Tailored to Meet Evolving Customer Expectations

The role of contact centers is evolving with technology and process automation. Here is how to select the most-suited Contact Center as a Service solution.

By Milind Pathak

Contact centers are at the frontline of customer service for businesses and their functional efficiency can make or break business-customer relationships. From financial services, IT, retail, energy to public services, contact centers are a much-needed part of all the industries, worldwide.

As more and more businesses that were once a traditional on-premise infrastructure are now going through a digital makeover using cloud, they are aiming to enhance their digital capabilities. The nature and role of contact centers are also evolving with technology and process automation. Therefore, enterprises are opting for well-integrated and cost-effective Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) model with solutions tailored to their goals and environment. CCaaS is the answer to many problems, not least adapting to changing customer expectations and boosting agent performance. But not any solution will do; choosing the right one to fit the needs of the organization is necessary.

Enhance Customer Support with CCaaS

CCaaS enables automated customer support and service, enabling multi-channel customer interactions with supported technological frameworks. Ideal CCaaS solutions encompass customer service, telemarketing centers, employee service, support centers, help desks or other integrated communications operations. Since the entire framework is based on cloud, enterprises have the flexible pay for the service as they use a subscription-based model.

Several elements contribute to the effectiveness of CCaaS enabled contact centers. Some of the most significant ones are as follows.

• Agnostic designs independent of connectivity, ensuring smooth customer service journeys, building intelligent self-service framework
• Orchestration of support processes while engaging in complex and personalized customer communication
• Trained and developed contact center staff driven towards engaging customer experience
• Reporting and analysis of customer insights with suggested actions across all functional groups

Parameters to consider before integration

Having a clear understanding of what is being implemented and how it is going to impact the business is crucial to achieve the desired results. Businesses, not the providers are accountable for any assumptions made without any signed contract. Here are five primary considerations to factor in while going for a well aligned CCaaS solution.

#1

Optimize Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): TCO helps businesses assess costs beyond the installation. Enterprises have to carefully consider the monthly recurring charges, headcount evaluation in case of seasonal variations and the cost associated with the flexibility to change the number of agents in times of need.

#2

AI/ML integrations for amazing CX: Contact centers are the face of businesses. Advances in global AI, Machine Learning (ML) and Customer Data Platforms are impacting various dimensions of the contact center. A contiguous experience across various channels will be the key to superlative CX. AI and ML interventions in self-service or quality and security of interactions will be integral to contact centers of the future.

#3

WFH demands advanced capabilities: Unprecedented times have pushed businesses to work from home. Ensuring extension of the work desktop to agents, contextual information and monitoring of interactions becomes all the more critical due to remote work.

#4

Security and compliance is of prime importance: CCaaS providers need to implement stringent security levels as sensitive customer data exchange takes place through the system. The solutions before implementation must satisfy CCPA, GDPR and state privacy regulations. Especially, at a time when data is accessed from one’s own home, providers must put in place a safety net and ensure all liabilities are covered.

#5

Reliability will be a key enabler: Contact centers are the backbone to remarkable customer support. Traditional on-premise systems are rapidly being replaced by cloud based systems. Regulations are shifting towards promoting a cloud-first shared services model. These models come with amazing availability and scalability. Enterprises would do well to evaluate the direct dollar benefits of system reliability for cloud contact centers.

Contact center support will only evolve with changing customer expectations. Evaluating the technical and business parameters help in achieving a balance to accomplish business goals. Stress will be inherent and take a toll on the agents. Hence, training employees along with AI process automation ascertains success in customer experience.

Pathak is Chief Business Officer, Route Mobile Limited

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