Explore fresh, expert perspectives on customer engagement and innovation

As a business process outsourcing (BPO) leader, you know that more and more businesses are turning to outsourcing as part of their growth strategy.

In fact, the global business process outsourcing market, valued at $232.32 billion in 2020, is expected to grow by 8.5% until at least 2028.

BPOs provide client companies with valuable services at reasonable cost, because they use specialisation to create economies of scale. Nowhere is that more true than in the contact centre space.

Unlike client businesses, BPOs can focus entirely on providing great contact centre services, because that is their core business. But to do so, they have to employ systems and processes that allow them to scale, flex and support clients effectively without increasing costs too much.

Here are some of the challenges your BPO contact centre may be facing and how to solve them.

You want to offer your clients the best possible service, but your contact centre software doesn’t flex as you need it to.

As a BPO contact centre, you need to flex with your clients’ needs. Maybe you’re onboarding new clients quickly. Maybe some of your clients have seasonal peaks and troughs in their trade.

A BPO contact centre has to be able to flex up and down easily to meet these changing requirements, or risk providing a substandard service or piling on costs.

With a solution like MaxContact, you can add or remove licences instantly. What’s more, as a secure cloud-based service you can hire the best talent wherever they are in the UK or around the world. By contrast, on-premise solutions tie you to a location. At a time when talent is hard to find, that can be a considerable drawback for an outsourced contact centre.

You want to win new business but your contact centre provider doesn’t support you on tenders or react quickly enough to new instructions.

Winning new clients depends on being fast and nimble. You want to be ahead of the competition. You also want to provide a comprehensive review of the benefits of your service and solution.

Not every contact centre solution provider supports clients on tenders, but MaxContact does. We’ll advise on RFPs and help you hit tight deadlines. We react quickly so you can seize every opportunity. If you need a new campaign setting up in a week, we’re happy to oblige.

Your team is growing and you’re struggling to train staff quickly enough.

BPOs often have to hire large numbers of staff quickly to fulfil contracts. Those staff then need to be trained to a high standard. That’s a continual challenge for outsourced contact centres.

MaxContact is designed for ease of use. It’s an intuitive system that allows agents to seamlessly move through the steps needed to fulfil customer requests logically and simply. It also provides team leaders with the option to provide regular and detailed feedback for continuous improvement purposes. MaxContact also provides free training that quickly gets your teams up to speed.

5 tips for finding the best contact centre solution for your outsourced contact centre

If you’re looking for a contact centre solution for your BPO, always take the following into account:

• Security and compliance

All contact centres have to be secure and compliant. BPO contact centres, often dealing with several clients or campaigns at once, even more so. At the very least, you need tools to ensure that you’re GDPR and Ofcom compliant, the latest security certifications and – if you take payments – a secure payments manager. Make sure cloud based systems are housed in secure, compliant data centres.

• Ease of implementation

You can’t be left without a contact centre solution while you implement a new system. Make sure your chosen software is easy to install, maintain and upgrade, and that your provider will support you at every step. Cloud-based solutions mean the hardware and infrastructure is housed elsewhere, so they’re the quickest and easiest to install and update.

• Ease of use

The easier the software is to operate, the more likely it is that your teams will make full use of all its tools and features and the quicker they’re productive. It also makes it straightforward for agents to swap between clients and campaigns. Ask for a free trial – MaxContact offers one – and ask your team how they get on.

• Scalable and flexible

A BPO’s needs can change quickly, and then change again soon afterwards. Your solution must be able to scale up and down easily, to meet the demands of your clients. BPOs with inflexible solutions risk losing clients if they can’t scale quickly enough.

• Service and communication

A BPO contact centre depends heavily on a nimble software solution and the service that supports it. Ask potential providers how easy it is to raise support tickets, and how long do they typically take to be resolved. Get to know your providers before you make a decision. Are they contact centre experts or just resellers? Do they answer queries quickly and comprehensively?

