Knowing when to migrate your contact centre to the cloud can significantly impact your business's performance and bottom line. While some call centres may delay the transition until they face a pressing issue, such situations can actually serve as an opportunity for improvement. In this blog post, we will explore the key indicators that signal it's time to migrate your on-premise call centre system to the cloud.
Legacy Call Center End-of-Life:
As first-generation on-premise call centres age, they will eventually need to be replaced. Upgrading or expanding on-premise equipment is costly, and vendors often push for purchasing a completely new system. However, this is an ideal moment to consider cloud-based solutions. Next-generation cloud systems offer numerous benefits, and whether you choose an on-premise or cloud-based solution, you need a new contact centre that is easy to install, performs well, and provides a solid return on investment. Cloud-based call centres are easy to deploy as they only require a browser to connect to the system. The provider has the infrastructure ready, allowing for a smooth transition to an omnichannel contact centre within a few weeks, depending on the size.
Call Center Hardware and/or Software Upgrades:
Even if your current on-premise call centre is still functional, upgrades may be needed to update the software, add new features, or integrate with other channels or systems. If you manage multiple contact centre systems at different locations, coordinating upgrades can lead to downtime. If you're unsure whether upgrading your existing system is worth the risk, hassle, and cost, a hybrid solution might be suitable. A hybrid solution provides access to the latest features and channels, along with unified cloud routing, predictive analytics-based routing, and a smooth migration path to the cloud. This is especially valuable for multi-site, multi-system contact centres.
Moving or Relocating Call Centers:
Businesses often relocate for various reasons such as the need for more space, a better location, or financial considerations. During a move, it may be an opportune time to leave behind your old call centre system and your old address. Cloud-based systems are easy to deploy and involve lower upfront capital expenditures. Setting up a new cloud-based call centre in your new location can be more cost-effective and easier than migrating an on-premise system.
Growing and Scaling Your Call Center:
While growth is generally a positive sign for a business, it can present challenges when it comes to scaling your existing call centre. Increasing call volumes, expanding the number of agents, or adding distributed sites or outsourcing partners can strain your old system, making expansion management difficult. Traditional call centre upgrades require substantial upfront capital for licenses and equipment, and the number of available ports may still limit you. In contrast, virtual call centres have lower upfront costs, and their cloud-based solutions are highly scalable, accommodating businesses of all sizes.
New Contact Center Features:
You may need to incorporate new features offered by communication and contact centre technology advancements to stay competitive. While your legacy on-premise contact centre vendor may provide these features, the cost can be significant. Additionally, implementation costs should be considered. Virtual call centre solutions offer faster access to the latest innovations, features, and upgrades at a lower cost. Cloud service providers manage upgrades, freeing your team to focus on providing excellent customer service.
Integrating Your Call Center With Other New Systems:
Integrating these systems with an old on-premise call system can be challenging as your company adopts other SaaS platforms like CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Cloud-based contact centre software offers a unified solution that easily integrates your data, voice, applications, and databases using open standards.
Contact Center Service Quality:
Maintaining reliable service is crucial for customer satisfaction. However, managing uptime and service levels across multiple systems and sites can be challenging with on-premise equipment. Migrating to a cloud-based solution provides high uptime (up to 99.99%) while optimizing call loads and ensuring efficient agent utilization across multiple locations.
Contact Center Business Performance:
In the past, cost reduction was the priority, but today's competitive landscape demands improved business performance through key performance indicators (KPIs). Disparate and distributed systems fail to deliver the required collaboration and integrated views necessary for enhancing operational and business KPIs. Cloud solutions with predictive analytics-driven routing enhance business performance, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. They provide a unified user experience and centralized performance data across channels and systems, enabling agents to deliver better service while empowering managers to understand and optimize operations and business performance.
Combining Call Centers Due to Acquisition or Merger:
Mergers and acquisitions often involve the challenge of integrating call centre systems that were originally designed to operate independently. Attempting to manage and optimize separate systems in real time without a unified view or control of multiple sites becomes complex. A hybrid cloud contact centre offers an alternate solution by overlaying existing systems and unifying metrics from multiple systems and sites. Advanced cloud-based contact centres can display real-time operational and performance metrics across systems, channels, and sites and even influence the behaviour of on-premise systems by creating centralized routing rules. Gradually migrating some sites to the cloud becomes a viable strategy over time.
In conclusion, challenging situations can serve as opportunities for assessing and improving your call centre by migrating to the next generation of cloud-based contact centre functionality. Whether it's the end-of-life of legacy systems, the need for upgrades, growth and scaling, integrating new features or systems, improving service quality and business performance, or streamlining operations post-acquisition/merger, a cloud-based solution offers numerous benefits for modern contact centres.
About EyeOnIt
Telecommunications Migration Projects Specialist. As a globally renowned software company, we specialise in large-scale migrations, expertly crafting innovative solutions delivering them seamlessly to clients all around the world. Dive in to explore our unique approach and unparalleled expertise in transforming the telecommunications landscape.
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