XaaS: The ‘Anything and Everything As a Service’ Era Is Here

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

August 5, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Centralised access to business-critical information isn’t a luxury in your organisational ecosystem anymore—but a prerequisite.

With COVID-19 coming back in waves, businesses have had to continue working in a remote environment. While the remote work model is pandemic-proof, it may not be efficient if implemented with on-premise infrastructure.

Let us explain why.

Your in-house team may not be able to overcome sudden and complex technical malfunctions. Furthermore, the upfront cost that goes into installing an on-premise infrastructure set-up can burn a hole in your pocket.

So, how do you tackle this situation?

Businesses have been adopting cloud computing for their infrastructure-related requirements for a while now. When it comes to cloud-based solutions, you only pay for what you use and not a flat monthly fee. Most importantly, your cloud service provider takes complete charge of the infrastructure, which makes it cost-effective.

One such cloud computing service that helps businesses perform better is XaaS. Let us delve deeper in what XaaS is and how it can benefit your business.

What is XaaS?

XaaS is a collective term that refers to Anything-as-a-Service. This service includes several other components that can be obtained over the Internet as and when needed, as opposed to being accessed on-premise.

To begin with, XaaS is not limited to the technical processes of your business. It may support improving the efficiency of your business processes, customer engagement, and even employee supervision using improved methods.

Moreover, XaaS encourages your business to break through silos and facilitates the free flow of information across your organisation.

For example, consider you have a contact center that has a cloud-based telephony system. The implementation of XaaS eliminates communication barriers and people across your organisation can easily access information.

In a scenario wherein your contact center representative requires information about the refund status of a caller, they may directly view the status on a central data repository, like the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. Otherwise, the agent may have to reach out to the finance department and wait for their response, which can take time.

Therefore, XaaS breaks silos and enables an uninterrupted flow of information, eliminating delays and risks caused by inter-departmental dependencies.

What is included in XaaS?

Several services constitute the XaaS compendium. A few of them are as follows:

1. SaaS

SaaS or Software-as-a-Service refers to applications that are offered to businesses over the cloud.

In a typical contact center ecosystem, cloud-based telephony systems play an important role. The most significant capability of these phones is their ability to function without telephone lines or wires.

Cloud phone systems can be managed and maintained centrally by your cloud service provider. This saves you maintenance and upgrading costs over the long haul. Since these cloud phones operate over the Internet, they’re accessible from anywhere.

For example, if you maintain a remote workforce, your employees will not need special equipment to connect to these phone lines. They may use their smart devices and operate from the comfort of their homes.

Moreover, cloud service providers stay on par with compliance and security regulations. You should note that these regulations differ from location to location. Your service provider will regularly update compliance and security protocols based on the industry requirements.

2. CPaaS

Communication-Platform-as-a-Service enables you to add real-time communication features to your applications. This eliminates the need for you to maintain a separate application for various mediums.

For example, consider the example of a contact center that runs on a traditional communication system. A customer contacts the agent who thinks providing a live demo is the best way to guide the customer.

Using a traditional communication system, the agent will have to disconnect the audio call and reconnect with the customer over a video call. The customer may not be happy about this process as it involves waiting time.

However, with CPaas your agent can easily switch from audio to video without disconnecting the ongoing call. Furthermore, CPaaS offers contextual inputs to your agents that help deliver seamless customer experiences. So, they can review a caller’s transaction history while chatting with them.

These inputs help your agents provide customised and personalised customer experiences, thereby improving satisfaction.

3. BPaaS

The BPaaS market was valued at USD 3.84 billion in the year 2019 and is estimated to grow to USD 17.90 billion by 2027. This indicates a CAGR of 22.9% for the forecast period.

BPaaS or Business Process as a Service refers to business process outsourcing. This service is delivered over the cloud. It primarily focuses on providing organisations with the people, technology, and processes required to run efficiently on a cloud-based model.

Like other cloud-based services, BPaaS also empowers companies to pay-as-they-use and scale up and down capabilities.

Say, for instance, you own a contact center and have opted for the BPaaS service model. Since the model facilitates easy scaling of capacity, you can simply expand your phone lines during peak times by notifying your provider to do so.

Also, as it is based on the pay-as-you-use model, you will need to pay only for the resources you may have used. This proves to be pocket-friendly when compared to a flat monthly fee. These capabilities of BPaaS allow you to accommodate fluctuating business needs and thereby, stay on par with industry trends.

4. DaaS

Desktop-as-a-Service is a cloud offering that provides virtual desktops to end-users over the Internet. This service is also charged as per the pay-as-you-use model. The first advantage of DaaS centralised accessibility.

Your cloud service provider hosts the infrastructure, network resources, and data in the cloud. Virtual desktops can then be connected through any of your devices. This cloud-based service encourages the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model.

Considering a cloud telephony environment, your workforce can connect to this centralised system from anywhere and through any device. Moreover, as business-critical information is saved on the cloud, it is maintained securely by your cloud service provider.

Thus, even if your employee loses their device, you needn’t worry about the risks that come with locally stored data. Your cloud service provider takes complete charge of backup and disaster recovery.

In the case of a conventional telephony system, it may be difficult to restore business-critical information after a crisis. However, when using DaaS, your cloud service provider maintains a data backup that supports business continuity even after a major disaster.

Yet another advantage of DaaS for businesses is the technology’s capability to scale up and down with shifting IT requirements. You may easily increase the number of users accessing data over the cloud if need be and then scale down when the requirement is met.

