Tasked with managing inbound and outbound communications, Contact Centers have evolved to adapt to new technologies and expectations on the market.
With those changes come new challenges:
- Too much technology, while useful, leads to a steeper learning curve and an overwhelming number of apps and tools to balance.
- Higher customer expectations than ever before due to desires for instant gratification and less tolerance for waiting or human error.
- The ongoing labor shortage means teams are spread too thin, leading to burnout and a lack of motivation.
As a communications service provider, you can help contact centers to conquer these challenges, motivating their teams to not only meet, but surpass customer expectations.
The secret is in integrating Unified Communications as a Service into Contact Center solutions for a more strategic, powerful, simplified tool.
In fact, a recent report from ResearchAndMarkets found that “over 95% of businesses globally recognize that tightly integrating UCaaS and CCaaS applications is important for their organization.”
Of course UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) refers to the cloud-based framework for merging communication and collaboration tools into an interface like gloCOM.
Integrating UCaaS into Contact Centers prioritizes the customer experience and agent productivity with tools to manage inbound and outbound customer communications more effectively in a solution like PBXware Contact Center.
What’s Wrong with Traditional Contact Center Solutions?
Most contact center solutions on the market today offer tools to boost productivity and enhance the customer experience. These common goals can be met by powerful contact center features and capabilities.
But these solutions have some shortcomings as well:
Lack of integration
While contact center solutions often come with a solid set of tools and features, their innovation stops there. The lack of integration prevents contact centers from merging their own unique tools or databases.
CRM integration, for example, is extremely useful in improving the customer experience via personalization.
Lack of cross-departmental collaboration
A study from Forrester revealed that workers spend an average of 12 hours per week searching for information stuck in data silos. Lack of communication between departments and teams, especially during a labor shortage, is holding businesses back from growth and success.
For example, a lack of communication between sales and marketing teams leads to a disconnect in the product offering and the sales pitch.
Lack of future-proofing
As traditional contact center solutions tend to be closed to further integration or innovation, their usefulness will deteriorate as new technologies emerge and transform the landscape.
For example, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are poised to revolutionize communications, but many contact center solutions will not be prepared to immediately integrate emerging trends.
The Power in Integrating UCaaS into Contact Center Solutions
Some studies indicate that companies can achieve up to 28% higher revenue when they integrate UCaaS and CCaaS, rather than using separate providers. Plus, the monthly costs for technology to support each employee falls by 22%.
UC Today
At the intersection of UCaaS, with its innovative, flexible, and collaborative spirit, and contact center solutions, with their intentional focus on customer service, emerges a unique, powerhouse product that boasts the best of both systems.
True software consolidation
A study from the Harvard Business Review found that workers toggled between different apps about 1,200 times per day, meaning they spend nearly four hours per week on the Toggle Tax.
Integrating UCaaS into the contact center solution synergizes all incoming, outgoing, and internal communications into one single app, decreasing time spent toggling.
Software consolidation translates to a lower learning curve for new team members and just one support team to contact in case of any issues or questions.
Better insights for organizational unity
The insights into customer communication trends typically gained from CCaaS can be magnified with a UCaaS solution.
For example, Wallboards put relevant information in front of the whole team or office, cultivating transparency and a spirit of unity to one goal.
Maximum personalization for customers
As Unified Communications solutions are easy to integrate, contact center solutions can utilize CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integration to achieve better personalization.
With CRM integration, contact center agents will see a pop-up window on their screen with relevant details and communication history when a given contact is on the line. This supports busy and overworked agents in delivering a personal experience more easily.
Flexibility for the future
Speaking of integration, UCaaS solutions are generally reared and ready for any emerging technologies.
Its extremely flexible nature makes it easy for Unified Communications products to adapt new products or features seamlessly.
Unmatched levels of collaboration across organizations
As Unified Communications connects team members internally, this gives contact center agents and administrators a new lifeline to contact when they need support.
Agents on a call with a customer, for example, could use the internal chat to gain a quick answer to a question.
For sparse teams that are struggling to stay afloat, this additional level of connection could make the difference between resolving a problem or losing a customer, supporting an employee or succumbing to agent burnout.
Why is UCaaS good for business?
