Klaas van der Leest, Managing Director, Intelecom UK Ltd, discusses how to sell the concept of CCaaS to your chief financial officer
Convincing your organisation’s head financial honcho to invest in new technology is not always an easy task. Persuading them to invest in a cloud telephony solution they cannot touch and feel could be even more difficult.
Here are six ways to help explain the benefits of contact centres in the cloud, or as more typically described Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS), to your chief financial officer.
1) Payment Terms – no upfront capital investment and Pay-As-You-Go pricing
Let’s start with a benefit that always gets a CFO’s attention. CCaaS can save money and improve cash flow. There is no upfront capital expenditure for telephony switches, new handsets, additional floor space and server racks in the comms room or extra power for that matter. Delivered via the cloud, CCaaS requires no additional infrastructure on site. The Pay As You Go pricing model also means organisations are only charged for the resource and/or service used on a monthly basis. This is of particular interest to those businesses with changes in demand during the course of a year; or start-ups with just a few employees now but planning a full contact centre in the future.
2) Make the most of expensive legacy kit: sweat the asset!
Even better, new equipment isn’t required because with modern cloud based contact centre services the software simply sits on top of existing infrastructure therefore retaining any original investment in expensive legacy kit. For those without existing switches and handsets there is a complete cloud option but for many keeping original handsets and equipment, it is as simple as turning off the old system one day and starting the new service on same day. And another thing – there is no noticeable difference in call quality, because working with an established provider, such as Intelecom with over 15 years experience, guarantees carrier grade telephony as it is not dependent on VoIP (voice over internet protocol).
3) Improved business continuity at no extra cost
Risk management is often the responsibility of the CFO – what happens if systems fail or the building is inaccessible for whatever reason? Can your organisation afford a fully redundant and secure telecoms infrastructure on site? CCaaS is independent of location which means agents and administrators have the freedom to log-on from any location or with any device. All that is required is a phone line (PSTN, SIP or mobile) and access to the Internet. Perfect if the weather is bad, the building gets flooded, struck by lightning or any other disaster occurs.
Analyst Gartner reports*, “the design and construction of a CCaaS solution is inherently more resilient than most organisations can afford in their own infrastructures”. Why invest in expensive business continuity when some service providers have already made the investment for you?
4) No engaged tones – answer more enquiries with less resource
Unrestricted by physical onsite infrastructure, callers never receive an engaged tone because of the huge capacity of the cloud. In addition, easy integration of a cloud based contact centre solution with the latest workforce optimisation software ensures maximum call and social media enquiry handling during periods of high demand. Getting more with less always appeals to CFOs.
5) Enhanced reporting – banish time consuming spreadsheets
Implementing a CCaaS solution makes it the engine room of the contact centre and provides management with complete control. Maximum management and reporting through real-time monitoring, detailed statistics and the ability to make critical service changes, on demand, allows for improved decision-making. Real-time data from a single platform enables supervisors to track the performance of agents and the overall contact centre against agreed key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) without a spreadsheet in sight, and saves on time and resource.
6) Future proof for social media
Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. CCaaS allows skill-based routing in queues regardless of channel. To the cloud the channel is irrelevant, with queries coming into the same place. Social media is not an add-on when working with a CCaaS application specialist. Connect from Intelecom, for example, integrates to numerous social media channels and has a specially designed interface advising the agent of the source of the enquiry. Social media is built in, not bolted on.
Whether your CFO is thinking about consolidation, expansion, social media or opening a new contact centre, take the time to explain a cloud-based contact centre solution. The benefits go far beyond financial aspects to include reliability, scalability, business agility, security, accommodating variations in demand and new methods of communication, all with a Pay-As-You-Use pricing structure.
*Gartner – Cloud Providers of Contact Center Services in Europe Offer New Options for IT Leaders
About Intelecom
Intelecom is a leading provider of contact centre solutions and with over 15 years’ experience, Intelecom was one of the first to develop a cloud based contact centre. This rich heritage makes Intelecom among the most experienced cloud contact centre application specialist today. Highly flexible and scalable Connect from Intelecom can be adapted to accommodate from one to several thousand concurrent agents using any device, in any location and integrates with multiple applications seamlessly.
Intelecom Connect is a complete, multichannel cloud contact centre solution. Its rich functionality is available in modular form which means customers specify the tools that are right for their business at any given time, safe in the knowledge that they only pay for what is used. The ability to build bespoke contact centre solutions sets Intelecom apart from the competition and makes Connect flexible, highly scalable and future proof. Connect is designed to meet developing business demands.
Connect is one of the few contact centre solutions that is completely multichannel. Connect agents can respond to phone, email, Chat, Social Media and SMS enquiries all within the one application.
Connect has a powerful administration portal known as Control which provides access to critical real-time information, bespoke detailed reporting and the ability to make live changes in the contact centre.
Today Intelecom serves over 2000 businesses in over 20 countries with total annual revenue which exceeds GBP 50 million.
For more information please visit www.intele.com
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