To conclude

XaaS is a compendium of cloud-based solutions that can help you maximise the value of your business. Adopting XaaS enables you to automate business processes, improve customer engagement, and add features to the existing capabilities of your applications.

Moreover, these solutions, being cloud-based, offer you the bonus of complete data security, zero maintenance, massive scalability, and minimal infrastructural costs.

Visit Acefone if you’re looking for a reliable and trustworthy cloud service provider.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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Acefone Editor

Author

Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

CPaaS 101: Communications Platform as a Service

Yukti Verma

Author

Interaction Hub

August 4, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

In a world filled with people scrolling, swiping, texting, calling, and downloading on the go, communication tools have become really important for companies to understand and manage consumer expectations.

The increasingly dynamic nature of consumer behaviour requires more efficient ways for companies to establish and handle communications. This is where CPaaS comes into the picture.

CPaaS allows businesses to quickly add different communication channels—voice, messaging, video—to their customer support framework, without any major overhaul in IT infrastructure. With CPaaS, companies can stay ahead of customer expectations and deliver improved customer support.

CPaaS has already been increasingly employed by companies worldwide. According to research, the CPaaS market size has grown from USD 400 Million (2015) to USD 8.1 Billion (2019) worldwide and it is predicted to reach USD 17.2 Billion by 2023.

So, what exactly is CPaaS? How is it being used by companies across the world to deliver world-class consumer experiences?

Here, we will answer all these questions and discuss everything you need to know about CPaaS.

What is CPaaS?

CPaaS stands for Communication Platform as a Service. It is a cloud-based communications tool with the capability of hosting multiple channels in existing software frameworks.

This is possible because CPaaS adds new communication channels in real time by integrating the selected channels with the applications already in use. The cherry on the top—all of this can be done without the incorporation of any additional hardware or backend infrastructure!

CPaaS offers a host of communication channels that can be activated and integrated with your communications stack, which include:

1. Voice (outbound and inbound):

Voice APIs can be integrated into your communication stack to activate outbound and inbound calling. Voice API for outbound calling enables the companies to quickly scale up to rising demands and increase in calling volume.

How Advanced Voice API Solutions Help in Remote Work Environment

Voice API for incoming call volume can be configured to dictate the flow for inbound calls. These can then be routed to a specific recipient based on pre-set conditions. This is especially helpful to manage high call volumes in busy seasons.

2. Text messaging (SMS):

Text messaging can be easily incorporated into your stack by activating SMS API. After this, companies can send alerts, messages, notifications, and updates to customers through a single click.

If required, you can set this tool to allow the customers to react or respond to your messages. Customer support can utilise this to effectively guide customers in resolving queries.

3. Video and MM:

The SMS API also allows companies to share multimedia messages including photos, videos, and other media formats. One can even use it for video calling and conferencing services.

4. Social media messaging:

The increasing popularity and usage of social media apps, like Whatsapp, make them great tools for increased customer engagement.

CPaaS can be used to integrate these apps with your communication stack for seamless customer interaction. After this, you can use features such as instant messaging, location sharing, media sharing, and read receipts.

5. Virtual phone numbers:

A virtual phone number is a real phone number that is not connected to any physical phone device. This number can be used to receive incoming calls or dial outgoing calls from a web application.

CPaaS supports virtual phone numbers, which cuts down costs incurred on physical mobile devices. Further, to promote agent and customer anonymity, CPaaS also offers call masking as an elegant solution, protecting customer privacy.

6. AI support:

CPaaS can also be used to integrate AI engine APIs. This helps in supporting multiple capabilities such as voice recognition, TTS (Text to Speech), and other features.

How is CPaas different from UCaaS?

UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) is another cloud-based tool used to streamline communication needs for a company.

It comprises a suite of applications that brings the entire communications network onto a single platform. This is possible via a host of systems or tools, including cloud phone system, network management tools, conferencing and collaboration tools, and management portals.

From a bird’s eye view, both CPaaS and UCaaS seem to be cloud-based multi-channel communication solutions. Both rely on the cloud to provide key communications features to the consumers. However, there are distinct differences in their design and product offerings. In a language we all understand—food—CPaaS is just like an à la carte option while UCaaS is the buffet table.

In other words, CPaaS allows you to choose features based on your requirements and then assembles only those in your final offering. With CPaaS, you can pick and choose the specific APIs that would be added to your current communication stack.

On the other hand, UCaaS is a single platform with built-in communication channels that can be used right away. Barring customisations to the existing services, you cannot add or reduce functionalities in UCaaS.

Both UCaaS and CPaaS offer multiple advantages through their cloud-based communications solutions.

However, the individual requirements of a company can help them determine which model suits them the most. With UCaaS, smaller companies might end up paying for more services than they require.

On the other hand, CPaaS might prove to be too costly for a business that needs all the possible communication channels in its arsenal.

How does CPaaS work?

At the core of it, CPaaS relies on APIs that allow various devices to communicate with each other on a specified communication channel. Now, what are these APIs?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. These programs act as a bridge between two endpoints, generally devices, software, or apps, and allows them to interact with each other.

Once this bridge is set up, data packets can be sent from one endpoint to the other over an existing and underlying VoIP network. This movement allows the apps and devices to develop new functionalities, hitherto unavailable to them.