Expert solution for outsourced contact centres

As a BPO, you rely on your contact centre solution to help you provide a professional and cost-effective service to multiple clients. At MaxContact, we get it. We’re contact centre experts with wide experience of helping BPOs meet challenges and seize opportunities. We offer a powerful, customer engagement platform that adapts to your clients’ needs, and a partnership model of service that makes our team an extension of your own.

For more information about how MaxContact could help your BPO, click here or get in touch.

In this guest blog, Whistl share insights on how contact centre scripting has evolved and explore how it can benefit your business by enhancing compliance, agent training, and customer experience.

What is Contact Centre Scripting?

Contact centre scripting is a structured approach to customer service and support operations. Agents work with predefined scripts or guidelines for customer interactions or inbound contacts for phone calls, live chat, social media interactions or emails. These scripts provide a step-by-step framework for agents to follow, guiding them on what to say, how to say it, and what actions to take during a customer interaction.

How has Contact Centre Scripting Evolved?

Contact centre scripting has evolved from static, paper-based guidelines to dynamic, AI-powered tools prioritising personalisation and empathy. This evolution reflects the industry’s commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences while maintaining efficiency and consistency in customer interactions.

Early Manual Scripts

Initially, scripts were simple, paper-based documents. These scripts often contained basic greetings, frequently asked questions and troubleshooting steps.

Digital Scripting Tools

With the advent of computer-based technology, call centres started using digital scripting tools and software applications. These tools allowed for more dynamic scripts that could adapt based on customer responses with real-time guidance and information.

Integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

Modern contact centres integrated scripting tools with CRM systems, enabling agents to access a customer’s history, preferences, and past interactions for more personalised and efficient service.

Dynamic and Adaptive Scripts

Rather than rigidly following a predetermined path, agents used them as a guide and, with the proper training, can deviate when necessary, addressing each customer’s unique needs and concerns.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and NLP have further transformed scripting. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can engage in natural, human-like customer conversations while following predefined guidelines to provide relevant responses and even learn from interactions to improve over time.

Emphasis on Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

In the modern era of customer service, there’s a growing recognition of the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence. Scripting has evolved to include prompts for agents to use empathetic language and actively listen to customers, ensuring interactions feel more personalised and human.

Omnichannel Scripting

Contact centre scripting has expanded beyond phone interactions to encompass multiple communication channels, including live chat, email, social media, and SMS. Agents now use scripting tools capable of seamlessly managing interactions across these various channels.

What are the Benefits of Contact Centre Scripting?

The effectiveness of these operations can significantly impact the customer experience and, subsequently, a company’s success.

Structured Framework

Scripts ensure that every customer receives consistent information and assistance, regardless of which contact centre agent they speak to. This consistency builds trust and reliability, critical components of a positive customer experience.

Compliance

Adhering to specific guidelines is crucial in regulated industries such as finance or healthcare. Contact centre scripts help agents ensure that they provide accurate and compliant information, reducing the risk of legal issues.

Efficient Problem Resolution

Scripts guide agents through troubleshooting processes, enabling them to address customer issues quickly and effectively. This efficiency reduces call duration and customer frustration.

Training Support

New contact centre agents often face a steep learning curve. Scripts provide a clear framework, helping them gain confidence and competence, along with support for product knowledge to relay accurate information to customers, even if they have yet to become experts in the field.

Improved Customer Experience

A positive customer experience is the cornerstone of successful contact centre operations. Contact centre scripting contributes to this with the following:

Enhanced Communication

Scripts guide agents using transparent and customer-friendly language, making interactions more understandable and pleasant for callers.

Reduced Hold Times

Structured calls lead to quicker problem resolution, reducing the time customers spend on hold and, consequently, their frustration levels.

Empathy and Personalisation

While scripts provide structure, they can also allow for empathetic and personalised interactions. Contact centre agents can infuse their tone and personality into conversations, making customers feel valued and heard.

Optimising Contact Centre Scripting for Emotive Personalisation

Contact centres must optimise their scripts based on customer feedback, changing industry regulations, and evolving customer preferences. Personalisation in customer interactions is critical to successful customer experiences.

