The phrase “business case” is often used in discussions to debate priorities and guide investment decisions. Interestingly, many business cases incorporate a great deal of prognostication in the form of “assumptions” that then get used in calculations that mathematically demonstrate the value of one opportunity versus another. Business cases for initiatives that have never been done are truly artistic. I’m not being cynical. Consider this, when was the last time you went back to evaluate the business case for your current telephony, video meetings, or contact centre solution? If you did, how would you rate the accuracy of the forecast versus what actually happened?

Which gets me to the point, well, two points. First, there is an opportunity to be better at developing business cases, specifically for NHS Trusts that are evaluating investments in cloud communications. The second point is that going through the thought process of creating the business case is as important as the recommendations it produces.

Because business cases are a vast, complex topic, I’ll focus this initial discussion on preparation and the key topic areas that NHS Trusts should consider when developing a business case for investing in cloud communications. To provide a framework for developing a balanced business case, here are five topics that will help Trusts stay focused on enabling the best outcomes for patients and staff:

  • Improve the patient experience
  • Enable the transition to cloud communications
  • Provide a consistent “work anywhere” experience
  • Integrate with key ICT platforms
  • Deliver a single security model

Improve the patient experience

Improving the patient experience starts with one of those assumptions: that you understand what the experience is today. Do you have visibility into all the communication touch points and the patient experience at each one? Are you able to quantify the impact of improving the patient experience? The research consistently shows that improving the experience has a positive impact — but, by how much? This is where the details underpinning the business case can get fuzzy. Here are a few questions to consider when thinking through this topic:

  • Would providing the switchboard and contact centre agents with instant visibility of a complete staff directory increase call handling capacity and reduce wait times without adding more staff?
  • Does having patient sentiment analysis across all the contact centre calls enhance the patient experience and lower costs by focusing resources on those topics that deliver outcomes most relevant to patients?
  • What value does the ability to instantly produce reports showing results for key metrics have on IT resource utilisation?
  • How does the ability to provide specific and relevant coaching to agents using annotated recordings from their calls impact the patient experience?
  • Would analytics and reporting that support balancing resources with activity levels drive efficiency gains, cost improvements, and enhanced patient experiences?
  • What are the impacts from automating high volume, routine calls?

Simplify management of the estate

Often, Trusts are operating multiple communication systems and related applications to provide staff with all of the tools they need to appropriately engage patients and collaborate with each other. Managing this portfolio consumes a great deal of staff and IT team time, as people need to learn, stay current on, use, and maintain these systems. What would the impact be of consolidating all of those applications down to just one that all staff could use, regardless of their role? Additionally, a SaaS application should not require extensive training before users can be up and using it. Here are some considerations for these deployment, training, and adoption topics:

  • Are new desk phones required or can existing models be used?
  • Are softphones with a mobile app eliminating the need for physical phones?
  • Can staff safely and securely use their personal mobile devices?
  • How much time needs to be invested into onboarding a user to the point of adoption?
  • What’s the expected impact on the IT help desk to roll out the new cloud communications apps?
  • Would a single application to deploy, train, use, and maintain reduce the demands on IT staff?
  • Would having one application that included all communication channels increase staff productivity?
  • What would be the impact to monthly outlays by consolidating all of those subscription costs down to just one plan?

Enable transition to “work anywhere” experience

The research is clear, organisations are implementing hybrid working models. Organisations should look for solutions that work on any device with a consistent experience across softphone, PC/Mac, iOS and Android mobile applications, and IP handsets for “ward” phone use cases. These applications must also be able to work over both secure internet, public internet, home broadband, 3G, 4G, and 5G, as well as make use of GSM mobile minutes for staff working in rural areas. Include an assessment of:

  • What is the impact of adding cloud communications to the network? Will this over-the-top (OTT) service require additional network capacity?
  • What’s the current telemedicine solution and does it enable staff to quickly engage with patients and other staff? Can they do so spontaneously?
  • What messaging capabilities are in place today to support digital channels and how can using them deliver better patient experiences?
  • Can all staff work remotely, if needed, using their personal devices, yet always present their Trust’s phone number? What impact would that have on staff productivity?
  • How are communications for common areas handled today?
  • What level of international calling is needed for each role?
  • How long will you need to run both systems in parallel to enable a smooth transition? What are those “overlap” costs?

