3 Key Questions Call Centers Should Ask Themselves when Migrating to the Cloud

As economies recover after the coronavirus pandemic, cloud-based contact centers will become the standard, that’s the conclusion of more than 300 call center professionals when asked about the future of their industry.

Even before anyone had heard of COVID-19, change was happening, but the pressures of managing remote work teams while meeting rising customer expectations have accelerated change. The statistics are revealing:

• One in ten call centers is now completely cloud-based.
• Eight out of ten are increasing the deployment of cloud-based software.
• 39% plan to invest more in cloud technology or make the final leap to the cloud, if they have not already done so.

These results reflect what companies have witnessed during the pandemic. Organizations that have relied on an on-premises solution have often struggled to cope with the dual blocking pressures of increased customer demand and a new work-from-home culture in the workplace.

3 Key Questions Call Centers Should Ask Themselves when Migrating to the Cloud

With increased demand for remote work and agent flexibility, there is no better time to embrace cloud-based contact center technology; however, here are three things to consider:

1) Why Migrate to the Cloud?

Cloud-based communications systems offer much more flexibility, resilience, and security than traditional on-premises solutions without the need to hire additional IT staff or invest in expensive hardware. Additionally, cloud-based workforce management solutions offer much more agility than traditional on-premises solutions.

Agent autonomy and self-service, including shift changes, reserving free time, and obtaining overtime shifts, are facilitated through a mobile app or secure staff portal. Wherever agents, supervisors or managers are located, they benefit from access to workforce management software for greater control of remote work environments.

The latest cloud solutions scale up and down flexibly, making it easy to add new channels, services, and users in an instant, increasing productivity, customer loyalty, and long-term profitability.

Finally, as customer expectations increase exponentially, organizations are looking for new ways to differentiate themselves through customer service. Now is the perfect time to combine the cloud with advanced omnichannel Voice of the Customer (VoC) analytics. The cloud facilitates quick and easy integration between these sophisticated tools and other critical applications, including CRM, to capture vital intelligence inside and outside the call center and add context to customer conversations. When agents know why a customer is contacting them in the first place, can understand their mood and see their full conversation history, they are empowered to deliver a much more relevant and satisfying customer experience.

2) What Options Are There?

As call center priorities move to the cloud and investments hit the market, companies have many options to choose from. The best technology providers offer a combination of features and good functionality with a strong service mindset and long-term vision.

When choosing a new supplier, it is a good idea to be guided by a checklist of key qualities. One of the “must haves” is a value proposition in the cloud. This means a single platform that is designed specifically for the cloud rather than adapting to a legacy system, and is ready to deliver a single, unified experience. A good technology partner must enable a flexible transition to the cloud while maintaining normal business operations. In the meantime, you can opt for a set of solutions that easily adapts to changing customer and business requirements and offers features to maximize ROI.

3) How to Avoid Possible Mistakes?

One of the main motivators for moving to the cloud is that it simplifies call center operations while reducing IT and administration costs. However, choosing the wrong technology and siding with the wrong partner can do more harm than good. Reckless choices increase the time and headaches associated with manually integrating standalone systems and solving end-user problems. So you need to find a partner with an innovative perspective, proven experience, and technology that is customizable but comes with basic out-of-the-box contact center functionality out of the box, quick to implement, easy to use, and even easier to use and maintain.

In conclusion, migrating to the cloud increases the benefits of improved workforce flexibility, agent engagement and performance, while enabling valuable insights across the call center and the business as a whole.