Emotive Language

Scripts can include prompts for agents to use empathetic and emotional language when appropriate, allowing agents to connect with customers on a deeper level.

Tailored Solutions

Scripts should not be rigid. Agents should be empowered to adapt the script to individual customer needs, ensuring solutions are tailored to each situation.

Active Listening

Encourage contact centre agents to actively listen to customers, even if they’re following a script, enabling the agents to address specific concerns and emotions effectively.

Contact centre scripting is a powerful tool for ensuring structured, efficient, and compliant interactions between agents and customers. It supports training efforts, promotes consistency, and improves customer experiences. However, it’s essential to balance structure and personalisation, allowing agents to infuse their empathy and personality into conversations. By harnessing the benefits of scripting while embracing flexibility, businesses can elevate their operations and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Contact Solutions from Whistl offers personalised and human customer experiences across every channel. Whistl offers complete visibility of every communication, powered by our partnership with MaxContact.

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Most companies don’t offer unique products or services, and there are few monopolies in modern commerce. So how do businesses compete? On quality, price and customer experience.

In the commoditised world of the contact centre, it’s customer experience that often provides the real point of difference. Satisfied customers drive growth and profit. That’s why two-thirds of companies today compete on customer experience, up from just 36% in 2010. And one of the most effective ways of providing better customer experiences in contact centres is through smart, sophisticated software.

In this blog we’ll talk about what good customer experience means, and how dialler software can help you achieve it.

Customer service vs. customer experience: the key differences

Businesses sometimes use ‘customer service’ and ‘customer experience’ interchangeably, but they are different things.

Customer service is about assisting customers when they need help. Good customer service certainly contributes to a good customer experience, but it is only one part of a bigger picture.

Customer experience refers to the entire customer journey, from their first interaction with your business to the last.  

In the contact centre environment, good customer service might involve helping a customer access their account information or make a payment.  

By contrast, a good customer experience means helping them do those things again and again, quickly and easily, while also being proactive about solving customer issues before they arise. It means providing a personal service that is tailored to their individual needs. It means being mindful of their time and considerate about their preferred methods of communication.

In short, it means a lot of things. But it all boils down to keeping customers happy whenever and however they interact with your organisation.

Why is call centre customer experience so important?

The call centre is the frontline of your customer communications. It’s through the contact centre that you answer customer queries, relay important information and promote new products and offers. Your contact centre may take payments or chase debt rather than sell, but customer experience is still essential. The more satisfied your customers feel, the more likely they are to stick to repayment plans or make payments on time.  

If you meet customer expectations around communications, customers will be pleased. If you better them, they’ll be delighted.  

Why is that important? Well, statistics show that companies which offer a great customer experience outperform those that don’t by a whopping 80%.  

That’s because good customer experience is a driver of loyalty, while poor customer experience has the opposite effect. And a poor experience in any customer-facing department can tarnish the reputation of your entire organisation. Sales, after-sales care, customer service, payments…organisations can’t afford to make a poor impression in any of them.

Of course, the opposite is also true. Give customers a consistently good experience across departments and they will become the very best advocates for your business. That’s why customer-centric businesses are 60% more profitable than others.

8 ways dialler software can improve call centre customer experience  

Start with your overall call centre performance

If customer experience is so important, how do you get better at it? In contact centres, part of the answer lies with your software.

Good dialler software gives you complete visibility over your contact centre performance, using powerful data analysis and reporting tools. MaxContact’s dialler software provides insight at the level of company, campaign, team and individual, for example.

That means you can easily access valuable information on productivity, call handling and agent efficiency, and identify challenges and bottlenecks. If improvements are required, you can make them. If agents are overworked or require further training, data can let you know. A better experience for agents translates into better experiences for customers.  

What difference does it make? Well, after APJ Solicitors, a leading financial mis-selling specialist, partnered with MaxContact, average agent call efficiency improved by 36% compared to the company’s previous system.

