Call centre solutions from the cloud have been available for several years and one reads again and again that business success increases when using a cloud solution. But is this really the case and what are the prerequisites for this?
The first question in this context is, of course, what exactly is the contribution of a call centre to the business success of a company. It can ensure that turnover increases directly or indirectly or that costs are reduced. Increases in turnover can be achieved, for example, by improving the customer experience, more cross- and upselling and offering new services. Costs are reduced by decreasing average handling time, optimising staff deployment and utilisation, and shifting calls to automated self-services. The ability to adapt more quickly to new demands can increase sales but also save unnecessary costs, so it belongs in both categories.
Compared to a self-operated solution on premise, cloud solutions usually offer the following advantages:
- possibility to standardise processes worldwide
- high reliability
- high scalability
- simple integration of new locations
- easy switch from work in the office to work from home
- high safety level that is permanently adapted to new developments
Standardising processes worldwide reduces IT costs for maintenance and development and increases the agility of the company, because it can change business processes worldwide and simultaneously. However, standardisation can also have disadvantages, for example if individual processes have to be adapted to local conditions. However, this problem also arises when using self-developed or licensed software and in addition, a lot of customization makes upgrades difficult.
The more powerful the cloud solution, the greater the benefits
Nevertheless, business success does not necessarily increase with the transition to the cloud, because it depends on the initial situation and also on which functionalities the cloud solution offers and which are used.
The advantages of migrating to a cloud solution are usually most pronounced if the company previously operated its solution or its various solutions in its own data centres. Because on the one hand, updating hardware and software at regular intervals requires large investments, and on the other hand, consolidation to one standard worldwide offers cost advantages.
The benefits are somewhat smaller, but still significant, when companies switch from an outdated cloud solution to a more modern one that offers more functionalities and intelligent services. Such functionalities include:
- pre-assembled intelligent services such as bots, the automatic documentation of conversations and assistance systems for agents
- self-services for business users, enabling them to change workflows themselves
- functionalities for the management of the call centre such as intelligent workforce management, workload optimisation or the modelling of different scenarios
Such functionalities reduce costs significantly because they increase utilisation, shorten processing times and reduce the number of calls, planning effort and personnel costs. They can also help increase revenue when customers are more satisfied, recommend or buy more from the company because of better service. Enabling business users to change processes themselves, rather than having the IT department or software vendor do it for them, gives the business agility and the ability to adapt quickly to new demands.
Calculations for model call centres show high RoI
The bottom line is that the greater the leap in innovation, the more worthwhile is the move to the cloud. Last year, Forrester calculated the impact of switching to Amazon Connect on a model call centre. Therefore, six call centres with 300 to 20,000 agents were analysed and the results averaged. The result was a return on investment of 241 percent. The investments paid off in less than a year.
Yes, that’s a lot, you might say. And naturally you might distrust a statement that sounds like an advertisement. That is very reasonable, because there is no such thing like the average call centre. You always have to look at the individual case to calculate benefits.
But one thing is certain: there are many very good cloud solutions for contact centres on the market today. And that´s why you should choose yours carefully. So, if you are thinking about a cloud transformation or changing providers, I would be happy to help you with the requirements analysis, the selection of providers and the planning of the transition. Just get in touch!