To understand what cloud contact centers are, let’s take a look at how traditional contact centers used to work.

How do on-premises contact centers work?

Traditional on-premise contact centers is a contact center model where all of the hardware and equipment is hosted within the company premises and maintained by in-house personnel. This means you will have to buy, install, and maintain all of the necessary components such as servers, PBXs, telephony equipment, etc. In addition, you’ll need to buy a contact center software license separately and install it in your devices yourself.

As one can imagine, on-premise contact centers can be both costly and difficult to maintain. This is where a cloud contact center comes in.

How do cloud contact centers work?

Unlike a traditional contact center, all of the hardware and equipment for a cloud-based contact center is hosted offsite by a service provider. This means, your cloud contact center provider handles the maintenance for the components we listed earlier.

All you need are devices that can connect to the internet and you’ll be able to access your cloud contact center solution.

• Is a cloud contact center the same as a CCaaS solution?
• CCaaS stands for “contact center as a service” and the term is often used interchangeably with cloud contact center. It is a software package that includes all the features you’ll need for a contact center facility. For example, a CCaaS solution may have auto dialers for customer engagement campaigns that need outbound calls. For inbound campaigns, on the other hand, CCaaS solutions usually offer intelligent routing systems or IVRs.

They both do the same thing in that they help customers get in touch with businesses, so it’s common for the two terms to be used interchangeably. However, they do have differences:

A on-premise or cloud call center is focused entirely on receiving voice calls. Staff needs to demonstrate certain skills, including being able to actively listen and show empathy. Interactive voice response (IVR) are the primary mode of self-service, and an automatic call distribution system (ACD) is used for intelligent routing.

A contact center is built around the multichannel needs that arise on customer journeys. In other words, a contact center has the capability to deal with calls, email, SMS, webchat, conferencing, and social media, i.e., perform omnichannel routing, in order to cater to whichever customer engagement method is preferred.

All this results in a more complex and diverse body of data being generated. It also requires a fuller set of skills than that used in a call center - for instance, as well as the above requirements, agents need the ability to write clearly and succinctly.

Customer self-service routing is more developed, with chatbots, webpage FAQs, and interactive voice response IVR there to help customers find what they need. Finally, equipment will include the above and a terminal with the means installed to handle customer interactions across the various channels in as simplified a manner as possible.

Of course. Contact 8x8 to ask for a demo and find out about their new XCaaS packages.

You’ll be getting full omnichannel capability, which one reviewer called a “Swiss Army Knife for unified communications,” and all the benefits of multi-channel communications, with no set-up fee and 24/7/365 customer support.

When it comes to choosing an operational ingredient of such fundamental importance as this - i.e., the component of your business that connects you with your customers - you need to consider certain key factors. By taking into account all of these, you’ll be in with a better chance of choosing the right vendor for your needs. These factors can be bunched into three main areas:

1. Pricing and what model of payment scheme to choose
2. The customer experience of the software you’re considering
3. Features on offer - this is probably the most significant area

1. Contact center common pricing concerns

Pricing and fees are some of the most important factors when it comes to choosing a cloud contact center provider. Let’s look at some tips that can help guide you to choosing the correct provider for your business.

Extra fees and ROI

Before you sign anything, make sure you ask about any hidden fees and extra charges. Some providers may not offer all of the possible fees upfront to give you the sense that the deal is cheaper than it really is. It’s always good practice to read your provider’s SLA comprehensively to check if they added fees that weren’t discussed initially.

Also, be sure to calculate the return on investment your new cloud contact center offers. Going for a cheaper solution with fewer features might seem like the better option, but if it doesn’t deliver a good return then you might be better off with a more expensive solution in the long run.

Choosing the correct pricing model

Assess your business needs to find the best pricing model for your organization. Here are some examples of pricing models:

• Pay a recurring fee - This is the most common pricing model for cloud-based services. Most providers offer monthly subscriptions, but there are also other options such as annual or quarterly. Usually, providers have packages with a set number of users and features. The more expensive packages offer the most comprehensive set of features. You can choose which package you want depending on the size and needs of your business.
• Pay by the minute - This is good for contact centers with variable communications traffic. If your comms level is difficult to predict, you’ll want a cost basis that charges you for what you use when you use it. You can scale up or down as necessary and leave when you want. The downside is that you need to keep an eye on what you’re spending from day to day.
• Pay upfront - Good for predictable contact traffic, including periods when you know you’ll be at peak, such as holidays, etc. As you’re paying ahead of time, you’ll get some kind of discount. You need to be sure that you use up your entitlement and don’t leave any wasted at the end of the month. Also, be careful with any overage fees.
• Pay per named user - This model involves the business paying a fee based on the number of agents working in the contact center, regardless of whether they’re logged in. This is usually relatively economical and can give unlimited time per user. This is suitable for businesses with consistent contact traffic. However, it’s not the best choice if you have a lot of occasional or part-time staff for whom you’ll be paying whether they’re working or not.
• Pay by concurrent user count - This is similar to the previous model, except it’s based on a count of who’s working at any one point, wherever in the world they may be. This is a popular choice among a wide variety of businesses, particularly those with operations spread over several territories.

As long as you pay careful attention to the nature of your business and its needs, you should be able to select an appropriate pricing model that works for you. The most important factor to bear in mind is to be wary of deals that look like they’ll save you a fortune, only for extras such as overage costs to be ruinous.