Personalise each and every call

Most of all, customers want fast and efficient service. Agents are more likely to provide it if they have all relevant information easily at hand, including details on all the customer’s previous interactions with the company.  

MaxContact’s dialler software not only presents this information in an accessible form, it also integrates with all CRM systems, giving agents a full history of any customer’s queries, contacts and concerns. Karl Burke of leading estate planning and wealth management firm, Honey Group, states “as you grow, information management becomes more and more important so that you know where everything is” which is crucial in helping agents to personalise every call, tailoring each one to the unique circumstances of individual customers.  

Give customers choice and comfort with omnichannel solutions

Clunky call systems lead to angry, frustrated customers. According to one survey, a majority of people (53%) say they will only stay on hold for five minutes or less. Another found that 75% of customers become “highly annoyed” when they can’t reach a human agent when they need to.  

So how do you make the contact experience more satisfying? One answer is with omnichannel communications, which let customers communicate with organisations in their own time and using the method that best suits their needs at any given moment.

Omnichannel software combines voice calls with SMS, email and, in MaxContact’s case, WhatsApp too. Omnichannel is integrated into our dialler software so you can use the most appropriate communications channel for both incoming and outgoing interactions.  

Utilise AI-powered chatbots

Understandably, customers get frustrated if they can’t do simple things quickly. Increasingly, AI-driven chatbots are being used to answer basic questions and perform simple tasks without customers having to wait on hold for an available agent. This provides maximum convenience and also frees up agent time for more complex calls. Chatbots can also feed information to agents for use in outbound campaigns and call backs.

“We’re using AI to provide customers with better information and we’re using a chatbot to provide better data to our agents to help them resolve issues more quickly,” says Sofia Puccio, CX Management Information Lead at Curve, in our latest podcast.

Build out a knowledge base and encourage self-service

Similarly, when you give customers self-serve options – for payments or account queries, for example – you provide convenience while also freeing up agent time. When customers can complete a range of basic functions without having to speak to someone, you speed up customer service and accommodate people who don’t want to speak on the phone.  

You should build up a comprehensive knowledge base for the same reasons. Most customers with a straightforward question about setting up a product, activating a service or making a payment would rather find the answer on your website than phone your contact centre. A detailed knowledge base will also save time for after sales contact teams.

Improve first call resolution rates

First call resolution (FCR) is the gold standard of customer service. The more often you can solve a customer query at the first time of asking, the higher your customer satisfaction rates will be.  

FCR rates can be improved by giving agents the time they need to properly investigate issues, and by tailoring support based on individual circumstances. Many of the factors we’ve talked about already are relevant here.

In addition, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a valuable tool in the hunt for higher FCR rates. These automated systems help your customers accomplish basic tasks quickly and easily, and guide them through more complex journeys, routing them to the right person for their particular challenge. MaxContact’s IVR is shown to lead to a 29% increase in FCR.

Invest in training your team

Knowledgeable agents provide better customer experiences, so training them properly – and updating that training regularly – is a valuable investment in your success. Make sure your onboarding process provides agents with the knowledge and skills they need from the outset. Then, with MaxContact, managers can offer in-call information and advice, and provide in-the-moment guidance with scripts and workflows.

Speed up average handle times (AHT)

Average handle times (AHT) are directly correlated with customer experience.  AHT is a calculation based on the time agents spend talking to a customer, the amount of time callers are on hold and the time taken on follow up tasks, divided by the number of calls handled.

Very simply, the faster calls are dealt with, the more you can get through and – theoretically – the happier customers will be.

Good technology allows you to serve customers more efficiently and more effectively, and improve AHT. That includes IVR, self-serve and workforce management features. Cloud-based contact centre software can also help, by allowing companies to react more quickly to customer queries outside of traditional office hours.

According to H&T Group: “Being able to access the contact centre platform anywhere, and listen to live calls and call recordings remotely, helps us act on issues more quickly as they arise.”

For more on AHT, read our dedicated blog.

