Important Benefits Of A Cloud Based Contact Center Solution

Contact Center Solution has undergone a transition since the coronavirus pandemic made on-premise solutions obsolete. In the face of modern adversity, cloud technology presents a new solution. It became an integral part of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Cloud contact centers have been around for quite some time, however, the compulsion to adopt them arrived only recently.

Content

Fun fact, the cloud software (aka SaaS) journey started way back in 1999 when Salesforce released its first cloud-based CRM system. This one step paved the path for a complete makeover of contact centers. Soon around 2004, cloud technology penetrated different spheres of call centers making it a great alternative to on-premise. Cloud call center systems started emerging which are now popularly known as CCaaS - Contact center as a service.

Over the years contact center owners had a lot of second thoughts before committing to cloud tech. That is changing rapidly. Post-pandemic, many organizations have completely eradicated the need for their on-premise setup. With permanent work-from-home, unless needed, otherwise, cloud-based contact centers have revealed a new way of operating.

 

A cloud contact center is an amalgamation of all contact center tools and applications, together hosted on a cloud. Being hosted online, the services are accessible from any geographic location. Cloud contact center solutions are hosted on a company-owned internet server (private cloud) or popular public cloud (like GCP, Azure, AWS) via which all inbound and outbound calls are conducted. It also allows engagement via voice, social media, video, web chat, bots, and any other possible channel.

Cloud Contact Center Solution manages all the hardware/infra and with managed services, it provides highly scalable, multi-geo, and high availability to run your contact center solutions. It can integrate with your existing in-house CRM system and other AI-driven solutions as well.

 

On-premise setups are restricted in many ways. From time-consuming updates to scheduled maintenance, all of it is a costly affair. Let’s have a look at the differences between the two setups.

 

On-Premise Contact Center Solution	Cloud Contact Center Solution
1. This solution requires on-prem servers, gateways, and power supply. Integration and side deployment is a time-consuming process.	1. There is no such hardware required for the cloud solutions and the implementation process is time-efficient.
2. It requires scheduled maintenance.	2. It has very low maintenance as everything is hosted online.
3. It has a scope of failures as it is heavily dependent on hardware.	3. CCaaS has lesser chances of failure or drawbacks as it is software and network dependent.
4. Most upgrades take a long time and don’t happen consecutively.	4. All upgrades happen in near real-time. With DevOps and CI/CD pipeline the upgrades are seamless.
5. Takes additional infrastructure to scale	5. Fairly scalable in real-time.
6. Hardware-dependent solutions will lead to capex. However, licenses can still be offered as opex.	6. CCaaS is completely on opex.
7. Cannot support remote teams thus hindering business continuity in the face of adversity.	7. Can support remote teams, also enabling business continuity in the face of adversity like the coronavirus pandemic.
8. Telco termination is customer responsibility	8. Telco or VoIP lines are provided by the CCaaS provider. There can be provision to Bring Your Carrier (BYOC)

 

While the differences state the benefits of a Cloud Contact Center Solution, it is important to understand why they impact your organization.

1. Scalable Solution for Businesses of All Sizes:

Businesses grow over time and expand at their own pace. Investing in a solution that you might need in the future, seems like a waste of resources. Getting confined by licenses and hardware and the costs around it can restrict growth, especially for SMBs. A cloud contact center solution doesn’t pose this threat as it can be upgraded or downgraded in real time with no hardware restrictions. In other words, you can always freely change your cloud-based plan. Whether it is adding more agent logins, integrating a new channel, or hiring people at a new location, cloud tech can accommodate it all.

Most cloud-based solutions are structured on a pay-as-you-go model, making it a flexible choice for contact center owners.

2. Expand Your Workforce with No Geographical Restrictions:

Hiring globally always seems like a costly endeavor but it doesn’t have to be that way. As the cloud solution is hosted online, you don’t have to worry about moving your workers to your office location. They can easily login through their respective devices and can go ahead conducting or receiving calls. Our C-Zentrix Mobile App was designed specifically for such situations. Agents can just use their smartphones with a basic internet connection to log in to the company cloud server and perform their daily tasks.

Here is an engaging video on C-Zentrix Mobile App

Contact centers usually need to hire globally or regionally for linguist purposes. Hiring locals to reach out to more people is easier for any business. Cloud-based solutions offer this opportunity without shelling out your resources.

3. Improved Communication with Omnichannel Experience:

Customer touchpoints are not constant. You never know when you might need to add new channels to your operation and assign your agents to it. While some might like SMS, many might prefer social media or WhatsApp. To quickly adapt to a new communication channel, you need a flexible solution that allows you to do so. In an on-premise setup, it takes some time to set up a new channel and the infrastructure to manage it. Thanks to cloud solutions, you can just upgrade in real time with ease.

Adding multiple channels might trigger silos of isolated data. Bringing all the customer interactions under one hub will allow you to plot customer journeys and design an appropriate experience for them. This ultimate omnichannel experience is essential when you serve on multiple channels. It also aids your agents in moving through customers quickly as most of the information is available under one dashboard. Overall, the omnichannel experience is a win-win for both parties.

4. Cost Efficiency:

Every enterprise wants to find new ways of cost-cutting, no matter how successful they are. About that truth, a cloud solution is the most efficient contact center technology in the market right now. Imagine all the above-mentioned benefits at reduced costs! Who would say no to that?

Most traditional setups were heavily hardware-dependent which needed constant manual servicing. And yes the dreaded AMC (Annual Maintenance Cost)!

Removing these out of the picture, and running a contact center becomes much cheaper. With a cloud solution, you can avail a fully-functional omnichannel contact center at zero capex. Above all, when you shift to the digital realm, you can opt to let go of your physical office infrastructure. The work-from-home culture is on the rise as many offices are switching to a complete digital workspace.

5. Real-time Agent Monitoring:

Many Contact Center Solutions are shifting to the cloud and are discontinuing their physical offices. One must wonder if it causes any sort of inefficiency. It is a change and depends on the adaptability of the enterprise. However, managers can monitor their agents in real-time and barge in to help them as well.

You can measure their call metrics, agent performance, agent’s online time, and other important data. As all calls are recorded and logged, you can also go back to these calls and analyze them further for quality and training purposes. Agents' screens are also recorded to ensure that the work is being conducted to its full capacity. All of this information gives your team a certain amount of control to make better decisions.

6. Power of Artificial Intelligence:

Cloud Call Center Software can harness the power of AI in a more comprehensive way than its on-premise counterpart. Whether it is a Voice bot, speech analytics, AI-powered agent assistant, sentiment analysis, or even customer churn predictor - all rely on numerous AI models and 3^rd party services that can be seamlessly accessible over the cloud. Also, these models are using supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement learning, and the training environment invariably has to be in the cloud for the cost benefits. AI has ushered a new paradigm for contact centers and all these benefits are readily available for cloud contact centers.

As all the points suggest, a cloud-based contact center solution is a brilliant alternative to on-premise to provide engaging customer service. It is more efficient, ecological, and millennial-friendly. Being a scalable option, it paves a path for newer opportunities that are ideal for any growing business. However, the need for a more closed, secure system on-premise may be a business need. So with C-Zentrix, you can opt for a 100% cloud call center system (CCaaS), an On-premise call center, or even a hybrid solution where the voice remains on-premise and command and control can be on the cloud.