When we think of a traditional “inbound call center”, we mean that quite literally – phone calls came in. They were routed by an ACD whose sole function was to manage volume and route calls to the right person. Today, a call center is much more versatile, and that versatility is enabled by the cloud. It’s an “inbound center” that handles phone calls, instant messages and chats, emails, and social media posts with complex routing made simple by applying cloud technologies.
What does the cloud add to call centers?
No longer is a customer experience bound by the limitations of legacy on-premises system capabilities. Instead, new cloud-based solutions offer a much more flexible and agile approach, resulting in a dramatically improved customer experience. A cloud communications system provides the tools for contact center managers to easily create and change customer contact flows (without recourse to the IT department), the only barrier to improved customer experience is the imagination.
Should I add all contact methods since I have the ability?
Absolutely… NOT! Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. You need to look at your customers and decide how they want to contact you. 89% of millennials have used a search engine to find the answer to their customer service question before calling customer service and 84% have used a self-service portal, according to Salesforce. Are these your customer base? Then you need to be on point with your self-service options like chat bots in your channel strategy.
How do I maximize the value of the channels I offer?
You need to ensure you have the resources and processes in place for your chosen channels to be handled at peak efficiency. Customers today expect a company to know who they are and their history with the company by the time they are on the line with a live agent. This means your CRM needs to be in sync and available to your agents. It also means that a CSR should have quick visibility into any email, chat, or call data in the customer’s history.
Corporate Technologies Group can help you find success with your cloud call center solution.
Corporate Technologies Group is vendor-agnostic. We have strategic partnerships with over 140 different Cloud, VoIP, Security, and WAN network service providers. We help clients from network design to implementation, post-installation support and remediation. We can ensure your call center operates seamlessly and meets the demands of your business and your customers.
Download our whitepaper, Call Centers and the Cloud, to learn more.