To make this work, an efficient CPaaS provider is a must. This is so that all APIs and code snippets can be used to add communication functionality to existing frameworks in real-time. The right CPaaS provider, along with their development kits and documentation, will help you extract the maximum benefits from this tool.

Benefits of CPaaS

CPaaS solutions allow the real-time addition of multiple communication channels on the existing setup. This functionality offers several benefits:

1. Cost savings

Earlier, the addition of a new communication channel meant huge infrastructural additions, engineering development, and software maintenance costs. As CPaaS shifts a company from hardware to cloud-based systems, this significantly cuts down CAPEX. This allows you to spend on other avenues.

2. Flexible customisations

In this modern digital era, communication channels and consumer habits are simultaneously evolving. Customers expect companies to reach them on channels that they use in their everyday lives. This requires the companies to adapt as quickly as possible.

CPaaS enables them to do exactly the same by adding new communication channels in real-time. With APIs, CPaaS allows adding functional blocks for new channels to the existing framework.

3. Global scale

Businesses, in order to expand, seek new markets to enter. Traditionally, companies are required to acquire new licenses, set up hardware, fulfil international mandates, and do several other things in order to be ready to conduct business in new locations.

But with the help of CPaaS, these companies can easily scale their operations without any external restrictions. Having their platform on the Cloud grants them an instant, multi-region presence. Additionally, CPaaS enables them to add locally preferred communication channels to their framework.

4. Improved customer experience

CPaaS empowers businesses to add various communication channels to deliver the best customer experience possible. The integration of modern conduits (including social media apps) into the company’s existing framework ensures that all consumers can reach the support whenever they need to.

Some practical use cases of CPaaS

Some of the largest industries now conduct their business communications using CPaaS. Let us try and see how CPaaS has improved the workings of some of these industries:

1. Healthcare

CPaaS has become very popular in the healthcare sector after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Owing to the necessity of contactless health services, CPaaS enabled several practical use cases to mitigate the situation.

Tele-consulting via Video APIs empowered patients to book video appointments with the doctors, cutting out the need to physically go to the hospital. Patients can also remotely book appointments and refill prescriptions online via multiple CPaaS features.

Medicos can also use CPaaS solutions to remotely monitor patient performance through connected devices such as bio-sensors and machine readings. Accessing patient history, and reviewing forms are some other features enabled by CPaaS.

2. Banks

Financial institutions can adopt CPaaS to automate a number of customer-centric activities, thus saving time and effort for more complex cases. Customer interactions such as bank balance notifications, OTP alerts, application statuses, and check deposits can be automated and communicated via CPaaS enabled channels.

The entire loan application process can be configured to be completed via multiple CPaaS enabled features. The customer information on online forms, digital payments can be updated in real-time on loan applications.

3. Retail

The retail sector was another sector that saw huge transformations during the COVID-19 pandemic. With CPaaS, retail establishments were enabled to bring their entire catalogue online through multiple channels. They could send out special discount offers, sale alerts, and other offers based on their previous purchases.

It also provided greater transparency to the entire delivery process. This is because retailers were able to send out real-time delivery updates and confirmation messages to the customers.

Customers could track their order from the packaging stage through the transit to the final delivery stage. Information such as agent details and expected delivery time also become available to customers.

4. Hospitality

Several hospitality-oriented digital solutions are already in place to enable travellers to book flight tickets or hotel rooms with a click. CPaaS solutions can further enable the hospitality sector to alert travellers through real-time updates on cancellations, delays, reschedules, billing, and offers.

Travellers can also utilise the CPaaS services to perform otherwise manual tasks such as ordering room service, scheduling spa sessions, and requesting on-flight service.

5. Education

CPaaS can impact the entire education framework at all levels of a child’s education. CPaaS can foster a strong parent-student interaction by allowing real-time updates on student performance. CPaaS can also help with the distribution of notes, examinations, and results. Students will also be enabled to schedule doubt sessions with their teachers.

CPaaS can also provide tools for virtual tours of college campuses for counselling and orientation purposes. Students can access their course catalogues as well as recorded lectures through the CPaaS. Instant communication regarding school closings or emergencies can also be utilised by the school management.

Summing up

In our globalised and digital world, there are no boundaries on how technologies can make our lives simpler. CPaaS is one such technology. Without the need for bulky hardware, CPaaS is able to automate most fundamental operations by taking them on the cloud. This not only helps save money but also saves time and delivers quick and great customer service.

To know more about how CPaaS and the cloud can be beneficial to your organisation, get on-call with our cloud experts at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected]

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Expert Opinion: Towering and Transforming Your Customer Experience

Tavishi Arora

Author

Expert Opinion

August 3, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

“Rather than making organisations focus on what they do, focus on what they deliver” – Steve Towers

The digital age is changing the customer experience landscape. It is no longer enough to have a great product or the lowest price. In fact, most consumers would pay higher in exchange for a good customer experience. And, brainy businesses are taking note. According to Salesforce, Google searches for “customer experience” have tripled in the last decade.

The customer service industry has gone through a paradigm shift in terms of expectations and technologies. In a cluttered market, the differentiating factor for businesses becomes the connection they build with their customers. This is often developed through service delivery and sophisticated experiences.

We recently had an opportunity to chat with Steve Towers, a customer service expert and business transformation leader. With over 40 years of success in driving and achieving organisational goals, both in the private and public sectors, he sheds light on the changing dynamics of customer service expectations.