Dialler software: helping you deliver exceptional customer experience

As we’ve seen, customer experience is essential to long-term success. Satisfied customers are loyal advocates for your business. Whatever sector you’re in, providing good customer experiences is a key driver of revenue and growth.

If you operate a contact centre, the software that runs your communication channels should be on the frontline of the battle for better customer experiences. It should give customers self-serve and omnichannel options, while ensuring agents have the time, motivation and skills to offer the highest levels of service.  

MaxContact helps you achieve all of that, with one of the most powerful cloud contact centre software solutions on the market. Book a demo today.

Technology can be scary.

The complexity, the cost, the pace at which it evolves.

For businesses, there is a lot riding on it. Everything from day-to-day operations to strategic future planning depends upon the right hardware, the right software, and the right management.

In the contact centre space in particular, technology has had to respond to seismic changes in the way the world communicates. There are now myriad ways for people to interact with the enterprises and organisations from which they purchase a product or consume a service. In addition, those interactions are no longer confined to certain days or times but occur 24/7.

Focus on the long-term benefits of CCaaS

Today’s cloud-powered contact centre functionality can simplify everything but, for many enterprises, the fear of getting started often means they sit on their hands; thus foregoing the multiple and immediate benefits of taking the plunge.

However, as is so often the case, partnering with the right technology provider can allay those fears: ensuring a smooth and game-changing next step on the digital transformation journey.

“Companies considering contact centre technology are clear about the benefits it brings but indecisive about the actual change – that’s why, for us, the conversation should be less about the actual sale and more about the difference it can make long term,” says Ben Booth, CEO at leading UK-based CCaaS provider MaxContact, whose transparent, plain-speaking approach is helping business leaders everywhere to overcome their nervousness.

“Contact centres are becoming incredibly complex. They are now omni-channel and produce large amounts of data capable of informing a business on the efficiencies of its workflows and how to improve the communication experience.

Choosing the right CCaaS provider is key

“Companies need a partner able to educate them and be alongside them every step of the way. Of course, it is the product which enables the new functionality, but the provider/customer relationship is easily as influential when it comes to return on investment.”

Not that the market is all about enterprises for whom a contact centre is a brand new addition to their stack.

Businesses looking to switch or upgrade existing solutions, and larger enterprises for whom acquisition has increased current contact centre complexity, make up a large portion of the opportunity.

In those cases, picking the right provider is perhaps even more key.

Don’t let fear hold you back

“We have been discussing options with a potential client with 160 sites resulting from a series of acquisitions,” says Booth.  

“They now have seven or eight different contact centre systems and want to move to just one. Understandably, there is some trepidation because the project is complex. Our strategy is to ensure that the same people from our business work from the outset and throughout with the same people from the customer’s business. That enables us to really understand that business and its needs. Having that level of consistency gives our customers confidence that the partnership will thrive which, in turn, alleviates some of that trepidation.”

“We take it very seriously because we know we have the potential to impact people’s lives, wages and careers. For us, the relationship is not all about the sale and the revenue. For us, it’s about the entire digital transformation journey and the long-term depth of the partnership.”

Pace and scale of deployment are also significant influencers on the fear factor.

Some organisations have complex contact centre needs which they need to address quickly. Others want to start small and go slowly. Again, a provider partner with the kind of culture and delivery model that plays well in both those scenarios can take the stress out of the process.

Additionally, in the case of MaxContact, a deep level of experience in verticals such as financial services and utilities means extra levels of confidence can be instilled in potential new customers from those sectors.    

“When we start any new conversation, we are normally very quickly discussing the challenges that we know the organisation is facing,” says Booth.

“That’s because we have specialist knowledge and a great deal of experience. Suddenly, where there was fear, trepidation and nervousness, there can be confidence and excitement.”

This blog was written by Simon Wright, journalist for CX Today, for cxtoday.com. View the original piece here.

Ready to find out more about partnering with MaxContact for your contact centre solution? Book a demo today.

