Nautilus
Asking the right questions
Are you wondering if your current contact center’s on-premise setup is enough to take you through the next decade? Is it time to look at other alternatives, like a cloud-based contact center maybe? If these questions are keeping you up late at night, you’re on the right track. Because change is often necessitated by needs, and these needs have the power to bother you.
To answer these questions, let’s explore both options; during this article we will go over their various strengths and weaknesses in a traditional pros and cons list! Along the way let’s see if we can figure out which solution is best for your contact center.
The differences matter
The call center industry has always relied on phone systems to connect to customers. But the natural progression of technology has led the industry towards a more digital approach, to much success.
Choosing the right infrastructure for your contact center today is critical to ensuring optimised customer service. Two of the more popular options that dominate the market today are on-premise and cloud-based contact centers. Both approaches offer significant features that cater to different types of businesses.
As the name suggests, on-premise contact centers require hardware, software, and overall infrastructure to be physically located on-premise.What this means is that contact centers have total control over setup, maintenance, and data security aspects. It essentially means that a business has to monitor and maintain upkeep of these to ensure efficient operations.
Alternatively, a cloud-based contact center does away with all that. Most cloud-based solutions are handled by a third-party service provider who takes care of all the worries for the business at the price of a subscription. And as these solutions are all based on the cloud, it eliminates the need for physical infrastructure, with the third-party provider managing and hosting the system– making it easy for a business to scale their growth!
Isn’t it time you did something about it?
With the customer service industry heading into the digital age that we live in, the choice to adapt lies heavily on the minds of today’s decision makers. It carries with it significant implications that affect not just their operations, but also the overall customer experience.
I would assume that those who employ an on-premise contact center do so because of their desire to have full control over their systems. Some organizations require stringent data security requirements, while some have specific customisations that an on-premise setup would be best suited for. This level of control assures them reliable connectivity that’s not dependent on external factors.
However, having a cloud-based contact center does come with its distinct advantages that are making them increasingly popular today. It is also projected that the cloud-contact centre industry will see significant growth from $26.2 billion in 2024 to $86.4 billion by 2029. There has to be a reason why, right?
According to research from Cloud-based Contact Center Market, the main drivers of cloud transition in the industry are driven primarily by innate flexibility, faster deployment time, and remote-work adaptability. And the fact that these comprehensive suites of features are available at reasonable subscription rates (and the cost-effective nature of the solution) only make the decision easier and better for their overall business.
Change driven by disaster
The impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic is palpable despite its becoming a far-too distant memory. Can you believe it’s been almost five years since? For those in the customer service industry, those first few months were a very challenging time. Thanks to research from Pindrop, we now have access statistics from that period, namely the following:
- An increase of 300% in incoming call volume
- For most contact centers, their average handling time (AHT) increased from 3 minutes to up to 10 minutes.
- Abandon rates, which refers to the metric that measures instances where customers hang up a call before speaking to an agent, rose by around 10%.
It’s easy to see why we saw these results (and in the significant rates that they rose to). During turbulent times and world-changing events, every other industry can lie still and be rendered mute– except customer service. In fact, no other industry was deemed more “essential.”
How cloud contact centers came to the rescue
The Pandemic presented a scenario that most businesses didn’t prepare for, but should. In the case of the customer service industry, players had to adapt fast. More importantly, this adaptation laid the groundwork for the need of more forward-thinking solutions.
The speed and effectiveness of cloud solutions allowed businesses to regain a foothold in their day-to-day operations. While those who still maintained legacy, on-premise phone systems during the Pandemic were struggling to maintain a viable means to operate. And if you’re still one of the few holdouts, a good question to ask yourself is: are you ready for another Pandemic?
Your Contact Center deserves better
At the end of the day, the decision between an on-premise and a cloud-based contact center ultimately comes down to your business’ specific needs and goals. For companies seeking more control over customisation and security, an on-premise contact center may still be the best choice. This is especially true for highly regulated industries like those in banking and finance.
However, for most modern businesses looking for scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency a cloud-based contact center offers benefits that you just can’t deny. As the world slowly but ever so surely inches towards modern evolution, cloud solutions provide a level of adaptability that might prove necessary to meet these demands. And if we were to take the successes (and failures) seen during the Pandemic, we might also be wise enough to take them as a necessary precaution.
If you need more clarity on how a cloud contact center might be your best bet, feel free to send us a message here!