Integrate with key ICT platforms

NHS Trusts effectively leveraged Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams to quickly adjust to remote working, which has kept staff and patients safer. Trusts using Teams also need additional capabilities to enable collaboration with external parties, such as patients and care provider partners. Switchboard, contact centre, and external digital communication channels, such as SMS and chat apps, must be able to integrate with Microsoft Teams to ensure that it remains at the centre of collaboration. Note that all integrations are not equal. Using a true cloud-to-cloud integration with Microsoft should be favoured over more basic direct routing, where traditional SIP trunking and potentially on-premise SBC’s would be required.

  • What are your licensing costs to provide voice services for Microsoft Teams users?
  • What are the cost implications of being able to use a Microsoft Teams certified integration partner?
  • Would a platform with the ability to include both business communications and contact centre in a single integration save time and money from the outset and over time?
  • What’s the impact of working with a provider that has a relationship with NHS Digital to ensure, (should your Trust decide to move to the national shared tenant environment) that the voice, switchboard, and contact centre platforms will just work —without expensive professional services migration costs?

Deliver a single security model

Cloud communication platform providers must be able to evidence Tier 1 UK data centres (more than one) where geographically redundant data traffic routing is used to provide at least 99.99% uptime as part of a contractual SLA for both business communications and contact centre. Call quality SLA’s should also be provided at a MOS level of 3.0 or greater. Of course, GDPR, ISO 27001/9001, and Cyber Essentials+ accreditations must be in place to ensure that NHS standards around data privacy and security are met.

  • What’s the cost of having to conduct multiple security audits to cover different applications?
  • Does managing the security and compliance of a single provider deliver cost savings vs managing multiple suppliers?

Many of the questions in these topic areas are often left out or not given sufficient attention as part of the evaluation. The result is a business case that only looks at infrastructure and related costs. There are also additional topics that may be relevant, depending on the ICT maturity of a Trust, that include:

  • Activity and Service Level Agreement implications
  • Physical handset rationalisation
  • Environmental Impact

Going through the thought process ensures that you will produce a comprehensive evaluation of your current communications situation. It will give you confidence that, regardless of the specific number, the business case decision has a solid analytical foundation.

I’ve called out 26 possible questions in these five areas. They are not exhaustive, but illustrative. It’s a large number of topics to think about. To make it less daunting and focus in on the data needed to start pulling together the business case, here’s an easy way to structure the information:

Suggested business case structure

Business cases can be excruciatingly detailed, often with little incremental value. As long as the key areas are covered, the result is usually a directionally correct recommendation. That said, no one will typically go back and check on how you did anyway. Especially if the solution is working well.

8x8 will partner with you and leverage our experience and expertise gained from working with other Trusts to create the appropriate evaluation and business case. The partnership begins with free workshops that review your strategic objectives and create a business case for the project aligning to those strategic targets. A key goal of those sessions is to ensure a comprehensive business case that minimizes the potential of needing to ask for more funding later, as well as providing an estimated contribution to cost improvement plans. Here’s a brief checklist providing key questions to consider as you think through the transition to cloud communication.

Additionally, we can provide multiple reference customers within the NHS, where compelling business cases were not just created, but also achieved, both in terms of improved working practices as well as contribution to overall Trust Cost Improvement Plans (CIP).

We look forward to working with you to empower your staff to deliver enhanced patient experiences and outcomes using modern communications.

To learn more, visit us at https://www.8x8.com/solutions/uk-health-and-care.