Today, contact centres are sitting on a treasure trove of information that could revolutionise their operations. But how can leaders tap into this wealth of data to drive meaningful improvements? This question was at the heart of a recent presentation by Matthew Yates, VP of Engineering at MaxContact, during our Afterwork event.

Yates, with his extensive background in enterprise IT and software engineering, painted a vivid picture of the data landscape. He began with a startling comparison: the amount of data generated globally each year surpasses the number of grains of sand on all the world’s beaches. In 2023 alone, the world produced a staggering 120 zettabytes of data, with projections indicating this figure will reach 181 zettabytes in 2024.

For contact centres, this data deluge manifests in various forms: call metrics, digital channel information, customer interactions, agent performance data, and more. The challenge – and opportunity – lies in effectively harnessing this wealth of information to drive tangible improvements.

Drawing inspiration from an unlikely source, Yates shared the story of David Brailsford and the British cycling team. Brailsford’s ‘marginal gains’ philosophy, which focused on achieving 1% improvements across multiple areas, led to unprecedented success in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. This approach, Yates argued, can be equally transformative in contact centre operations.

To implement data-driven decision making, Yates outlined three key aspects:

Setting Clear Objectives

Utilising frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can help align teams and focus efforts on specific, measurable goals. Yates emphasised the importance of setting clear, company-wide objectives that cascade down to departmental and individual levels.

He shared MaxContact’s experience of implementing OKRs, noting that they initially struggled with having too many objectives. They found success by limiting themselves to no more than three company-wide OKRs per quarter, ensuring these were specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART). Yates stressed the importance of regularly reviewing progress towards these objectives, suggesting weekly check-ins to keep them at the forefront of operations.

Understanding and Managing Data

This involves conducting an audit of available data, establishing governance, leveraging appropriate tools (including AI), and making data accessible across the organisation. Yates advised contact centre leaders to start by understanding what data they currently have and identifying any gaps. This includes considering where data is stored, who has access to it, and how it’s processed.

He highlighted the importance of establishing data governance, even if it’s just assigning a data steward responsible for maintaining and updating crucial data sets. Yates also encouraged leaders to invest in appropriate tools for data analysis, including AI-powered solutions that can help generate insights from large datasets. Importantly, he advocated for making data accessible to all staff, not just management, to maximise the potential for innovation and insights.

Watch the full talk from Matthew Yates:

Creating a Data-Driven Culture

This starts with leadership setting expectations and leading by example. It also involves providing necessary training, encouraging data-backed decision making, and fostering a mindset of continuous improvement. Yates emphasised that senior leaders must demonstrate their commitment to data-driven decision making, backing up their gut feelings with hard data. He suggested implementing a policy where significant decisions require the evaluation of at least three options, ensuring a thorough analysis backed by data.

Training staff in data analysis and interpretation is crucial, as is encouraging all team members to question the data and seek opportunities for improvement. Yates likened this to the ‘marginal gains’ philosophy, where small, data-driven improvements can lead to significant overall progress over time.

Adopting a Data-Driven Approach

The benefits of adopting a data-driven approach are substantial. Citing research from McKinsey, Yates noted that organisations effectively leveraging data are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, 6 times more likely to retain them, and 19 times more likely to be profitable.

Yates encouraged contact centre leaders to foster a data-driven mindset, refine their data management and analysis tools, and embrace a culture of continuous improvement. By focusing on these areas and seeking marginal gains, contact centres can significantly enhance their performance and achieve better outcomes for both their customers and their business.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, those who can effectively harness the power of data will undoubtedly lead the pack in the contact centre industry. The question is: will your organisation be among them?

To hear more insights on data driven performance and similar topics relating to the contact centre, join the MaxContact Community to be notified about similar future events.

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Cloud-based software, also known as software-as-a-service (SaaS), is an application or service that is hosted and delivered over the Internet by third-party providers. Unlike traditional on-premise software, cloud-based software removes the need for businesses to install and maintain applications on their own servers or computers.