Apart from being a successful leader in customer service, Steve Towers is also the founder of the BP Group, a not-for-profit firm. A six-sigma black belt master and a best-selling keynote author, Steve has helped many businesses transform their CX operations.

Ask Steve how his journey of CX started, and he draws you into a story about starting off as an industrial engineer where he was involved in the re-engineering of their business process. “I worked on projects that required a lean six-sigma methodology and approach. I even wrote a book on reengineering back in 1993. The methodology then being implemented was eight-omega—eight being greater than six and omega being better than sigma”.

However, he adds, “there were a few people who mentioned that the eight omega approach, which included: discovery, analysis, design, validation, integration, implementation, control and improvement, (and) missed an important element—the customer.” Steve believed that the customer was not just missing but was, in fact, a major stakeholder in everything that they did.

This was the turning point in his career. And it led him on a journey of becoming a customer experience expert.

Steve’s favourite approach towards a strong customer service strategy is the “outside-in” approach.

This approach focuses on original ideas on customer experience being moved from the outside-in. In other words, one should look at things from the customer’s perspective rather than an organisation’s. The company should understand customer needs and accordingly design strategies that deliver.

“This is how you achieve a successful customer outcome,” says Steve. “Instead of focussing on what companies should do, focus on what they should deliver. And, in doing that, becoming outside-in by paying attention to customer-centricity and customer experience,” he adds.

He further explains that this strategy is the result of embracing modern, tech-savvy customers who are eloquent in terms of the products and services they seek, and rebellious when it comes to the offerings. Thus, the status-quo did not cater to these growing needs.

1. What defines a good customer experience?

“Here is the definition I use—customer experience is the sum of the thoughts, feelings and interactions a customer has about and with different products and services during the achievement of a goal or outcome.”

Steve brings up Shep Hyken, another customer experience expert, into the conversation, “The two terms—customer service and customer experience—get interchanged if you ask Shep”. Steve begs to differ. He believes that customer experience is a much broader term and its definition should include all related factors.

Steve believes that “customer experience doesn’t start when customers first contact your organisation and (it) doesn’t end when you finish doing business with them.”

It actually starts much before the first contact and ends only after the customer is satisfied.

“Customer experience embraces all interactions you have with customers throughout their journey. And, the interactions customers have with your organisation is just a part of their overall customer experience, which includes other organisations and interactions as well.”

According to Steve, the key is to work in a customer-centric environment to deliver favourable customer outcomes.

Anyone who wants to improve their customer experience knows that it’s a rocky road. When we asked Steve about how he tackles situations where obvious resolutions to customers’ issues are not available, he answered briefly but pointedly, “explain, manage their expectations and revert PDQ.”

That (read: PDQ) was surely a new term for us, which he clarified as “pretty damn quick, a fancier version of ASAP.” We agree.

Steve further explains, “If you find yourself in a situation where you have already identified customer needs but are not aligned to serve them at the moment, you need to start building that capability and step up to the challenge! Moreover, to manage customer expectations, always communicate your potential at that moment and be clear on what you can and cannot deliver.”

He emphasised the same using an example of an insurance company he was working with, in Texas, an area prone to tornadoes. As the city warned of an oncoming storm, the company had a choice to warn customers too. However, that would have been counterproductive to the number of claims that could come from the damage.

Therefore, the insurance company decided to deal with the damage the following day. “So, my suggestion was to let the customers know that you are operating on a 4-5 day turnover. Now, the customer might get upset and ask for early repairs. But, you can simply dodge their anger by saying that you are prioritising older and disabled people first,” he explained.

“The honesty of your answer would keep customers from calling for at least 4-5 days which would give you enough time to get back on track. On the other hand, if a company is dishonest just to get the customers off the phone line, it would create unrealistic expectations.”

Steve believed that if the insurance company would have informed the customers about the storm, they would have had a long-lasting relationship with the company. That is because they would be able to control the damage. At the time of policy renewal too, this would have added to the recurring revenue of the insurance company.

2. Does employee satisfaction impact customer experience?

“100%!”, Steve exclaims.

“It is not just the satisfaction that matters, employee experience as a whole is key and critical to the success of any organisation. If not given the right tools, techniques and technology to serve the customers, we will all collectively fail. Empower employees with information and enable them to meet customer expectations fast.”

He also advises that the current work-from-home scenario is tough, given the global catastrophe and terms it as “hybrid work culture.”

He adds, “If we can distribute the right tools, technologies and techniques to remote employees, we can build a sustainable infrastructure. The importance of social interactions, however, can still not be underestimated. We should try and bring teams together periodically to communicate and collaborate behind the screens too. So, it is important to have a collaborative tool in place to enable the same.”

We also asked Steve to give us some insights from his book, Dare.

“Dare was written just before the pandemic hit us and is the story of a very successful business transformation of an organisation named Veolia in France. The book tells the story of a project that was designed from the start with the quest for excellence as an objective—it was envisioned to be globally recognised as one of the best business transformation initiatives, not just within the utility sector, but across all industries.”

“We are also planning to release the second part of this book very soon,” he said with a grin.

When asked about a customer experience that inspired him, he said this, “Before the pandemic, I was traveling frequently between the US, the UK and India. So, I have a lot of experience with airlines, of course—the good, the bad and the ugly, if you want to put it like that.”

Steve recounts, “The best experience was being with people at Emirates and Singapore Airlines, who always devote themselves to a successful customer experience. They do everything in their contribution to achieving the best customer outcome…Can’t wait to fly again!”

