The cloud-based contact center offers a unified solution for inbound and outbound voice communications, typically for a call center (such as a help desk) that is hosted outside the premises of the company. You can centralize customer communications across multiple channels using cloud contact center solutions, including voice, email, chat, text messages, and customer relationship management software (CRM).
Cloud-based call center software has seen a dramatic increase in popularity and growth over the past few years—the majority of enterprises used on-premise call center applications in the past to provide customer support.
Cloud computing enables organizations to host their call centers at a third-party data center located remotely, without the need for on-premise hardware infrastructure.
Most MSMEs and medium-sized enterprises have transitioned from on-premise call center models to cloud-based models due to low infrastructure costs and an immediate shift from CAPEX to OPEX. Traditional call center software providers are struggling to maintain their market dominance in mid-to-small-sized markets. This is leading to the boom in cloud-based call center software.
With advanced call center technologies, organizations can avoid overhead, squabbles, and disruptions associated with on-site upgrades. By using cloud-based call centers, businesses can reduce initial investments in infrastructure and software licenses and can set up a pricing model based on actual usage.
Business of all sizes can experience significant benefits when they migrate to a cloud-based contact center, such as greater flexibility, better cost structures, and enhanced compliance.
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Scalability and Flexibility
It is possible to scale phone lines and features up and down in real time with cloud contact center solutions that require very little on-site hardware or software. Call routing structures or additional phone lines can be added to accommodate seasonal fluctuations in customer call volume. An agent can make and take phone calls from their home office on a snow day, for instance.
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Flat Rate Billing
As opposed to an expensive one-time installation or upgrade of on-site contact center solutions, cloud contact center solutions offer flexible, flat rates paid each month. A cloud-based solution provides regular software updates and new features, charging a transparent amount based on actual usage.
Your organization may be able to consolidate costs across several geographic locations or achieve flexible billing that fits your organization’s structure. Your cloud contact center vendors may allow you to unlock precise billing arrangements based on resource usage if your business needs to bill different departments or clients for contact center services.
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Outsourced Maintenance & Upgrades
Contact center technology is typically maintained by a combination of internal resources, vendor support, and on-site visits from service technicians. It’s possible to outsource the implementation, hosting, operational, and day-to-day maintenance requirements for your contact center to a single provider when you use a cloud contact center. In addition to optimizing internal IT resources, outsourcing system maintenance will enable you to provide better technology to global contact center agents.
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Easier & Better Remote Workforce Communication
Your company can leverage cloud contact center solutions to explore options for “homeshoring” or expanding the remote workforce to support more employees working from home (or, at the very least, outside of the office). In addition to minimizing costs of home-based agents, cloud-based technologies provide organizations with an improved talent pool of native English speakers at a lower cost with scalability as call volumes increase.
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Always Up-To-Date Compliance
Businesses often handle compliance requirements internally when they use a premises-based contact center. Contact center agents must maintain a balance between required disclosures, scripts, and policies for safe data handling. In order to understand how evolving legislative requirements can affect workflow, contact center management should work closely with compliance experts.
PCI, HIPAA, Dodd/Frank, Sarbanes/Oxley, and similar regulations can make compliance requirements complicated in heavily-regulated industries. A cloud-based Contact Center solution offers regulatory flexibility with a centralized platform for archiving, deleting, and recording calls for regulatory compliance. With cloud technology, it is possible to add new features and make workflow changes that meet emerging compliance requirements at a much lower cost.
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Greater ROI
The most crucial step in your call center transformation is to implement call center software that reduces costs without compromising the customer experience at a time when enterprises around the globe are under even greater pressure to deliver fast, efficient services with reduced resources.
You can find significant ROI by identifying transactions that are too complex for an automated IVR system but aren’t so complex that they require human assistance. Artificial intelligence-powered, intuitive virtual agents can handle many of these “middle ground” customer interactions efficiently and effectively. As a result, the ROI comes from freeing up the human agents to do the interactions that are best handled by live agents. Integration of IVR technology for basic interactions, AI virtual agents for more complex interactions, and human agents for exceptions and the most complex interactions can drive efficiencies that drive an ROI from a call center transformation.
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Free Up Your IT Team
Cloud Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) can empower your IT team. Hardware and system maintenance can be intensive for premises-based solutions, and significant staff time is required to maintain performance. You can reduce the burden on staff and increase the productivity of the IT team by fully outsourcing the system to a trusted vendor.
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Greater Security
As software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications have proliferated, cloud-based contact centers and data centers have become more secure. Having the expertise and resources needed to maintain the security of their infrastructure may be out of reach for many companies. Vendors that offer cloud-based solutions, however, have invested in the type of technical expertise needed to protect data integrity and security.
Additionally, your information may be more secure when stored in a data center managed by a cloud provider that adheres to national and global security standards. Vendors with multiple data centers and the resources to provide both virtual and physical security for their data centers are more likely to provide this service.
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Ease of Remote Working
A cloud-based contact center also offers employees the flexibility of remote working. The fact that agents and administrators can access the software online makes it much easier for administrators to manage remote workers. It is possible to lower business costs by having a certain percentage of your employees work .
Providing employees with more freedom and flexibility to work remotely may also boost morale and productivity. Office workers are more likely to leave their current job if it offers more flexibility.
Concerns Before Choosing Cloud-Based Call Center Software
- Privacy and data security are still major concerns for organizations, especially banks and governments. It becomes imperative for cloud-based call center providers to ensure that private information is fully secure.
- Challenge in the transition from on-premise to cloud –
On-premise call centers are still preferred by some enterprises due to many reasons, including complete control over contact center infrastructure, more customization options to fit business needs, and data security.
- Support for Tighter Integrations –
For cloud-based call centers, maintaining tighter integration across channels is a major challenge. The call center should be able to provide agents with a history of customer interactions, which will increase First Call Resolution.
Final Note
With cloud-based technology, it is relatively easy to get started with an initial virtual agent – something that can provide much-needed relief to overworked and call center agents.