Cloud-based software has become hugely popular in recent years, and for good reason. SaaS (Software as a Service) takes away a number of in-house IT headaches, leaving many technology-related challenges in the specialist hands of a third-party vendor. That frees up businesses to get on with their core activities.

That’s true for companies in many sectors, but particularly so for contact centres. Here, cloud-based software can make a significant difference to efficiency, productivity and ultimately the bottom line.

In the rest of this blog, we’ll explain what the benefits are, and how contact centres can take full advantage.

What is a cloud contact centre?

Very simply, a cloud call centre or contact centre makes all the tools and services necessary to run a contact centre available on the internet. Essentially, it’s contact centre software housed in the cloud. The ability to make and take calls, along with other communications channels and a wealth of complementary features, is delivered as a software service that is run by a third-party vendor. Contact centres access the service through an internet connection.

This is a significant shift from traditional analogue telephone technology, which relied on physical hardware and infrastructure maintained on-premises. With analog systems, businesses had to invest in costly equipment, such as private branch exchanges (PBXs), phone lines, and complex wiring setups. These systems were inflexible, difficult to scale, and required dedicated IT resources to manage and maintain.

In contrast, cloud contact centres eliminate the need for expensive on-premises hardware and infrastructure. Through cloud computing, contact centres can access a fully-featured contact centre solution without the high upfront costs and maintenance overhead associated with legacy systems.

Cloud contact centre vs on-premise contact centre

Before cloud-based software, everyone housed their own contact centre solutions in-house within data centres. They owned and managed the hardware and the software. Some businesses still operate in this way, though the trend is heavily towards cloud. Here are some of the differences:

The features of cloud contact centres

One of the advantages of cloud contact centres is the wide range of advanced features they offer, which help contact centres improve operations, boost customer experiences and gain valuable data insights. These features can help to strengthen both inbound and outbound activity.

Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. Workforce Management

Cloud contact centres provide workforce management tools that optimise agent productivity and scheduling processes. Features like skill-based call routing make sure customer interactions are routed to the most qualified agents. In turn, this improves first-call resolution rates and customer satisfaction. Real-time monitoring and analytics also give supervisors better visibility into agent performance. It helps supervisors intervene earlier and provide targeted coaching to their call agents.

2. Customer Engagement

Allowing customers to communicate on their preferred channels is fast becoming an expectation in today’s omnichannel world. Cloud contact centre platforms can facilitate customer engagement away from traditional phone calls. Customer support is offered through self-service options like chatbots and interactive voice response (IVR) systems.

Customers can communicate through multiple channels (voice, email, social media, etc.) and easily transition between them without losing context. This is enabled by intelligent agent routing, which connects customers to agents they have previously spoken with.  

3. Reporting and Analytics

Gaining actionable customer data and insights drives continuous improvement in contact centre operations. Cloud solutions have comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities, and can track agent performance metrics, customer satisfaction scores, and other key performance indicators (KPIs). Features like call recording and quality monitoring help identify areas for improvement and inform training programs, ultimately leading to enhanced customer experiences.

4. Speech Analytics

Speech analytics is a powerful tool that gives contact centre managers better insight into call agent performance. With speech analytics software, contact centres can monitor call recordings for quality assurance, ensure compliance with regulations and optimise agent performance through targeted training. This drives improvements across service quality, operational efficiency and customer experience. Cloud-based software’s scalable computing power and storage can handle large volumes of voice data and integration with other data sources.

Seven reasons why cloud contact centre solutions are the better choice

Aside from the wide range of features cloud-based contact centres offer, there are many other reasons why the trend is heavily leaning towards cloud.

1. Scalability: Cloud solutions make it simple to scale up or down. You don’t own the solution, so you just add or remove seats from your licence. It can be done in a couple of mouse clicks, it’s that easy.

2. Flexibility: On premise solutions can expand to include remote or travelling workers, but it’s tricky. By contrast, a cloud solution is available anywhere, anytime, wherever you have an internet connection. It’s made for hybrid work and a new world of flexible working.

