Cloud-Based Call Centers

Features Like These Were Never Possible with Traditional Infrastructure

By Jelani Harper
Updated: August 21, 2012

Cloud-Based Call Centers

Cloud-based call centers have several advantages over traditional call centers. The former offers a degree of scalability that can prove extremely valuable to organizations with the potential for growth, while also offering a number of useful features at a price that is considerably more economical than that associated with the funding of conventional call centers.

The financial advantages of cloud-based call centers are largely due to the fact that enterprises do not incur the myriad costs associated with hardware and software—which may span several thousand dollars—that’s needed to facilitate traditional call centers. Additionally, there are an assortment of features that greatly enhance the cloud-based call center experience, and help facilitate more expedient and accurate handling of calls.

Cloud Attributes

The fact that call center software and hardware can be obtained through the cloud provides a host of advantages, as Software as a Service and Platform as a Service capabilities ensure that organizations only pay for specific applications when they are used. Additionally, enterprises do not have to pay the typical fees associated with the procuring of hardware and software endemic to call centers, as such equipment can typically be used as needed via an internet connection. This facet of the cloud-based call center experience is integral to the scalability of an operation, which can expand or reduce its scope without purchasing additional equipment or having more system components than needed.

Features

Some of the features provided by cloud-based call center vendors include skills-based routing, which delivers customers to appropriate agents, as well as a comprehensive reporting feature that allows management to accurately track all customer interaction. Sophisticated cloud-based call center service providers allow for access to VoIP, email, and chatting, which can be recorded and stored for the purpose of training and follow-up calls. Additionally, some vendors provide an intuitive call-flow designer that enable an ease of creation and modification of the flow of calls, as well as support for call screening tools such as whisper and DNIS—which provide valuable information about callers.

Implementation and Integration

Due to the fact that the bulk of the tools for cloud-based call centers are provided remotely, organizations can expect an expeditious, fairly easy implementation of this service that will allow them to receive and rout calls in significantly less time than if they had bought and configured conventional call center equipment. Additionally, most customers are able to integrate their cloud-based call center applications with existing ones to streamline business processes and increase productivity.