What Is a Cloud Based Call Center?

If your mental image of a call center involves an on-premises office lined with cubicles filled with support agents desperately trying to field call after call from upset customers, then you’re still thinking in terms of legacy systems. Digital transformations are updating all kinds of businesses and the ways they gather data and interact with customers, and contact centers are no different. Not only are modern call centers capable of routing much more than phone calls, but the best call center software can also even prove that call centers don’t have to be places of frustration. In fact, your call center can even become your signature method for providing the best customer experiences.

It’s true that customers are often frustrated before making the call, having failed to find the information they needed online or through other sources. However, you have the power to alleviate that frustration immediately, and even impress each customer with how good your customer service is by providing memorable and personalized customer journeys. How is this possible? It can be done with a cloud based call center. Here are some of the greatest benefits that you and your customers will be getting.

You’ll be freed from on-premises frustrations.

Once all your contact center software is in the cloud, you’ll no longer have to rent out office space, deal with hardware installations, nor otherwise have to cover infrastructure costs for your contact center solution. Since you’ll no longer have to rely on an on-premise solution, you’ll also have a great deal more freedom hiring candidates to work remotely instead of having to rely on hires in your area. This makes it much easier to provide round-the-clock support since you’ll be able to hire the right agents from different time zones.

Of course, that isn’t just a great benefit for your customers. Your help desk agents will also love to experience the benefits of remote work or at least hybrid work. Roughly 59% of workers in the United States who were able to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic state that they’d like to continue doing it, and it’s likely the “new normal” to some extent. Adapting to the cloud now will help you future-proof your business.

You’ll experience true omnichannel routing.

A cloud contact center solution is about much more than handling incoming calls. Customers will also be able to reach your agents using their preferred digital communication channels, such as email, texting, SMS, social media, live chat, mobile apps, and more. While some contact centers would keep these digital channels in silos, meaning there’s no easy way to switch between them, the best cloud contact center software will take things to the next level with intelligent omnichannel routing.

With true omnichannel support, customers will be able to seamlessly switch between communication channels if the need arises, and they can even stay in contact with the same agent, thus keeping all their progress in the conversation. This saves everyone’s time, and a unified agent desktop can even boost agent productivity by letting them keep track of all conversations across all channels, so they can step in at a moment’s notice.

CRM integrations empower every team.

Cloud call center solutions can easily integrate with any customer relationship management (CRM) system you’re running, whether it’s Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zendesk, ServiceNow, or others. Your support team and sales team will have real-time access to customer data and lead information, including phone numbers, customer interaction history, and even previous call recordings.

Immediate access to customer information makes it easier for your support agents to help repeat callers with issues they’re likely to have, and your sales team can use the data to make special offers to your best customers, encouraging customer loyalty even further.