Call center’s today and the very nature of customer care have changed drastically over the years. What was once a place where people could voice their concerns or requests to an agent, is now a whole new dynamic that includes multiple contact methods, a connected and social user base and cloud services that do not require a call center to be located in just one brick and mortar location.

Because customers themselves are online and listening to what others also have to say about companies, and as the fight to attract and retain customers becomes more serious, businesses have stepped up their efforts to deliver optimal customer care. This includes setting up departments that track social interactions and cloud technology – which takes the time and effort away from valuable staff having to deal with IT concerns.

Aside from no longer having to update and maintain clunky equipment on-premises, the cloud is a beneficial option for call centers looking to quickly attain all the latest capabilities, while also being able to move and locate their contact center from any location when needed.

As economic conditions worsened in recent years, the use of cloud solutions to drive down costs also allowed companies in all industries to realize the benefits of hosted solutions. For the call center, the cloud has made it possible to have the latest technologies without having to pay large fees for proprietary software. Even as economic conditions improve, value in the cloud is still being seen. DMG recently reported that the benefits of the cloud have continued to be appreciated with adoption tripling from 2.2 percent to 5.9 percent from 2008 to 2012.

Also by 2015, DMG estimated at the time of the report that a minimum of 18.1 percent of all contact center seats will be in the cloud.

This is made possible since the contact center does not require any on premise equipment to get up and running. Instead, access fees are paid to run the services from a cloud provider – so in the event of a disaster or need to run and access the contact center from another location, simply logging into the solution to gain access is possible.

While a number of call centers have already made the switch to a cloud model, there are still a number on the fence about the switch.

Taking the time to weigh business objectives against opportunities for future growth as well as considering sunk costs in existing infrastructure and integration flexibility are all key discussion to be had prior to making the switch.

During an upcoming Webinar, executives from Spoken Communications and Forrester (News - Alert) Research will speak exclusively about the things you must know before moving your call center to the cloud.