Shifting his focus to the Indian market, he adds, “World’s smallest car, Nano, is another discovery that impresses me a great deal.” Steve also insists that, from an “outside-in” perspective, it checks all the boxes.

“The primary motive behind Nano was road safety. In India, it is a common sight to see a family of seven people riding on a motorcycle. So, Tata created an experience in and around Nano as a direct replacement to get more motorcycles off the road. So, that was a terrific customer experience to watch,” he said.

Steve then brings out a smart comparison between Uber and black cabs in London and how Uber added comfort and convenience over noise and pollution. He says, “It’s been a privilege to be a part of such business transformation.”

3. Role of personalisation in CX

When asked how personalisation affects customer experience, he says “From the point of view of customisation or personalisation, we need to be clear on who our target audience is and whether it is profitable to do business with them. Only then, we can gain clarity on successful customer outcomes and work towards them.”

He goes on to cite another example. BMW has 24 categories of customers, each divided in terms of needs, requirements and other important metrics. Something the customers might not be aware of, but it gets them the right customer service.

Steve adds, “My book Outside-in, which enters reprinting this year, is also based on how organisations, who can customise and personalise through the customer experience, will achieve so much more as opposed to companies who seek to remove variations and seek to standardise everything. It’s the old industrial era approach where everyone should have similar experiences.”

Steve concludes the conversation by throwing some light on UCaaS and how this latest technology can influence customer experience.

“The software connects all processes to customer experience. The UCaaS system basically connects all the dots and aligns the processes such that if things go wrong at any point, we can see it,” he says.

Lastly, he says, “communication and collaboration should be the ecosystem and with the help of tools like UCaaS, we should use them to the optimum level”.

Wrapping Up

Steve Towers has been through the changing landscape of customer service expectations.

Seeing the changing needs of the modern consumer, Steve encourages businesses to use new strategies that focus more on customer’s desires than just aiming to fulfil the goals of the organisation. He believes, solving one will start showing results in the other.

If you are looking at improving your customer service offerings, then the cloud is the way to go. For more information on how you can utilise the power of the cloud in your business, write to us at [email protected] or call us at 1888-859-0450 .

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Tavishi Arora

Author

Tavishi is an outgoing person and you will find her near books, dogs, or artsy cafes. She is a fitness freak who also loves to hog. Connect with her on Linkedin and Facebook

Your Managers aren’t the Only Ones That Can Give You Real-Time Feedback. Here’s How Your Contact Centre Solution Can Do It Better

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

August 2, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Managers are the eyes and ears of a business. They are responsible not just for their team, but for moving the business ahead.

With their tight schedules, managers are unable to give real-time feedback constantly to their employees. But, feedback is crucial to improve the workings of a team. So, when managers are too busy, how do you provide real-time feedback to your employees?

The answer: new technology!

With a hosted phone system your business can do much more than just communicate. Apart from enabling collaboration between teams, you can run a hosted solution that gives real-time data and information on the running of your contact center. From call information to recordings, everything you could need is right at your fingertips with your online portal.

Here, we will explore how contact center solutions can help you with feedback for your employees.

Access feedback for each agent

With a hosted contact center, business owners can help support agents by viewing their individual statistics. You can access detailed analytics on each agent’s call waiting time, the number of calls they make per shift and get an insight into their overall productivity and performance. This ensures that each agent is performing to the best of their ability.

Alongside this, your hosted phone system’s online portal gives you access to call recordings. This gives you a unique opportunity to hear how your agents are dealing with customers, and praise any great customer interactions. You can also use these recordings for training purposes. Similarly, if an agent is struggling, you can pinpoint exactly what the problem is and work with them to rectify it.

This data can also be accessed in real-time, enabling you to better manage the flow of calls. Real-time data on an agent’s work can also help you track their progress and identify what tasks they have been doing to the best of their abilities.

These contact center solutions help managers to keep their employees in check and even give them the option of training. Having data on agent performance also lets managers maintain the overall quality of the call center, while allowing them to focus on more priority tasks.

Access detailed call analytics in seconds

With a hosted contact center it is easy to access detailed call analytics. By simply connecting to your hosted phone system’s online portal, you can bring up real-time data on all aspects of your contact center – so you’re always on top of any changes.

Having call analytics at your fingertips means that you are able to identify possible issues well in time. This can help you make changes to your staffing or procedures accordingly.

For example, you might find that there is a certain time of call surges everyday. Then, all you need to do is rotate more staff to be on the phones during this busy period. This prevents long wait times and enhances the customer experience.

Detailed call records for each customer

With a hosted contact center, you can access detailed call records for each customer. This means that, in the event of any query or complaint, you can retrace the call history.

This can help you see detailed information on when each call took place and who took the call. Additionally, you can use call recordings to help sort issues out quickly and efficiently.

The best thing about this is that all this data can be accessed from anywhere in the world, provided you have an internet connection. Having access to this information in real time means that you can take immediate action if something isn’t working as it should.

Access reports on each of your business numbers

You might choose to add a custom number to your hosted contact center or have a specific number on a new marketing campaign. In such cases, accessing real-time feedback is important to monitor the effectiveness of your campaigns and see which numbers customers are more likely to contact.

By having access to this feedback from your online portal, it is easy to keep track of the days and times when you receive the highest number of calls. This information can then be used to make business decisions on when to schedule your advertising to have the most impact.

