A New Approach To Cloud Communications

By Author: Ruben Marcus
Total Articles: 18
Comment this article

The cloud is exploding in popularity. Organizations of all types love the ability to treat software much as they do electricity — a service that they plug into and pay for monthly. The cloud model has been applied to all sorts of software — CRM, HR applications, sales force automation, and so on. The advantages of the cloud are obvious and include:

• Increased flexibility
• Faster deployment time
• Minimal upfront capital expense
• Reduced IT requirements

CaaS

With the advent of voice over IP (VoIP), this same cloud delivery model can be applied to various communication services including contact center automation and unified communications. This utility‐like model for communications is often referred to as Communications as a Service, or CaaS. Unlike data services such as CRM, communications services have special considerations. Communications services are often considered more vital because they involve personal contact with customers. Temporary loss of access to CRM ...
... can be a major inconvenience, but an inability to take calls from customers can threaten the very existence of a business. The potential loss of voice capability is one reason why many organizations have been hesitant to trust CaaS providers with their critical communications.

Many businesses have standardized on Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) for IP telephony and are facing a key decision: Do we expand our investment in Cisco to the contact center, or do we look for an alternative solution that can integrate seamlessly with CUCM and, more importantly, simplify our IT infrastructure and better meet the needs of the business?

The issue can be a balancing act among the business, contact center management and IT, all with diverse experiences and perspectives as well as priorities. The business needs a solution to effectively communicate internally and externally. The contact center wants to simplify operations and enhance the customer experience. And IT looks for ways to handle these demands alongside the many other responsibilities and projects already on their plate. Equally important for IT is the ability to leverage and protect existing investments in CUCM and other Cisco collaboration applications.

Workforce management systems is more than just software. It requires a large amount of process definition and organizational consideration. One common mistake that contact centers leaders often make is an investment in workforce management software without fully evaluating how they will use it along with the processes and best practices that support it. These considerations are critical to the success of any workforce management program and without evaluating these items, it is highly probable that you will invest in workforce management technology and receive no return on your investment.