Call Center Cloud Solution

A few more guidelines here for vetting a cloud contact center vendor and their services. As we mentioned earlier, the base functionality in most contact center solutions today includes advanced call routing, IVR, and so on, plus options for advanced features such as speech analytics and customer feedback surveys. Many of the vendors now in the small center cloud market structure their solution “packages” to include this base functionality, with certain vendors offering options for advanced features. But are these packages and their service and pricing options easy to understand, or do they seem to contain fine print and hidden costs? Equally important is whether a cloud offering is as simple to deploy and manage as the vendor claims. “How, exactly, will your solution reduce demand on our already limited IT resources?” The best way to answer this question is to involve your IT team and let them judge for themselves.

If a vendor offers a trial period of its cloud solution, take a test drive so you can get an up-close view of the vendor’s technology and what makes it work. Also assess the cloud migration path a vendor requires, including what the vendor’s time frame is for implementation. Some (but not all) vendors assign a dedicated implementation manager to oversee the deployment schedule, and provide video and (instructor led) online training to streamline user education. The fewer hurdles during migration and implementation, the more you should expect your cloud solution to be rolled out in a reasonable, scheduled time frame. For example, some small center deployments take only a few days or weeks, or possibly less. The goal is to get your contact center in full operational mode quickly and speed return on investment, and do so by eliminating risk as much as possible.

Another key criteria a cloud vendor should confirm is giving your contact center the ability to make changes and add features. Historically, contact center operations have required the ability to add agents quickly due to seasonality (scale up, and then back down) and business growth. Small contact centers are no different from their larger counterparts, even if increased volumes require only two or three more agents to maintain service levels. A similar ability to add new system features such as quality management can also be a key differentiator for contact centers in the markets they serve. And small center or not, having control to scale users and functionality when needed can spell a more significant advantage over other contact centers that must change platforms, applications, or providers to address changing requirements. Additional rules of thumb for scalability are to consider business users as part of your overall user count, and to anticipate new office locations as part of any business expansion. Doing so helps you achieve long-term investment protection no matter how large your business and contact center operations grow.