Hosted contact centre infrastructure solutions, also referred to as software as a service (SaaS) or communications as a service (CaaS), are steadily gaining ground in enterprises of all sizes and in variety of public and corporate verticals.
Hosted solutions are reaching unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction because of the minimal cash outlay required, quick deployments, rapid and quantifiable return on investment, scalability and agility, ongoing investment protection, a reduced maintenance burden, and the opportunity to “try before you buy”. Vendors also continue to expand functionality through product enhancements and improved deployment and integration models.
Internet Protocol (IP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based technologies have additionally eliminated physical communications constraints, empowering enterprises to be more responsive to their customers using the virtual, multi‐channel and flexible servicing infrastructures of hosted solutions. Enterprises are looking for ways to leverage these new technologies, and contact centre hosting is an ideal, cost‐effective fit.
No limits
Moreover, the new generation of hosted/CaaS‐based contact centre infrastructure has overcome the technical and functional limitations of older solutions. The onus is now on leading vendors to correct the misconceptions that are hindering more widespread adoption of these solutions.
DMG's findings identify the five top misconceptions as:
Concern number one: Hosting is only for small contact centres.
The reality: Hosting vendors have given small as well as mid‐sized enterprises new servicing capabilities that do not require them to compromise on functionality. Typical buyers are indeed mid‐sized customers, and the majority of purchases are to replace an existing premise‐based solution that no longer meets the organisation's needs.
Concern number two: Hosted contact centre solutions are functionally inadequate.
The reality: There are many hosted contact centre infrastructure solutions available in the market, each with its own unique design, architecture and functionality. (A few hosting vendors have built their offerings upon premise‐based contact centre platforms.) Just as no two premise‐based solutions are alike, neither are the hosted contact centre solutions.
As the market is still evolving, leading providers are moving toward a common set of capabilities that includes call routing and queuing, interactive voice response, dialling, computer telephony integration and recording. A few of the vendors have taken an 'all‐in‐one' approach, and have started to include modules for the applications most commonly used by contact centres, such as workforce management, quality assurance, surveying, performance management, coaching and knowledge management.
The onus is now on leading vendors to correct the misconceptions that are hindering more widespread adoption.
Dave Paulding is Interactive Intelligence's regional sales manager for UK and Africa.
In fact, hosted contact centre infrastructure providers offer some of the most competitive and functionally rich solutions in the contact centre market. The range of choices available to users has never been greater.
Concern number three: Hosted contact centres solutions are inflexible and not customisable.
The reality: The opposite is true. In general, end-users consider hosted vendors and solutions to be very flexible and scalable, although there are significant differences among hosted contact centre providers.
Concern number four: Hosted contact centre implementations and integrations are more difficult than premise‐based initiatives.
The reality: Few integrations are easy, whether the solutions are premise‐based or hosted. Fortunately, some of the hosted contact centre platforms have been built using newer, more standards‐based and open technology than many of the older premise-based contact centre offerings.
The more standards‐based and open the underlying system, the easier the integration. And, some of the hosted contact centre offerings are built upon a premise‐based contact centre system so that they cannot be any harder to integrate than their underlying core technology.
Concern number five: Hosting has a higher total cost of ownership than premise‐based solutions.
The reality: Many chief financial officers prefer to invest in hosted solutions rather than purchasing licences for systems and applications. Hosted solutions require no capital investment, no or low implementation and integration fees, payments that scale in line with business activity, no support costs, limited risk and obligations, and ongoing investment protection (no need to pay for upgrades).
Based on a three‐year host versus buy analysis, if the calculation includes the cost of upgrades and a significant amount of internal resources needed to support a premise‐based solution, the hosted alternative will often have a lower total cost of ownership.
It is therefore not surprising that there are so many misconceptions in the market about hosted contact centre infrastructure solutions. The growing acceptance of functionally rich, flexible and responsive SaaS‐based offerings that deliver significant benefits has revitalised the contact centre competitive landscape. Contact centre infrastructure buyers should consider hosted/SaaS/CaaS-based solutions when making a selection.
The numbers tell the story, although the final results are not yet in. DMG's preliminary research reveals that in 2009, revenue for hosted-based contact centre vendors increased by 20% to 30%, while premise‐based contact centre infrastructure revenue dropped. While capabilities vary among the providers, the hosted contact centre infrastructure market is viable and coming on strong.
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