Similarly, if one number is bringing in significantly more calls than the others, you can invest more money in that marketing campaign with the number. As a business owner, it is important to know when and where are the callers coming from.

A hosted contact center makes this information easily accessible.

You can also get real-time feedback on each extension number in your business. This will help you see which teams are getting the most enquiries, or which agents are making the most calls.

Having this feedback in real-time means that you get an accurate view of the productivity and can implement any changes that might be needed to ensure your business continues to run efficiently.

Access call queue reports

Hosted contact centers can also give you access to call queue reports. This information goes a long way in finding out how your business, and more importantly your agents, are performing.

You can use this particular report to identify trends in call queues. This enables you to know about not only wasted resources but also ensure that you have enough manpower during busy hours.

By analysing these reports, you can increase staff satisfaction and ensure better management and workflow. Additionally, these reports can also help you understand how you can save money by removing redundancies.

Monitoring and making changes based on call queue reports is also a great way to boost customer service. Call centers can do this by taking steps to ensure customers aren’t left waiting for a long time to speak to a member of staff, or that agents have enough time to provide quality customer service.

Schedule email reports while you’re on the go

With reports delivered directly to you, you can keep track of everything going on in your business. With all the information you need on the go, you can stay on top of the daily work of your managers and agents. Automating email reports can also give you a detailed analysis of the workings of your call centers.

Get real-time feedback, wherever you need it

Hosted contact centers provide a great way to run a business.

By automating several metrics, you can focus entirely on delivering great customer service. Monitoring and acting on data and feedback from your cloud system is an important way to ensure that everything is running as efficiently as possible and that your staff have all the tools and training they need to be a success.

To find out more about how your organisation can benefit from cloud contact centers and accessing real-time data, call us today at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected]

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Expert Opinion: The Key To Winning New Customers Is To Retain The Existing Ones

Himani

Author

Expert Opinion

July 30, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Customer service has undergone a paradigm shift owing to the increasingly competitive landscape. The fundamental principle of enhancing customer experience is retaining existing customers to automatically win over new ones.

A remarkable customer experience keeps your customers coming back while promoting your services to others. Businesses with excellent customer experience reported higher customer referrals and customer satisfaction are key to a successful business.

Indeed, to be able to deliver unparalleled experiences, you must equip your employees with the requisite resources and authority. Train your employees to provide quick and effective solutions to resolve customer issues.

Speaking with us today is Ingrid Lindberg, the first-ever CXO (Chief Experience Officer) in the USA. Lindberg is a certified CX professional, CX specialist and founder of Chief Customer. In continuation to our ‘Expert Opinion’ series, we discuss the finer details of a superlative customer journey with the virtuoso who has over 20 years of unbeatable experience in the industry.

1. What made you choose a career in customer experience?

I truly fell into the field of customer experience. I worked in financial services, placing trades for people when we started to bring the ability to place trades online for the public—the beginning of financial services on the web! I had ideas about making it easier. MY CIO (Chief Information Officer) encouraged me to learn how to design web pages so people could easily use them.

That indeed was the beginning.

I had ideas, and education in sociology, studying people, and curiosity. I was lucky enough to get formal training and then the opportunity, not just to design web pages but pieces of paper. Then came contact center interaction design. The next thing I knew, I was doing multichannel designs with strategies behind them. And that became the customer experience field.

2. What do you think is a criterion for a successful customer experience expert?

In my experience, there is no such thing as a CX expert. Customer experience is too big of a bucket for one person to be an expert on the whole thing!

There are expert journey mappers; experts at designing interactions; experts at building strategies; experts in research and creating the voice of customer programs and the likes. It is like any other industry—you must declare your major.

I am an expert at developing strategies and designing company transformations. I am not great at building Voice of Customer programs. I’ve led people who have done that work, but I am not a market researcher.

3. Have you ever successfully motivated a business to achieve demanding performance standards during an uncertain time? If so, how?

One of the most significant transformations that I designed and led was at Cigna during the recession. We were facing tremendous pressures and a rock-bottom stock price. The motivation for that transformation was indeed a burning platform—change or die.

And we changed that company completely—and they continue to thrive on the platform of customer-centric decision making.

4. How do you feel after becoming the first person in the USA to hold the title of CXO?

It is such a weird thing. I downplay it all the time because I cannot believe it.

I did not choose the title; my CEO and CMO did. They had read about the need for a CXO in a Harvard Business Review article and decided that the company needed one. I have been told repeatedly that I am the first to have held it, but I had no idea what it was!

I remember going to LinkedIn when I was offered the job in 2007. I searched for CXO. There were no results. So, I had to make a lot of it up as I went along. We had to create job descriptions for Voice of Customer leaders and Customer Experience Architects. Every step was an exhilarating battle because there were no best practices. So, we learned a lot.

I love to say that we built an aeroplane in the sky, successfully flew it worldwide and safely landed it.

5. You have worked in CX for around two decades now. What were the most challenging situations while advising businesses?

Customer experience should not be such a tricky thing, should it?

We consistently see pushback on whether or not it works, what the ROI is, whether it should be funded. The most challenging situation I have found myself in as I advise businesses is coming in after they have already spent a ton of money on CX and have not seen any results.

So often, a company will buy a piece of software to manage customers’ voices or map journeys and then they do not see any results. Spending money without a clear strategy and plan is pointless. It creates so much dissonance and dissolves trust between CX activities and executive teams.

