Contact centers get on the cloud

The trend of contact centers towards the adoption of cloud-based technology solutions is a reality that will be reinforced throughout 2017, with greater security, flexibility and cost savings, the main motivations for companies decide to take the step of climbing the cloud.

In fact, in economies such as the German, the French or the British, cloud solutions are consolidated as the biggest technology trend with an adoption rate that exceeds 60% in companies from very different economic sectors. However, what will happen during the next five years and what are the benefits that are driving this growth?

Growth and expansion over the next five years

According to the “Cloud-based Contact Center Infrastructure Market Report 2016-2017” conducted by DMG Consulting, during 2016 the number of cloud-based contact centers increased by 20.9% in companies of all sizes, and this trend is expected to continue over the next few years. In this regard, DMG estimates that the number of total posts in the cloud-based contact center infrastructure market will grow 23.5% in 2017 and 2018, and 24% in 2019 and 2020.

Benefits of cloud solutions

As we have already mentioned, the greater reliability, flexibility, scalability and security, along with the significant cost savings, are the great benefits that are attracting more and more companies of any size and any economic sector to choose infrastructure of Cloud Contact Centers. But Frost & Sullivan’s “Cloud Momentum Boosts Trends” report points to a number of strategic benefits that go even further:

• Greater business agility, as the cloud makes it easier for companies to react to changes in geography, personnel, and so on.

• More flexible and creative pricing plans that respond to the needs of businesses, reduce costs and stimulate adoption.

• Rapid implementation, as it does not require the acquisition of new equipment, systems or facilities.

• Reduction of maintenance and management costs; resources can be easily reassigned to other projects.

• Minimal risks in adoption, transfer and / or expansion.

Added value of Cloud Contact Center

Together with the aforementioned strategic benefits, the adoption of cloud solutions brings added value to the contact centers of any company and sector, while new cloud-based technologies make interactions with customers more user-friendly and more economic, while at the same time facilitating and promoting a customer service that walks towards their full satisfaction and loyalty. And this is possible thanks to:

• Omnichannel experience, able to combine all the support and communication channels in a perfect experience for the client.

• Ability to offer 24/7 support.

• Integration with third-party CRM platforms.

• Real-time monitoring of agent’s

• Facilitates and promotes remote work, which in turn reduces wear rate, increases productivity, reduces costs, and increases employee satisfaction and retention.

Proximity agent-client and telecommuting

On the other hand, this greater tendency for telecommuting favored by the greater adoption of cloud solutions, is also impelling a new definition of “work center”, favoring a rapprochement between the agent and the client.

In this sense, there are more and more companies that opt for the implantation of contact centers in multiple locations, although in a moderate way, since numerous studies reveal that the clients feel more comfortable and trust more in agents that are expressed and behave according With their same or similar regional characteristics.

Consequently, this is also a factor that substantially improves the customer experience and, therefore, serves as a stimulus to increased remote work. So much so that it is estimated that during the next year at least one in four companies will have a considerable volume of employees who will carry out their tasks from a distance.

Towards a more efficient and efficient customer experience

Consequently, from all of the above we cannot deduce more than a clear tendency of the Cloud Contact Center to achieve an increasingly efficient and efficient customer experience, that awakens in it a maximum degree of satisfaction, and increase its fidelity. To achieve this ambitious objective, the agents constitute the face of the business, but it is technology that allows them to reach and show themselves to customers.

Therefore, it is technology that helps success, and that is why contact centers are constantly evolving to create a more efficient, more effective and above all customer centric customer experience.