Why the future of the contact centre lies in the cloud
Contact centres have always been a revenue driver for the channel. It’s one of the many markets that enjoys continuous growth. After all, more than 4% of the UK’s working population is employed at contact centres, and that number just increases year-on-year. As well as being a growth market, it’s also a market that is undergoing huge digital transformation.
It was over three years that analyst agency Forrester issued a report named ‘Contact centres must go digital or die,’ which outlined that firms' technology and staffing plans are not keeping up with consumer demand for digital customer services.
In order to satisfy the rising demand for support, contact centres and call centres must be able to scale rapidly, even as they develop new competencies. New digital channels and touchpoints are quickly emerging, changing the way consumers interact with brands. Multichannel, big data and the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) also pose new requirements to the visibility of customer-related data.
The fact is that customer experience is paramount in order to stay competitive. So, put simply, for contact centres it’s a clear-cut situation; ‘go digital’ or face huge customer churn. With these market factors in full force, cloud adoption isn’t just an option, it’s a necessity to enable multichannel functionality and a future-proofed business. Customers want and expect a brand to have omnichannel communications capabilities. A traditional voice contact centre just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The most straightforward route toward digital excellence points directly to cloud technology. Modern customer communication services require solutions that are capable of integrating all communications processes into a singular platform, whilst at the same time being adaptable to changing demands.
As technology advances, businesses are realising that only cloud services offer the agility they need in order to adapt, with speed, to new clients, channels and requirements. Therefore there’s an increasing demand for contact centre services from the cloud. With time and cost pressures rising, contact centres are challenged to fulfil increasing customer demands and deliver even more business value in less time, and cloud platforms enable them to meet these ambitious goals.
The customer relationship management (CRM) sector also represents the largest segment in migration from traditional hardware or software products to cloud technology. As a result, it should come as no surprise that the contact centre industry is now following the lead, turning their backs on the obsolete infrastructure of on-premise systems in favour of modern, flexible, hosted technologies.
The future lies in omnichannel communication
The essential drivers for that trend are reduction of IT investment, operation and maintenance costs, as well as adaptability to perpetually changing market situations, maximum scalability and seamless integration with CRM applications. Furthermore, integration with cloud services is extremely straightforward, even more so when the contact centre and telephony systems are based on the same platform.
The scope for the channel this year, when it comes to contact centre market, cannot be understated. We may all be pushing different kinds of technology, but we are also consumers at the end of the day.
Just think about how you engage with a brand and what communications channels you expect? It’s certainly beyond voice, and we expect web chat and social media channels at a minimum. But looking even further ahead there are definitely opportunities with artificial intelligence (AI); contact centres must automate where possible to save costs, so it stands to reason the sector will also be a trailblazer for new voice recognition technologies.
The revenue opportunities are huge. Last year the UK Contact Centre Forum unveiled its latest market study, which found that 35% of contact centres still don’t have the technology to support multiple customer contact channels. That equates to thousands of contact centres that are yet to start their journey via the cloud and reap the productivity and functional benefits. With the opportunities primed, who knows what the future holds?
Written by Myles Leach, MD for NFON UK
source channelpro
Industry: Unified Communications News
Latest Jobs
-
- Information Security Risk Consultant, London. ISO 27005
- London
- 60000
-
REFCH7901 Information Security Risk Consultant, London. ISO 27005 Information Security Risk consultant needed for a London based client. The ability to achieve SC security clearance will be required. ISO 27005 Risk Assessment experience is essential. The role will cover, Risk identification, Assessment and Advisory consulting. This is a client facing role, single client- not multiple. Experience working with multiple teams and internal stakeholders is essential. The information Security Risk Consultant should ideally have a breath of information Security and IT technology based security experience. Prior experience within the public sector is desirable, but not essential. Broad knowledge across Security IT transformation, Cloud is also key. Broad experience across GRC, iso27001, NIST is key. Ongoing support and training provided. Apply today for more information, all details kept in confidence.
-
- Google Cloud platform Security Engineer, Contract, inside IR35
- United Kingdom
- -
-
REF CH7897 Google Cloud platform Security Engineer, Contract, Inside IR35 Looking for a Google Cloud platform Security Engineer will define, document, design, implement, harden and generally improve the security capability of a Google Cloud Platform. The ability to configure, and deploy the following Google Cloud Platform security solutioons is essential; Command Security Centre, Cluster Security, APIGEE, GCP Cloud Armor Hands on technical expertise security experience with Terraform, Kubernetes Security, Container (Docker) security, Secret Manager is essential as is experience securing Google Kubernetes Engine Workloads. It is essential that you have a proven track record of securing a GCP environment and expertise in automating that with Terraform. Scripting experience with the above where appropriate is a key ability. You will be highly technical and have the ability to engage with stakeholders to ultimately deliver a secure and hardened Google Cloud Platform.
-
- IAM Consultant- Identity Governance
- United Kingdom
- Upto £80,000 plus benefits
-
Identity and Access Management Consutlant is required for this established business who put their employees first. the role entails • Develop and maintain IAM services. • Further develop IAM tool integration with Service Now to provide automated JML processes and application access requests and fulfilment. • Provide guidance over Role Based Access in terms of Location based Roles, Application Roles and Business Roles and act as SME over any future RBAC project. • Work closely with our other Technology teams on integrating IAM services with Technology and business systems to increase efficiency through automation around areas such as JML processes, application access request fulfilment and attestation. • Work with the Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC) team to provide application access attestations and toxic combination alerting and reporting. • Involvement with Identity Management initiatives such as Single Sign On (SSO) and Privileged Access Management (PAM), to ensure security and business processes are in line with industry best practice. • Assist in ensuring that all IAM capabilities are mapped to internal processes, policies, and standards. Develop metrics to measure and improve the alignment. • Complete monthly review and report on sensitive group access, i.e., service accounts, admin accounts, etc. validating I&O processes are effective. • Provide information to both internal and external Auditors in response to findings. • Collate audit evidence for AAF audit and control reviews, taking responsibility for identifying service and process improvements to ensure compliance with our controls and standards. We are looking for someone with Hands on technical experience with the IAM tools, you need to have been involved in the integration of the IAM solution into 3rd party software like Servicenow, You will have worked with an IAM tools that are focused into Identity Goveranance, like RSA, CA Identity Suite, Fischer Identity, Hid Global, IBM IGL, Net IQ Identity Goverance, Omada, Ping or Oracle Post covid, this role will invovle a mix of home and office work, the business have a number of office spread across the UK so locaton is flexible for this position
-
- Sales Executive- SaaS/ Cloud/ Telecommunications Services
- Frankfurt
- Upto €80,000
-
A great opportunity has arisen for an expanding Cloud connectivity provider to join their German sales team to help them develop new business into the DACH region, They are looking for an agile and highly driven sales professional to win new enterprise business across the DACH region, with a particular focus on Switzerland. This is an opportunity to take part in help to shape the future of cloud native connectivity. This is a Hybrid role with a mix of account management and new business hunting, so are looking for people who enjoying doing both roles. This is a great opportunity to join a business that is growing and is still in early stages of it European growth phase, where you career will grow with the business If you are a highly motivated and driven individual with experience in selling either Telecommunication, cloud or security solutions and are seeking a sales role working with cutting edge technology in a fast-paced environment this role could be for you. Send your CV and we will call you back to discuss the opportunity in more depth