I implore the leaders out there to just say no to CX efforts until you have three things in place:

CEO support
A strategy
A plan

6. What, according to you, works best to ensure a seamless customer experience?

I don’t think there is such a thing as a seamless customer experience. The thing about customer experience is that humans deliver it. Humans build websites and apps. Humans program AI. Humans create letters and emails.

And we aren’t seamless.

I have learned that you have to bring all the parties together with a shared set of goals and a clear strategy. You have to define the expectations for orchestration and the outcomes. And then you must support them to ensure they get what they need to make it all happen. You must make apologising to your customers an okay thing. We all are human. There will be mistakes. Apologise when it goes wrong, and then fix it.

7. Would you like to tell us some CX elements that are usually missing in startups and businesses?

I find, especially when working with startups, that all the focus is on the product. A fabulous product is built, and it is beautifully designed and does exactly what you want it to. But way too many start-ups have never asked a customer about whether they want it, if they would use it and if it works for them.

Start with your idea, yes, but quickly intertwine your customer into your build.

8. Lastly, how do you think technology affects customer service? How does it influence CX?

I think that technology is simply an enabler for customer service professionals. We spend way too much time in the CX industry talking about customer service.

In the industries I have spent the most time in (telco, finance, healthcare), we have learned that customer service only accounts for between 6-10% of the experience. Products, processes, and communications are often so much more important. Customer service is there for when something goes wrong with your product, processes, or communications. Focus on those first.

Wrapping up

Our conversation with Ingrid Lindberg has not only given us meaningful insights into the importance of a customer-centric culture but also helps us understand how businesses can embed the same in their day-to-day operations.

By implementing her advice, organisations will surely notice a significant rise in their customer base, organic marketing, and thereby, their performance.

If you also wish to imbibe a customer-centric approach in your business, there’s no better to start than a cloud-backed solution. Get in touch with our experts today. Make a call at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected].

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Himani

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Himani is a content writer at Acefone. She is an avid blogger and Youtuber as well. She loves to explore the miraculous world of technology. Connect with her on Linkedin

Food Aggregators: Refining Customer Experience with Call Center Solutions

Acefone Editor

Author

Call Center

July 29, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

The food delivery business in India has taken off in the last few years. Brands like Zomato and Swiggy have started to offer quick and easy methods for customers to enjoy delicious food from the comfort of their own homes.

Zomato’s impressive listing at their recent IPO affirms that food aggregators in India have come a long way. Oversubscribed 38 times, Zomato listed at a stellar 66 per cent above the issue price, leaving the markets cheering and the investors happy. In fact, experts opine that this is also an indication that India’s start-up ecosystem is thriving as a whole.

According to a report published in April 2021, online food delivery is one of the few industries in India registering double-digit CAGR—28.94% expected in the 2020-2026 period—and will be worth $21.41 billion by 2026.

A call center staffed with seasoned customer service agents can change that for the better.

Online food delivery has two primary models—cloud kitchen and aggregator. Cloud kitchens are commercial facilities created specifically with the purpose of producing food for delivery. In the aggregator model, consumers are able to compare and order dishes from third-party restaurants, including cloud kitchens, through a single app.

Owing to the rising penetration of the Internet and the widespread use of smartphones, the food aggregator model has turned out to be quite profitable for businesses. The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only magnified the demand for online food deliveries.

Challenges for food aggregators

The online food delivery business has four essential stakeholders—aggregators, restaurants, customers and the delivery staff. Managing them can be quite a balancing act.

After a customer places an order, there is very little the aggregator can do to improve the customer experience. It’s really up to the restaurant and food delivery staff to fulfil the order satisfactorily and treat the customer courteously.

Remember, these apps are run by humans too. There’s a lot that can go wrong.

Here are some customer service challenges faced by the food delivery industry today:

Providing quick and easy access to customer services, especially phone support
Staffing issues due to unpredictable demand resulting in unhappy customers
Lack of clarity about the order fulfilment process, resulting in confusion over delivery timelines
Competitors offering better deals and lower fees
Communicating delivery delays due to issues like vehicle breakdown to customers
Maintaining up-to-date information on restaurant prices, operating hours, out of stock or seasonal items, specials, etc.

One might ask—in the era of automation, why do we need a call center solution?

A lot of non-techies have hopped on these platforms. Therefore, these applications need to be as user-friendly as possible.

Sometimes all the customer wants is some reassurance. In case of an issue with the order, agents can connect consumers and restaurants in a three-way call to resolve the matter quickly. Live help supported by call center software can also enhance the customer experience.

If you are a rapidly growing food aggregator business, a call center solution may be the right thing for you. In a survey of 501 people, Clutch, a leading B2B research, ratings and reviews firm, found that 88% of people preferred to speak to a live customer service representative rather than navigate a phone menu.

How can call center solutions help

Customers want quick resolutions. Thus, they prefer to contact an agent if they face a complex issue. Adding a cloud-based call center solution to your operations will make for happier, more loyal customers. Here’s how:

Ease of use:

Offering a toll-free number is one of the best ways to invite customers to reach out to you. All they have to do is dial a number instead of trawling through complex menus. A one-to-one conversation makes it easy to understand menu offerings as well as any specials that may be available.

A toll-free number encourages customers to call and order, since there is no additional cost burden for them. By deploying anonymous calling, the customer’s privacy is also maintained.

A call center software also makes it easy to integrate the toll-free number with a hi-tech, intuitive Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. With an effective IVR system, the call may not even need to be attended by a live agent.