Unified Communications as a Service has a myriad of benefits in and of itself. This unified ecosystem will include collaboration tools like voice, video meetings, messaging, and file sharing.
The integration of these tools into one app empowers teams to collaborate more effectively regardless of their physical location or position within the organization.
UCaaS enhances collaboration and productivity
UCaaS supports maximum collaboration between team members irrespective of their location, ultimately augmenting productivity.
File sharing allows documents or images to be shared with just the drag of a mouse, so everyone has the same information in front of them.
Presence visibly reveals which team members are available, which are offline, which are on a break, etc., saving time that could be wasted looking for someone.
Instant meetings support faster resolution as you can get all relevant parties into a virtual meeting space with no planning or time waiting.
UCaaS is cost effective
The toggle tax aside, downsizing to one comprehensive app also means bidding farewell to excessive monthly subscriptions and fees. UCaaS allows businesses to pay just one subscription for all of their communicating needs.
Speaking of subscriptions, the subscription payment model that comes with cloud-based solutions takes away the guesswork and eliminates upfront investments. Companies and their budgets will appreciate the steadiness of one monthly payment.
UCaaS increases flexibility and mobility
Based in the cloud, UCaaS solutions can be accessed from any location or compatible device that has an Internet connection.
Mobile UC apps allow users to continue collaborating and connecting from anywhere, whether that means during a business trip, while commuting, or on the road in between appointments.
Remote and hybrid working is nearly expected in today’s landscape. Unified Communications solutions empower workers to connect and maximize their productivity from anywhere.
UCaaS connects departments to pursue shared goals and growth
As an internal communications tool, UCaaS supports cross-department collaboration in the pursuit of common goals.
UCaaS knocks down data silos by opening the avenues of communication between departments and teams.
Why is CCaaS good for business?
Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) prioritizes the customer experience and agent productivity with tools to manage inbound and outbound customer communications more effectively.
Powerful features like smart routing options, omnichannel capabilities, and detailed reporting enable contact center agents and administrators to be more efficient while delivering superior customer experiences.
CCaaS increases agent productivity
The automations and smart technologies offered by CCaaS alleviate burdens on contact center agents so they can be more productive.
Skills-based routing automatically directs customers to the agent best able to address their inquiry. This makes the path to resolution shorter and simpler and frees up agents from taking unnecessary calls.
Dialer allows agents to upload a list of contacts and then sit back and focus on the conversations while the system takes care of calling each one on the list. This not only saves time spent dialing, but decreases user error as well.
Omnichannel features like an intuitive interface allow agents to be more productive when handling conversations.
CCaaS enhances customer experience
With an intense focus on the customer experience, CCaaS features remove common frustrations and support agents in prioritizing positive experiences.
Omnichannel includes layers of features to increase responsiveness and lessen resolution times. For example, a chatbot with self-service features to get customers to the correct agent more quickly.
An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) feature directs callers based on their selections, getting them to the right agent more quickly and bypassing operators or other interruptions.
Real-time monitoring, with whisper and barge features, ensures transparency in customer interactions, reducing negative experiences and holding agents accountable.
CCaaS supports informed decision-making
Detailed reporting options give key insights to contact center administrators so they can make better educated decisions to improve productivity and efficiency.
Real-time or scheduled queue statistics base on omnichannel communications offer insight into agent activity and queue traffic. Administrators can gain a full understanding of conversation volumes and potential issues, thus making better decisions for improvement.
Call recording means that all information is readily available if it is needed. No data or insights will be lost.
CCaaS boosts customer engagement
Omnichannel solutions open more modes of communication, increasing the likelihood that customers will get in contact.
Going beyond voice and email, omnichannel may extend communication opportunities to SMS, live chat, and even social media. Customers will appreciate the flexibility and willingness to meet them where they are, so to speak.
How do I get started?
The Bicom Systems Contact Center solution is unique in that it natively embodies the power of UCaaS.
In addition to providing all of the features and benefits we discussed above, PBXware Contact Center is white label and fully customizable to support your unique business needs and path to growth.
Taking the first step is easy. Just contact us to open a conversation with someone from our team. We want to learn more about your business and its unique needs.