There are a variety of reasons why companies are considering a move to Cloud or SaaS (Software as a Service) based contact center setup. The foremost consideration is the flexibility in terms of capacity and call center location. This has a bearing on the cost of the setup and on-going management. There are other aspects like on-going access to more recent technology, better functional capabilities and reducing internal IT resources for on-going upkeep. Ultimately it is the total cost of ownership and the return on investment that decides if managed services is the right option for a contact center operation.
Infrastructure and connectivity required for running a call center operation using Cloud or SaaS based call center software has two distinct components to it, a managed service that is hosted and provided by the service provider and, the access/connectivity that is required by the call center operation to make use of the service. It is important to have good handle on the bandwidth and connectivity required for carrying VoIP traffic to and from the hosted data center. Voice traffic is sensitive to packet delays and will impact the quality of customer service. The bandwidth for data is dependent of the sophistication of the contact center suite especially if there are additional CRM and web applications that are available to be opened within the call center software Script Building tool.
Since managed services use shared resources, it reduces the cost of running/maintaining such a system. If it is available “on demand”, the capital cost investment is eliminated and replaced by service costs that are spread over the period of the contract. It also minimizes the need to have internal resources to support the call center technology setup. But if your operation is into long term planning, you can take advantage by selectively opting for managed services on areas that you don’t want to control internally. This is especially true for distributed operations with multiple call center locations.
It is important to understand the distinctions between “Managed Service”, “SaaS” and “Cloud” setup, when it comes to planning for the contact center setup. Managed service is like out-sourcing areas that are outside of the core competence of the organization. SaaS implies having access to the use of a software on a payment plan or a monthly fee. Cloud refers to the availability of resources and infrastructure that are accessed through internet. This is definitely the time to intelligently leverage the advantage of all the three options. When it comes to SaaS or Cloud based managed services, Asterisk based call centers like Q-Suite provide a tremendous advantage both in terms of cost and flexibility.