3. Enhanced customer experience: Cloud contact centre platforms bring together a multi-channel experience, combining inbound and outbound calls, text, chat, email and more into a complete customer communications solution. At the same time, powerful analytics let you continually refine customer journeys. It all adds up to a more satisfactory customer experience.

4. Increased collaboration: With the right implementation, cloud contact centre software can easily integrate with other systems and processes, sharing data and improving information flows across your organisation. It opens up silos, increases collaboration and leads to better, data-driven decision making.

5. Seamless integrations: Cloud-based solutions make it easier to integrate with other systems due to their API-driven architecture and pre-built integrations, allowing you to link up all of your platforms for a seamless experience.

6. Better data management: Cloud software automatically collects and saves data. Good systems then put powerful analytics tools to work on it, sifting it for valuable insight in the form of customer trends or agent behaviour.

7. Cost savings: On top of it all, cloud can save you money. You lease the service rather than owning it, replacing a variable CapEx cost with a predictable OpEx one. You can also say goodbye to maintenance contracts and emergency engineer call out fees. At the same time, you free up in-house IT for more creative tasks. New features are often provided as part of the contract.

Preparing for a successful implementation

What do you need to consider before switching from an on-premise to a cloud-based contact centre solution? And how do you make sure you’re choosing the best contact centre software solutions for your call centre?

Choosing the right provider

Not all contact centre solution providers are the same. There are significant differences in the quality of their products – particularly dialler algorithms and data analytics – and the variety of features they offer.

Check certifications (especially in regard to security and data privacy), ask who else they work with and request to see the solution in action. Talk to a variety of people – do they understand the needs of contact centres?

Migrating to a cloud contact centre

You need to put a migration strategy in place, to make sure day-to-day operations are not affected by the transition to a new system. Liaise with your vendor and get firm commitments on essential questions: when the switch will happen, how long it will take and what support they offer. Prepare staff well in advance.

Training and support

Talking of staff, make sure agents are fully up to speed with the new system before you let them loose in the wild. Your vendor should offer comprehensive training and support as part of the service. If not, consider another vendor.

Integrating with other technology

One of the main advantages of cloud-based solutions is that they can easily integrate with your other systems and technologies and turn your contact centre into an information powerhouse.

For example, when your contact centre, payments and CRM solutions work together, agents go into calls equipped with a complete summary of customer activity at their fingertips. So always ask: will your new solution work with your established systems? Ask the vendor.

Some, like MaxContact, will create new APIs (the tech that lets digital systems speak to each other) if an existing one is not available. In fact, we add new integrations all the time.

Implementing cloud solutions: the benefits in action

We’ve helped many businesses successfully switch from on-premise to cloud-based contact centre software.

Take ICX, for example, a prominent player in the automotive industry. ICX struggled with frequent glitches, limited functionality, and inadequate support using their on-premises contact centre system. It was impacting their growth and ability to meet clients’ multi-channel needs.

ICX partnered with MaxContact, and we helped to migrate them to our flexible cloud-based contact centre, which offered omnichannel capabilities, easy integration and reliable support.

By migrating to MaxContact’s cloud contact centre solution, ICX has overcome the limitations of their legacy system and gained the agility, scalability, and omnichannel capabilities needed to deliver superior customer experiences and drive sustainable growth.

Thanks to the system’s advanced features and improved reliability, contact rates with decision-makers increased by over 30%, from 7-8 per hour to 11-12 per hour.  

Read the full case study

Unlock the potential of a cloud contact centre solution

It really is the era of cloud, and that’s as true in the contact centre as it is in any other area of business. Cloud offers huge advantages in terms of scalability, flexibility, customer experience, collaboration and even cost. It brings new efficiencies and better ways of working. It should be the future of your contact centre.

Ready to harness the power of a cloud contact centre solution for your contact centre? Book a demo today.

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Explore how implementing cloud-based software can enhance inbound and outbound contact centre operations.

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