on site to add more seats. The ability to quickly and affordably scale resources up and down through a proven service provider that handles all the hardware and software support is a pretty compelling usage case for the cloud.

Flexibility is another major reason enterprises are increasingly turning to the cloud. While cloud contact centers are certainly not the answer for every type and size of business, they offer the ability to easily tailor offerings to meet the specific needs of vertical markets. And offerings are typically backed by solid service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure availability and performance levels are met.

If the benefits of the cloud contact center aren’t compelling enough, a quick look at the history of the market is a good indicator of how much it has grown. According to DMG Consulting, back in 2008 the adoption rate for cloud-based contact center infrastructure solutions was only 2.2 percent. By 2011 that rate had nearly tripled, reaching 5.9 percent. The number of seats may be an even better indicator, with those growing by 80.2 percent during that time period.

DMG predicts a minimum of 18.1 percent of contact center seats will reside in the cloud by 2015, with the infrastructure market continuing to grow at a steady pace. Ultimately, cloud-based infrastructure comprises the fastest growing sector of the contact center market.

That poses an interesting dilemma for many contact centers. Should they upgrade existing equipment with cloud-enabled features or completely replace with next-generation equipment? That is not an easy question to answer and the solution depends on a number of variables. Many major players in the call center and contact center space have updated their offerings to include cloud or hybrid components. Businesses need to examine if they are happy with their current vendors and investments and whether their business approach revolves around protecting existing investments or investing in more innovative offerings. Time constraints for upgrading as well as costs, features, redundancy and availability must also be examined.

Some organizations may decide its time to pull out all the stops and replace their entire infrastructure. This may seem like a drastic move, and yet it can provide a number of benefits in terms of cost savings, scalability and compelling new features if legacy equipment isn’t performing up to par. That is exactly what cereal giant Post Holdings recently decided to do. The company behind name brands like Fruity Pebbles got spun off from Ralcorp Holdings and found itself with a brand new IT department and the opportunity to start from scratch. And so Post decided to go exclusively with cloud-based applications for its 1,300 employees. The decision was fueled by cost savings, efficiencies and flexibility.

Not every company has the luxury of rebuilding their IT department or contact center from scratch like Post. Even so, the Post example provides a compelling case for examining how the cloud can enhance your contact center. Whether it’s a slow and steady upgrade of legacy equipment or a complete overhaul and replacement, the cloud-enabled contact center offers too many benefits to ignore.

For more on upgrading or fully replacing your existing contact center technology, read this report guide on How to Handle Underperforming Contact Center Software.