2. Research customer experience reviews

When you’re about to commit a large amount of finance to something that can have a huge impact on your business, it helps to gain from others’ experiences. Thankfully, there’s a lot of review information out there just waiting to be found and learned from. Watch out for extremity bias, though, i.e., the tendency to give impeccably high or censoriously low marks based on fairly small variances in experience. We all like to be a bit sensationalist at times!

3. Essential cloud contact center software features

Call routing

It’s a fundamental requirement; when a call comes in, it needs to go to the right person. This can be achieved with the use of an IVR and a robust intelligent routing system.

An IVR can be used to guide users to the correct support agent by inquiring what their issues are routing them to the agent that has the most experience in that area.

Sometimes, it can also be used to offer self-service advice in order to reduce the workload on your live agents. Offering more easy ways for customers to help themselves can also results in positive effects on waiting times, and the business benefits as a result. More customers being satisfied equals better KPIs.

Omnichannel support

It’s what makes an intelligent cloud contact center a contact center and not a virtual call center. You need your staff to be able to stay on top of all customer communications, whether that’s email, messaging, phone, or whatever, and they need access to the same levels of customer data no matter what the comms channel.

You need your staff to be able to move seamlessly from one method of communication to another, so all digital channels should be unified into one dashboard. This way, you can be sure that no matter which form of communication the customer has chosen, it will be dealt with in its proper place in the queue.

CRM integration, e.g., Zendesk and Salesforce

It’s vital that your contact center software integrates smoothly with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. If there’s any incompatibility, this can result in frustrated employees and dissatisfied or even lost customers.

Having integration gives a center all kinds of advantages, such as easily being able to pull up information on the customer prior to an outgoing call.]

App integration

This one is increasingly important. As customers look for more convenience in how they access a help desk, being able to offer them a minimal click solution via a mobile app is highly desirable.

If a customer can access support via your company’s app, they’ll be able to resolve their difficulties with greater speed, meaning greater customer satisfaction and retention.

Workforce optimization/management tools

It’s advantageous for a contact center to have tools built in to the system that help with enhancing workforce engagement, allowing for agent performance quality management and facilitating scheduling for coaching, etc. Agent productivity is thus optimized.

RingCentral’s contact center software includes Workforce Optimization Pro, which has features such as schedule building and timeline managing. It also gives the manager the ability to easily select calls for performance review.

Analytics

Calls are being scrutinized in greater detail now than ever before, not only for performance quality assessment but also for the metrics that they can deliver.

Being able to use real-time analytics means that managers can be kept apprised of developments that will either point towards coaching as a good way forward or even intervention if the call’s going somewhat sub-optimally. It’s here that speech and sentiment analytics is supremely beneficial.

On top of this, being able to deploy analytics and call recording means that market or consumer trends are more easily spotted. If 50% of the calls that morning are about one particular feature of one particular product, you can bet that something’s afoot, either with the product or with the market appetite. Either way, it’s good to be informed.

8x8

8x8 is often regarded as top of the field due to its ability to combine an impressive array of features with ease of use. Its single pane operation is easily understandable for most staff. It interacts seamlessly with other packages, such as Microsoft Teams. It also offers great scalability.

It’s available on multiple platforms (Android, Windows, and so forth), and it can operate without a VPN and be accessed from most devices, so it’s ideal for businesses with remote workers. A benefit here is that cell phones can be made to appear to the customer as extensions.

In sum, with admirable features (including predictive dialing), impressive uptime levels, and intuitive operation, as well as great sound quality and support, it’s clear why so many users rate 8x8 so highly. “We have had nothing but positives when dealing with 8x8” says one happy user (Michael Furman, Age of Learning).

Find out more about 8x8’s contact center unified communications software here.

Talkdesk

Along with 8x8, Talkdesk was named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. It has most of the features a contact center enterprise will want, as well as a very user-friendly agent dashboard.

It’s specifically designed for those who want to be able to employ useful features (such as analytics and workforce management) without having to perform technical feats with APIs.

Genesys cloud solutions

Genesys provides great performance across all communication channels, together with robust self-service alternatives via chatbot and voicebot.

The features one would expect, including ACD (automatic call distribution), workforce management, and real-time reporting (and historical reporting) are all present, wrapped up in a nice simple-to-use interface.

Avaya

All the usual features are delivered in the usual Avaya Onecloud CCaaS, with special emphasis on customers using cell phones, including reducing call charges. On top of this, personalized interactions with repeat customers are facilitated.

The agent can customize the work interface, enabling them to create a workflow that delivers for them while presenting all the customer information they need on screen.

One thing worth mentioning here is that Avaya tends to be used by global concerns, e.g., healthcare giants; small businesses tend to use an alternative package.

Nice InContact

One of the standout features of InContact is its accent on training. The workforce management aspect of the software links to e-Learning data centers so that skill improvements are readily deliverable. Moreover, the package does a good job of putting tasks in front of those with the most relevant skills.

InContact is a good all-rounder in that it can cope with most sizes of businesses and is equally capable of dealing with inbound and outbound calls.

For range of features and ease of use, 8x8 offers an unparalleled omnichannel contact center software solution. See a demo here, and learn how the 8x8 eXperience Communications Platform can transform your business quicker and cheaper than you probably thought possible.