How to Transition Your Contact Centre from On-Prem to Cloud

Today,we can get the information we need at the click of a button thanks to cloudtechnologies. The cloud enables the fast and easy exchange of data. Customersexpect this speed from contact centres, too. That's why transitioning from anon-premise to cloud contact centre is crucial.

Readon to learn what challenges you can expect in moving to a cloud contact centre,and how to overcome those obstacles.

The biggestchallenge: traditional IT structures

Thebiggest obstacle you'll face by far is traditional IT structures. In manyorganizations, IT roles are still siloed. You'll see network engineers incharge of networks, system administrators responsible for hardware and databasearchitects overseeing organization and access to those repositories.

Here'sthe problem: because of the silos, IT personnel are focused on their own tasks.They're not looking at the bigger picture of how IT can create value for theentire organization.

Moving from traditional IT structures to a cloud contact centre

The challenge of traditional ITstructures isn't just about the way the IT department has been set up; itrepresents an entrenched mindset that silos are acceptable. How do you overcomethat?

Building a business case for a cloudcontact centre should focus on the following points:

• The current technology powering your contact centre may be reaching the end of its life, and replacing it is too expensive
• It's difficult to expand an on-premise contact centre, whereas a cloud scales up or down easily
• You're moving from a capital cost structure to an operational cost structure
• Cloud technologies provide agility and speed, so contact centre agents can quickly and accurately answer customers' questions

Choosing the right cloud contact centre technology

Once you've convinced decision-makersthat shifting to a cloud contact centre is the right move, the next step ischoosing the right cloud contact centre technology.

There are a number of cloud contactcentre solution vendors out there, so how do you choose the right one? It'simportant to remember that not every vendor will offer you the right mix offeatures and capabilities. To understand which vendor is right for you, assessyour current contact centre:

• Do you want omnichannel capabilities, so that customers can reach you through text, chat, social media and phone?
• Which applications do you want to integrate into the cloud contact centre platform?
• Do you need analytics to gauge agent performance?
• Will reporting capabilities enable you to make better choices?
• Would it enhance your contact centre if you were able to route customers to agents based on experience and availability?
• Do you need the ability to minimize downtime and long hold times for customers?
• Is there a need for supervisor access tools, so you can course-correct agents when they're interacting with customers?
• Do your customers want self-service capabilities?

Understandthe customer journey

Youmight be ready to move to the cloud, and your customers might be waiting foryour shift, too. However, you need to ensure that your customers have a goodexperience as you move to a cloud contact centre.

Toimprove the customer journey, you have to gain a deep understanding of whatyour customers go through when they reach your contact centre. Do they startoff in self-service (if the option is available), and then wind up needingassistance by the end of the interaction? If yes, why is that the case? Yourcustomers as well as your agents are a valuable source of information here.

Setting aroadmap for the future

Anotherchallenge in shifting your contact centre to the cloud is deciding what successlooks like for the contact centre. How can you tell that it's significantlyimproved your contact centre operations, or if customers are more satisfied asa result of the move?

Theanswer lies in choosing the right metrics. For a start, KPIs have to alignwith business objectives; you might not want to cut down onaverage-time-per-call if you're trying to upsell services. On the other hand,there are some metrics that make sense for contact centres in a variety ofindustries:

• Average speed of answer
• Average wait time
• Service level response time
• First contact resolution
• Abandoned calls/contacts
• Conversion rate
• Customer satisfaction rate

Communicateall changes clearly

Asyou're transitioning to a cloud contact centre, it's crucial to keep everyonein your organization up to date on what steps you're taking (and in turn, whatthey need to do).

Clear,frequent communication with everyone who's involved in the contact centre isvital. It ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. When everyone knowswhat's happening next and what their role is in this new contact centre,there's a much greater chance of success. External communication matters, too.You don't want to confuse your customers as you introduce a new contact centremodel. Explain to them what to expect and when.

Don't forgetabout post-implementation

Onceyou've implemented your cloud contact centre solution, there's still work to bedone. You have to make sure your agents are fully trained to use the solution,and you must also educate your customers about the new contact centre(especially how much easier it is to connect with you, and how much faster itwill be to solve their problems).

Thisis also when the aforementioned metrics will come into play. You'll need tomeasure your contact centre's performance to see what needs fine-tuning. Areagents able to resolve issues quickly because they have the right tools attheir disposal? Are customers able to solve their problem the first time theyreach out to the contact centre?

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