Cloud contact center providers are having a heyday as more companies recognize the value of using cloud-based software for inbound and outbound customer communications. Recent forecasts even project the market to grow four times bigger over the next decade.
However, it can be challenging for time-strapped company leadership to decide on the right software and features. For your convenience, this guide helps you appreciate what a contact center can and should do, simplifying your choice between communications providers.
Key Takeaways:
- Cloud contact center providers enable multichannel customer communications that are superior to on-premise call centers.
- Determine your organization’s needs with stakeholders before selecting a provider.
- Look for excellent security and compliance, along with the best VoIP connections, top-tier customer service, and omnichannel capabilities.
- Choose a forward-thinking company that offers real-time analytics and reporting, as well as advanced features that enhance employee engagement and improve customer satisfaction.
What Cloud Contact Center Providers Offer
Cloud contact center providers sell online contact center as a service software. This type of program differs from on-premise call centers that require you to have a team of agents in a single location using local servers and hardware.
As the name implies, the service resides in the cloud. Any team member can connect to it with an internet connection — both supervisors and customer-facing agents alike.
Plus, the contact center permits multichannel connections so that agents can communicate with customers through numerous channels. Phone calls, email, online chat, and text messaging are all available through the same dashboard interface.
How To Choose the Right Cloud Contact Center Provider: 7 Vital Reminders
Use the following steps as a handy checklist to ensure you’re working with the cream of the crop of cloud contact center providers.
1. Understand Your Organization’s Needs First
Start by getting a grasp on what you need CCaaS for. Is your focus going to be customer support and a help desk? What types of sales and customer outreach will you perform?
Bring in all relevant stakeholders and consider the input of customer-facing agents. This collaboration helps you determine which features and functions are essential to keeping employee engagement and the customer experience high.
2. Verify the Standards for Security and Compliance
Cybercrime remains at an all-time high as criminals look for every vulnerability in online communications. Your contact center vendor must follow the strictest protocols in the communications industry to protect your and your customers’ sensitive data.
Further, you can rely on an experienced provider to meet the specific regulations for your industry. Whether you’re in finance, legal services, government, or the medical field, your contact center should make communications compliance a worry-free experience.
3. Insist on Outstanding Customer Support
No software is going to operate perfectly 100% of the time. Even when your CCaaS is working swimmingly, you’ll still want assistance and training to get the most out of it.
The top cloud contact center providers have round-the-clock support to help you on the rare occasion you have an unexpected issue with your service. Your provider is also by your side as you install your service or migrate from another vendor.
4. Check for High-Quality VoIP Connections That Have Reliable Quality and Uptime
True, Voice over Internet Protocol is now the best technology for making low-cost, high-definition voice calls. However, not all voice cloud networks hold to the highest standards.
Your ideal contact center provider must partner with multiple tier 1 voice carriers to ensure stable and secure connections. This level of service ensures your agents don’t drop a call while making an upsell or soothing an anxious caller.
In the case of Intermedia, we’ve been maintaining and monitoring millions of numbers, calls, and minutes of voice traffic for years. All the while, we’ve guaranteed 99.999% uptime to our clients.
5. Ensure You’ll Have Omnichannel Engagement
Many cloud contact center providers make multichannel communication simple. Clients can reach out to you through phone, video conference, text, email, and web chat.
However, you need more than multichannel capabilities. Omnichannel engagement means that agents can connect with customers by any of these methods from the same dashboard. Also, that interface keeps the details from all interactions in that same virtual console, making you more efficient at serving your callers.
6. Look For Advanced Features To Improve Productivity
The best cloud contact center providers save you time and money with high-powered features that automate mundane activities to make your team more efficient. A few of the most important characteristics include:
- Interactive voice response for advanced call routing and customer self-service
- Predictive dialing to cut idle time between calls to reach as many leads as possible
- Dynamic notifications that send reminders, updates, and sales offers through the channel that customers prefer
Additionally, all of these features and others should be using artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of your contact center. Intermedia’s SPARK AI is such a technology for delivering exceptional customer experiences.
7. Review Their Real-Time Analytics and Reporting
In a global market, competition is more intense than ever. You need every tool at your disposal to measure employee effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
The top cloud contact center providers offer software with built-in analytics and reporting that give insights into how your team is performing. For example, you’ll get not only stats on first-call resolution rates and talk time intervals but also reports that use AI to help you interpret the data.
Discover Intermedia: The Top Choice Among Cloud Contact Center Providers
Intermedia consistently ranks among the leading cloud contact center providers. Talk to us today to find out more about why Intermedia Contact Center meets all of your needs.
Rob Oscanyan
Rob is Director for Product Marketing for Contact Center as a Service here at Intermedia.
December 18, 2023
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