Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2022
But first: what is a cloud contact centre?
To answer this question, it is best to go back in time. After all, the way contact centres look and function has changed significantly over the past few decades.
In the 1950s and 1960s, contact centres were simply a switchboard or a team of secretaries with paperwork. By the time the computer became an indispensable tool for businesses, contact centres were transformed into software solutions that offered something akin to an online address book. More recently, workstations have adopted on-premises solutions where customer data resides within the company. The latest version of contact centre software includes cloud mode and has taken the concept of customer-company engagement to a completely innovative level.
By providing teams with the ability to connect with customers more easily and quickly as the company grows, employees can drive customer relationships seamlessly. While the benefits of a cloud contact centre outweigh those of an on-premises contact centre, some may worry that cloud-based software will affect the security of sensitive data.
Why shouldn't you be afraid of a cloud version?
The business world has already embraced cloud software in many areas. McAfee's "Navigating a Cloudy Sky" study notes that 97% of enterprises already use cloud services in some capacity. As customers continue to move to the cloud, the need for the cloud in more areas of the enterprise will only increase.
However, for professionals who still have one foot in the analogue world, moving to a cloud contact centre solution provides several practical and mental challenges. People often imagine the cloud as a vast, amorphous, impersonal space. Because clouds are managed by technology giants, such as Google and Microsoft, they incorporate the data of a large number of users and fear that theirs will be lost or handled inappropriately.
The security issue
It is the issue of security that causes many teams to postpone the adoption of cloud contact centre software. The same McAfee report also notes that only 69% of company executives actually trust the public cloud to protect their sensitive data. This is a reasonable concern. They see the media coverage of security breaches and cyber attacks and imagine that these problems are connected to operating in the cloud, but that's not entirely true.
For example, consider the WannaCry ransomware attacks in 2017, in which hackers demanded a ransom in exchange for the safety of customers' confidential files and data. While this attack was terrifying for all involved, it did not target cloud users. Instead, the hackers simply connected to any storage drive mapped to a drive letter – think "C:/" or "D:/." – and this ended up affecting more than 200 000 users worldwide.
For this reason, it could be argued that being in the cloud offers a protective layer that traditional solutions do not. Because companies must self-manage on-premises systems, the margin for human error is huge. Those who deal with IT within companies are not necessarily trained in data security, and may not know how to deal with these types of problems.
On the other hand, cloud data is stored on servers external to your company and managed by experts, who deal exclusively with this data. For this reason, cloud providers can detect, diagnose and resolve incidents and vulnerabilities before they cause problems for the end-user, which can also save you time, costs and manpower in the long run.
Three benefits of having the contact centre in the cloud
Now that we've addressed some potential concerns, what about the other benefits of the cloud contact centre? Here are some of the best reasons to employ cloud-based software to get more contacts:
1. You'll avoid initial implementation barriers.
Implementing traditional contact centre software comes at a very high cost, as it requires companies to make a large and complex investment of resources upfront. Data is stored on-premise on servers, which requires a lot of firmness and oversight. This type of investment typically requires a full IT team to get things up and running.
With a cloud-based solution, there are no barriers to entry. You simply entrust your data to an outside expert and access it over the internet, without the need for an IT team. Ease of implementation means that employees can focus on the most pressing business tasks, rather than wasting time on the early stages required to implement the software.
2. It is highly scalable
Scaling up with an on-premises solution poses significant challenges. Each stage of evolution requires perfect planning and reinvestment, which carries a high degree of risk in case you need to go back again. With cloud software, you are free to scale up or down as your company grows and progresses, all without jeopardising the investment you have already made.
During the busy season, you'll have the freedom to take additional resources and pay for them only when you need them, not to mention scaling back when it's necessary for the business. Most providers allow you to purchase a plan that leaves room to grow in a much more economical way.
3. The cloud world grows and takes your company with it
In addition to expanding your contact centre without any problems, the cloud offers you permanent updates on functionality. Your cloud provider evolves to improve the user experience, for example, that set of new features is yours without the need to install, understand or invest in them. That's a valuable benefit you won't get with on-premises software.
Make no mistake: cloud-based contact centre services are the way of the future. A contact centre is a critical link between the company and its customers. Put this link in good hands by entrusting it to a cloud contact centre provider and you get the power to scale it with ease.
Enghouse Interactive has cloud solutions that help companies deliver an excellent customer experience while achieving their business goals. Thanks to its flexibility, scalability and security.
Click here to download the guide: Contact centre in the cloud: the heart of the customer experience, and learn, step by step, how to improve your customers' experience with a cloud contact centre.