You can alleviate concerns about transitioning to the cloud by arming yourself with information. Learn about your business’s particular needs, your customers’ expectations, and the type of services you anticipate delivering, for both current operations and future growth. The following guidelines should help you begin planning a smooth implementation of a cloud contact center:
1. Evaluate your environment. Get your business and tech specifications in order first, documenting your requirements so that you can have an informed conversation with vendors as you shop for cloud contact center solutions. Know where you’re starting from, what processes you would have to transition, whether your network can handle the data communications needed, and whether you would need smooth access to a remote environment.
2. Choose your cloud vendor. Make sure the cloud solution can support your current processes and your foreseeable future needs. The architecture you choose should be able to support everything you currently do, as well as scale to accommodate growth and changes. Finding a vendor to host and service your cloud based contact center environment is not a one-off deal—your vendor will be working with you on an ongoing basis, so you need to make sure you find a team that works well with you. The customer experience applies to you, too. Don’t just evaluate cloud solutions; evaluate your experience with the vendor throughout the sales process.
3. Use a stepped approach. You don’t need to start from scratch in the cloud— you can start slowly and build from there. To test the waters, try selecting a small team of agents to work with your new cloud-based dashboards and see how they perform. That way, you can address any bugs or process changes needed before you implement a cloud contact center at full scale. You might also turn your test agents into advocates if they really like the new solution. Remember to measure and analyze all available data, so that you can develop hard metrics to prove the value of the change.
Vendor Evaluation Checklist
Your own customer experience with a cloud vendor plays an important role in your selection process. Use these questions to make an informed decision about a qualified vendor:
Communication Quality
- Did you speak to a qualified person on first contact?
- Was your communication handed off to various teams, or did you stay with a primary contact throughout?
- Is the vendor willing to allow you to speak with its other customers?
Knowledge and Reputation
- What’s the vendor’s knowledge of the cloud space and the industry?
- How long has the vendor been in the business?
- Reliability How does the vendor calculate availability?
Integrations
- Does the vendor integrate with key CRM solution vendors?
- Architecture How is the vendor operating the solution and managing further expansion of the solution?
- Does the vendor continually innovate?
Control over Telco
- Does the vendor have a partnership in place with telecom providers?
- Support What are the support contact options?
- How long does it take to get a response?
Solution Evaluation Checklist
Security
- What type of security certifications does it have (i.e., self or third-party)?
Reliability/Availability
- How reliable is it?
- Is there any unavailability to be expected during maintenance intervals?
- What’s the disaster recovery plan?
Control
- Will I be able to customize the solution and accommodate my business processes?
- How easy is it to manage?
Scalability
- Was it built with the enterprise in mind?
- What omnichannel capabilities are provided?
Integrations
- How easy is it to integrate with one or more CRM systems?
Productivity
- Does the agent UI support my processes efficiently and effectively?
- Are all channels accessible from a single desktop UI?
- Which channels are supported?
- Are multiple calls routed to an agent at the same time?
- Can agents work in context and see a comprehensive interaction history?
- How do I track and understand how agents spend their time?
Architecture
- Does it support the locations of all of my sites?
- How much of it was architected for my requirements, and how much was bolted on later?
- Is there an option to have a system running in a private cloud as a backup?
- Are international sites supported with low voice latency?
- Are all supported sites in compliance with local regulations? How often are updates released?
Cost
- Will I get the cost relief I am expecting?
- Will I be locked into the solution?
- Is the solution mature?
- Will I have to compromise on capabilities or purchase them later?
Control over Telco
Will I have to compromise on capabilities or purchase them later?
BRIGHT PATTERN OMNICHANNEL CLOUD CONTACT CENTER SOFTWARE
The path to improved CX starts with transitioning your contact center to the cloud. Now that you know why the cloud is a key enabler for success, the next step is to select a qualified cloud vendor and the cloud solution that’s right for you.
Get started with Bright Pattern Contact Center to experience a cloud solution architected to empower agents and increase customer satisfaction. We offer...
Tools for a Radically Simplified Omnichannel Experience
- Unified administration interface to set up your contact center and customize workflows
- Intuitive agent desktop UI for handling omnichannel conversations in context
- Monitoring, reporting, and quality management tools across channels
- Natural Language Understanding and AI chatbots for driving outcomes, assisting agents, and collecting insights on customer demands and behavior
A Secure Contact Center Cloud
- PCI-DSS and SOC 2 (in progress)
- Data at rest encryption
- Sensitive data avoidance
- Secure SAML2 authentication
Unbeatable Cloud Architecture
- Active-active disaster management Non-disruptive maintenance and on-the-fly upgrades
- Continuous service availability even during maintenance windows
- Your choice of cloud infrastructure and telecom provider
Enterprise-Grade Cloud Solution
- Can be deployed transparently across sites and geographies for global operations
- Reliable with 99.999% uptime
- Unprecedented scalability
Dedication to Customer Success
- Assisted onboarding and continuous support with industry experts
- Quick responses from our helpful, customer success-driven team
- Proven question-based review (QBR) methodology 77.42% Net Promoter Score (NPS) satisfaction rating
Still hesitant to move to the cloud? Your concerns are valid. Let us help you work through them. Contact us to ask questions, discuss how we can enable your goals, and schedule a live demo of Bright Pattern Contact Center. Get started now with Bright Pattern Contact Center
