Mainstreaming the Cloud in Contact Centers

Transcription

1 Mainstreaming the Cloud in Contact Centers

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface... 3 The Gold at the End of the Rainbow... 3 Choose Your Starting Point... 3 Finding the Sweet Spot... 4 The Bottom Line... 4

3 Preface deployment, while slashing the cost of ongoing maintenance and upgrades, for the lowest possible total cost of ownership. The notion of delivering computing as a service, with customers paying for shared resources based on their usage, has been around for decades. But it was not until a couple of years ago that cloud computing in its current form emerged. Following some initial resistance, it s now clear to service providers that cloud technologies bring high value in terms of a flexible IT footprint, rapid deployment, and risk-free upgrades. These advantages allow contact centers to gain the full benefits of the latest customer engagement technology. Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory firm, has seen a steady increase in client interest in cloud-based deployments, ranging from CCaaS (contact center-as-a-service) to company-dedicated hosted solutions. Though for contact centers these cloud deployments were once primarily limited to environments with 75 or fewer agents, they are increasingly gaining adoption in centers with up to several thousand agents. The Gold at the End of the Rainbow By adopting a CCaaS model, service providers leave technology deployment, software integration, updating and upscaling, as well as system maintenance, to a SaaS vendor. This gives them: Agility - Cloud contact center solutions automatically adapt, add or change capacity and resources as needed, for hassle-free updates. This also supports business growth, quickly and securely scaling up without disrupting business continuity. Reliability - Data search and retrieval is faster in the cloud, with efficient processes in place for any size organization. Choose Your Starting Point The most challenging part of adopting a more suitable solution is always taking the first few steps. But you can get the ball rolling in your company by making a solid case for a move to the cloud, by focusing attention on its many benefits. This is the perfect place to clear up a misconception cloud isn t all or nothing. Many customer service leaders make the assumption that they need to move all the component applications of their suite, often called Workforce Optimization, to the cloud at once. While the obvious starting point would be infrastructure replacement (after all, the cloud notion emerged from CAPEX and TCO reduction), it is actually the hardest one. Contact center infrastructure, such as core ACD and PBX applications, have long life cycles - of 10 to 15 years - between major architectural changes. This means that many customers have been locked into older premises-based products for decades. Add to this, conservative contact center managers who depend on the performance of their applications to meet their service levels and who need a strong justification to disrupt their operation with new technology. Cost-Effectiveness - The CCaaS model eliminates upfront capital expenditures on

4 Finding the Sweet Spot The 'sweet spot' lies in the contact center software, as CRM and WFO technologies are also shifting to the cloud. Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, found that 15% of decision-makers who implemented customer service and support software have already replaced all or most of their on-premises customer service applications with software-as-a-service solutions. Most service providers have recording, quality and performance management solutions, analytics, and other applications, well But the sweet spot, to start with the process of moving into the cloud is with WFM solution. About NICE Systems NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE), is the worldwide leader in intent-based solutions that capture and analyze interactions and transactions, realize intent, and extract and leverage insights to deliver impact in real time. Driven by cross-channel and multi-sensor analytics, NICE solutions enable organizations to improve business performance, increase operational efficiency, prevent financial crime, ensure compliance, and enhance safety and security. NICE serves over 25,000 organizations in the enterprise and security sectors, representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than 150 countries, including over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. When a service provider is moving their Workforce Management (WFM) solution to the cloud, they can easily expand it to cover both the contact center and business operations, sharing the solution across the entire service organization. This makes it easier to schedule operations with greater efficiency and to address looming backlogs. Since the solution is shared, the workload can be shared; during slow periods, the business operations staff can help take calls (and vice versa, the contact center can register claims, process loans, and perform other back office tasks.). The Bottom Line The arrival of cloud computing has opened up a massive new opportunity for service providers worldwide. Contact centers need to embrace this new technology as soon as possible, using a strategy that is right for them.

5 CONTACTS Global International HQ, Israel, EMEA, Europe & Middle East, T , F T , F Americas, North America, Asia Pacific, Singapore Office T , F T , F The full list of NICE marks are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Nice Systems Ltd. For the full list of NICE trademarks, visit All other marks used are the property of their respective proprietors. ABOUT NICE SYSTEMS INC. NICE Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE) is the worldwide leader of software solutions that deliver strategic insights by capturing and analyzing mass quantities of structured and unstructured data in real time from multiple sources, including, phone calls, mobile apps, s, chat, social media, and video. NICE solutions enable organizations to take the Next-Best-Action to improve customer experience and business results, ensure compliance, fight financial crime, and safeguard people and assets. NICE solutions are used by over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. WP- Mainstreaming the Cloud in Contact Centers 15/08 Contents of this document are Copyright