A Sponsored Article by IntelePeer
Ready to move your contact center to the cloud? You are not alone. In fact, experts are predicting that the cloud-based contact center market will grow to more than $10 billion by 2019. With big benefits such as intelligent call routing, integration of new communication channels, higher customer satisfaction and more responsive customer service, making the switch is immediately compelling. Add to this the significant upfront and ongoing cost savings, and it becomes virtually a no-brainer decision.
However, as with any technology migration, it is important to be prepared for what lies ahead. As you begin to plan your migration to a cloud-based call center, consider the following to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
System and Agent Readiness
When planning a migration to the cloud, it is important that call center agents be fully knowledgeable about the new system. The biggest challenges for agents lie in learning how to integrate the old (on-premise) with the new (cloud-based), and understanding any new features such as SMS and chat for video. Enterprises should be proactive in helping agents constantly improve their knowledge base for the contact center to succeed in the cloud.
Companies should make sure that the new cloud-based system will accurately reflect its overall business flow and processes. A good contact solution provider should be able to capture all required company information and map it to the contact center solution so that users can easily leverage the dashboards and reporting metrics that increase the value of the overall solution. Once a system is optimized for the business, training the agents to use it will be critical.
Payment security
When people hand over their sensitive payment information, they expect it to be handled in a secure and professional manner. As you consider moving to a cloud-based contact center, you will need to ensure that your new solution includes the optimal technology configuration to protect your organization as well as your callers from the threat of fraud.
When consulting providers, make sure that credit card details are not stored in the call center infrastructure but rather in a secure offsite hosted environment. Also, evaluate the potential provider’s security strategy by asking about multilayer protection capabilities, PCI compliance physical security and voice communication security. Because security technology and requirements are constantly changing, being proactive about aligning your current security needs with the capabilities of the provider will start you out on a good path.
Future Vision
As with any new deployment, having a well-thought-out plan will prevent downtime and increase immediate and long-term success. If decision makers don’t lay out a clear vision for the future, when it comes to deployment, all efforts will become ineffective. On the flip side, once the roadmap is defined, your organization will be well positioned to set out on the cloud customer contact journey.
One of the first steps is to find the vendor that is right for you. When selecting a partner, consider their experience, technical expertise, system redundancy and location support. Also, don’t underestimate the value of live customer support and strong reporting capabilities. With access to live, real-time customer support, when a qualified professional answers the phone, your questions and issues are resolved quickly and without frustration. And working with a vendor that provides best practices in reporting will help you to prove success and ROI, as well as identify areas in need of improvement.
Enterprises and contact centers that are considering moving their platforms to the cloud will benefit greatly from taking the time to think through the migration and prepare for the future. A well-laid plan and the right provider to partner with can be a strategic differentiator for your business.
*About IntelePeer*
IntelePeer is a leading provider of on-demand, cloud-based business communication solutions. Delivering high-quality HD voice, messaging and contact center IVR, PD, ACD solutions for enterprises and contact centers. IntelePeer’s SIP services and Atmosphere® platform delivers an unprecedented level of simplicity, analytics, savings and control.
www.intelepeer.com