Cloud technology has transformed the industry by effectively removing the need for an on-site call center software. Management has access to so many innovative new aspects to help optimize their business, it can be overwhelming, resulting in the contact center not utilizing the technology to its full potential. There are ways, however, to maximize the benefits and avoid pitfalls during call center software deployment, and we outline some here.
The term “cloud” has become synonymous with ease-of-use, higher efficiency and faster innovations for valid reasons:
- No hardware requirements
- No cost or responsibility for testing
- Automatically-implemented upgrades at no additional cost
When looking for a cloud call center software partner, it’s important to align yourself with a company that has a proven track record of success; has adequate resources to support you before, during, and after deployment, and consistently delivers new innovation for its customers.
Track Record of Success
Track record of success can be identified in a few ways but it’s worth researching how long the company has been around and the amount of time they’ve been deploying technology in the cloud. It is not a simple task to move traditional (on-premises) software into the cloud. The release process and management is very different between on-premises and cloud (hosted) solutions. Therefore, the length of time that a provider has been in the cloud is a good indicator of their ability to execute to the degree/quality that you would expect.
Adequate Resources
It sounds like a positive thing to have your account manager be heavily involved in the implementation/on-boarding phase of installation. However, it’s not ideal because it probably means that the company has minimal resources. There should be dedicated teams of experts to focus on each stage of your journey to the cloud to ensure end-to-end success. Your account support person shouldn’t be tied up work on the implementation of additional clients within their portfolio.
Consistently Innovates
Innovation can sometimes be a hidden characteristic under the guise of clever marketing or salesmanship. You can get a clear view of this by looking at any acquisitions that the company has been involved in and/or by looking historically at the types of features/enhancements that they’ve introduced over the previous 12 months.
Evaluating Call Center Software
The most important thing you can do for yourself when shopping for new call center software providers is to fully understand where they stand on these basic items. Ask for customer references and actually contact all of them. And when you ask for a reference give some guidance on the type of customer you want to talk to. I would suggest asking for one reference that has been a customer for less than a year, less than 5 years and more than 5 years. The information you can gather from these kinds of interviews will tell you a great deal about the company, how they operate, how they treat their customers, and the speed of innovation. The proof of anything always arrives with the use of that product and it removes the mask of cleaver marketing.
