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Managed services unlock call centre benefits

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa, ITWeb portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 18 Jul 2014
Hosted managed services allow contact centre managers to shift focus from worrying about uptime, says Jasco's Louise van Zyl.
Hosted managed services allow contact centre managers to shift focus from worrying about uptime, says Jasco's Louise van Zyl.

Aside from being relieved of the day-to-day support operations, contact centre managers can unlock a host of benefits by adopting a managed services approach.

The benefits derived from entering into a hosted managed services contract range from cost saving, business efficiencies, customer experience and ultimately customer retention.

So says Louise van Zyl, manager of Technical Centre at Jasco Enterprise, who adds that hosted managed services allow contact centre managers to shift their focus from worrying about uptime, the efficiencies expected from technology and management of human resources to improving service levels and the quality of their customer experience.

According to Van Zyl, entering into a hosted managed services partnership creates a platform for equal partnership in delivery to customers. Technology partners providing the hosted managed services takes care of the technology and systems aspect of the contact centre while the contact centre manager focuses on business growth through improved customer services.

Contact centres often believe that they have to manage and control applications or hardware themselves in order to keep up with trends in their industry, says Van Zyl. She believes that it is the technology partners' primary focus to take care of all the business's applications, leaving managers to take care of the core business.

For the business to grow, contact centre managers need to focus their attention on the daily tasks and performance management, says Van Zyl. They should not be concerned with the technology and staying abreast of industry best practice.

However, Van Zyl advises that when contact centres engage with a partner to host and manage their communications infrastructure, the managers need to be clear about what they require from the managed services provider.

To Van Zyl, the hosted managed services partnership will provide the platform to leverage technology and assist in the management of staff. Also, the platform can assist to process improvements either required or sustained in terms of how to approach the customer.

Continuous information share on technology and how the industry keeps evolving is crucial in order to ensure the business optimises the tools afforded on the communications platform, she adds.

Also, involving supervisory staff during these information sessions will support the partnership progress between the contact centre manager and the hosted services provider.

The sharing of information between the business and the services provider will help the managed service provider tailor systems more appropriately to the company's needs, says Van Zyl.

How the business operates and engages with its technology partner is crucial to the success of any business, she concludes.

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