Cloud-based Contact Centers: 4 Reasons Why You Need to Invest in One

Streamlining business operations is essential for any business owner to consolidate time, efficiency and operating costs; exactly why businesses should invest in cloud-based contact centers.

Does not Interfere With Business Continuity

A contact center is an integrated, often automated, system that coordinates all of the communication channels, including telephone, email and social media, between the company and the consumers. This can take a lot of valuable time and, as you expand, it may be time to consider moving your contact center from something hosted in-house to a system on the cloud.

Creating a contact center can be disruptive to a running business. There is the physical integration of telephone and computer systems, and then the policies and procedures around using the new system. Staff will need to be assigned to the contact center, which can be difficult if you do not have employees whose sole responsibility is market representation. Cloud-based contact centers do not have the disturbing effect on the company because there is no in-house technology. Everything happens at a different location. Because cloud contact centers are software-based, they have the capability of automating the contact process. A self-service contact suite deals with most of the consumer interaction without the need of a human. This saves time for your business’ infrastructure.

Less Capital Expense

A server can cost upward of $3,000. Then, you still need wiring, software and backup systems, which can add several thousands more. Each of your employees needs a computer, telephone and headset, plus each of those computers need software. Depending on the size of your business and the number of contacts per day, maintaining a contact center in your office can be a capital expenditure of anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000. This is a big budgetary bite. The problem with capital expenditures is that they happen all at once. You either need to have the money in the bank or take out a loan. Cloud-based contact centers do not have this issue because they host their own servers and software.

Cheaper Than Maintaining Staff

The bigger expense is staff. At the low end, with benefits, each employee can cost upward of $40,000 per year. Having live, in-house staff manning your contact center means that your customers always get a live interaction, which may be a marketing plus. But sometimes it may be overkill. Spending this much money so that a live person can give an address or list office hours is not a good use of the company’s dollar. Today’s cloud centers use sophisticated decision-making algorithms to drive your customers to a happy conclusion without the need of costly human interventions.

Up-to-Date Software

Software is one of those hidden expenses that businesses often forget when doing a return on investment analysis. Upgrades, maintenance and support are all costs that can easily be overlooked. If you own the software platform, maintenance alone can cost 22 percent of the total purchase price every year. Most cloud services make software maintenance part of the monthly cost. They handle support and any training that may arise.

The bottom line is that a cloud-based contact center takes most of the work as far away from you as possible. It leaves you and your staff with the time and flexibility to expand the business and find operating procedures that will save you money.