The contact center traditionally has been undervalued by business leaders, limiting investments in contact center technology. In light of today’s customer demands, however, organizations need to rethink their contact centers in order to enhance the customer experience.
This means moving beyond the traditional “call center” to embrace a wide range of communications media. While voice calls remain the most popular means of contacting a company, consumers increasingly want the ability to do business by email or through online chat. Agents should be able to move seamlessly among these communication channels across and within customer interactions.
Thanks to unified communications (UC) technology, organizations can create more versatile contact centers and a more compelling customer experience. UC consolidates multiple communications channels, enabling contact center agents to interact with customers seamlessly across voice, online chat and email. Supervisors can not only monitor calls, but can initiate online chat sessions with agents to offer advice while the agents are on the phone with customers.
The cloud provides an increasingly attractive deployment model for UC contact centers. According to a new report from Straits Research, the cloud-based contact center market will see a compound annual growth rate of 21.3 percent, from $14.5 billion in 2021 to $82.43 billion in 2030.
Benefits in the Cloud
Cloud-based contact center solutions eliminate upfront investments in infrastructure and minimize the risk of obsolescence through a subscription-based service that is continually updated with the latest capabilities. In addition, cloud-based contact centers enable:
- Faster deployment. Instead of devoting resources to purchasing, installing and maintaining technology, organizations can focus on optimizing and improving their contact center solutions. Streamlined deployments and minimal capital costs also result in faster return on investment.
- Greater flexibility. A cloud-based contact center can be scaled up or down to meet peaks in demand. The latest solutions can also be integrated with customer relationship management and other business applications to streamline workflows and maximize agent productivity.
- Business continuity. Because agents can access applications and data from any location instead of being tied to a physical phone system, contact center operations can continue with little or no disruption should a disaster occur.
Cloud-based UC also enables the development of the virtual contact center model, in which calls are routed to agents working at home or remote locations. The technology is transparent to the customer. Leveraging a home-based workforce drives down real estate costs and enables organizations to draw from a larger talent pool that’s not defined by geography. Organizations can create geographically dispersed contact centers that provide “follow-the-sun” coverage.
Key Considerations
The cloud-based contact center market is crowded, creating a more competitive landscape that has led to more choices and lower prices. More choices mean that organizations must carefully consider their current and future needs in order to evaluate the available options.
Furthermore, moving to the cloud isn’t for everyone, and not all vendors and solutions are created equal. Organizations should evaluate solutions based on their business processes and goals, and make sure service-level agreements protect their interests. It typically makes sense to partner with a managed services provide such as Verteks with extensive experience in the design, implementation, management and support of contact center solutions.
Consumers are increasingly demanding, and the quality of a retailer’s contact center can make or break the relationship. A cloud-based contact center infrastructure provides organizations with the tools they need to improve contact center performance and the customer experience in a cost-efficient OPEX model. Contact us to discuss your business needs and operational challenges.