Speedy resolution:

If an irate customer calls you because of a delayed delivery or an issue with the order, an agent can resolve the issue on the spot. This can be done by offering a discount voucher for the next order, or by waiving off delivery charges.

Such gestures need to be spontaneous and speedy, which is possible on a call. Through other channels, the resolution is often too slow, a case of too little, too late.

Enhance brand image:

Adding a call center kiosk reassures customers that their issues are being addressed by call center agents who have the requisite know-how. For example, if the food is not up to the mark, the representative can get in touch with the kitchen staff to have the order replaced. This shows your customer that you, as a brand, care about their experience.

The tech advantage:

Cutting-edge call center software will put you well above your competition with tracking and monitoring capabilities. These provide important insights into the performance of food delivery operations and enable you to identify areas of improvement. Services like call recordings can also allow for better monitoring of agent performance.

Cost-effective:

Cloud-based systems allow you to save on infrastructure, operational as well as maintenance costs, as compared to on-premise solutions. These systems also make it easy to scale your operations, allowing you to easily add new lines for new locations.

Ease of integration:

With call center solutions, an entire bouquet of customer service options is available in one place. Call center kiosks allow CRM systems to be integrated, allowing agents access to useful customer data and interaction history on the same screen. This way they can serve them faster and more intuitively.

The power of bulk SMSs:

Bulk SMSs are another handy tool to achieve marketing goals. Call center solutions come equipped with the technology to trigger automated messages to customers from the database. These leave the agents free to focus on core tasks.

Call center software also allows individual campaigns to be monitored and assessed. Bulk SMSs are extremely popular with food delivery platforms since they are cost-effective and provide a great ROI.

Scalability:

Call center solutions are scalable. Cloud-based call center solutions allow you to scale your workforce up or down as required based on your insights. They also make it possible to add additional lines for a short period, based on a pay-as-you-use model.

Host of services:

Call center solutions don’t exist only to deal with customers. They can be used to onboard vendors as well as address their grievances. These include technical support and help desk, and restaurant account management—including analyzing order trends and customer feedback.

Apart from this, they can provide, text, chat, email and social media customer support; sales and new client accounts onboarding; community and content moderation; as well as delivery staff support.

Consider call center solutions today!

We live in an era of instant gratification and communication. So, it is only natural for the customer to expect instant access to customer service. As partnerships between restaurants and food delivery agents get stronger, smooth operations are the need of the hour.

Thus, in the age of automation, let us not forget the importance of the human touch. No automated chats can calm an ‘angry’ customer. A call center solution, backed by the latest technologies, can be a game-changer for food aggregators.

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Inbound or Outbound? Heard about Hybrid Models?

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Maintaining constant communication with your customer base has always been the foundation stone of any successful business.

Over the years, the mode of communication has changed as companies adapted to the evolving world of digital communication. We have shifted from the traditional and analogue methods of cold calling to more advanced solutions like chatbots and emails. However, despite the rapid adoption of digital communication solutions, the phone remains the most commonly used tool.

A call center is one of the oldest solutions in the book, which acts as a central point to manage customer communications and utilises the phone to establish contact with potential customers or leads. So, it only makes sense for companies to strive for increased capacity of these call centers—whether incoming or outgoing.

Call centers have been an integral piece of this whole puzzle, supporting organisations in all forms of communication.

Businesses worldwide are taking various steps to improve the overall efficiency of their call centers and improve customer experience in the process. One of those steps is establishing hybrid call centers, which play an essential role in streamlining customer communication.

But what exactly is a hybrid call center? To understand that, let us first look into the existing model of call centers—the inbound and outbound call centers—and how they come together in the hybrid version.

Inbound and outbound call centers

Inbound call centers are responsible for receiving incoming calls from customers. Trained agents are deployed to field questions and customer concerns on several aspects ranging from customer grievances to information enquiries.

Outbound call centers are responsible for making outgoing calls to customers. Their responsibilities to create a certain number of outgoing calls every day, responding to some previous complaint, social marketing, or feedback collection.

In both types of call centers, the essential requirement is a trained workforce and supporting software and tools such as system connected headsets. While both groups might seem similar in their ways of working, most intrinsic factors of their work differ significantly.

Here are some functions performed by the agents deployed in incoming call center setups:

Bookings and confirmations

Many businesses rely on the phone to build customer relationships wherein customers call in ahead to book their appointments or confirm the same. This kind of inbound calling is quite prevalent across various industries, such as restaurants, theatres, and boutiques.

Customer support

Customers call in all the time to seek some information about the product or service that might either not be available or might not be evident in documented FAQs. Agents could be asked about real-time updates on specific services, such as logistics or transportation.

Emergency services

One of the most vital usages of inbound calling is to provide region-wide emergency essential services, ranging from police and firefighter services to ambulance services. 911 is a famous example of the same, which people use pretty frequently in a crisis.

Now, we discuss some of the functions which are the core responsibilities of outbound calling centers:

Grievance redressal

Customer complaints can be complicated in terms of the complexity of the problem itself and might require inputs from several stakeholders. In this case, several calls are made regularly to apprise the customer of that information (in the shortest time possible).

Sales and marketing

Customer-focused campaigns meant to advertise specific products, offers, or sales, are executed through calls made out to prospective leads or frequent buyers. Agents reach out to convert potential customers into confirmed buyers through tele-pitches.

Customer feedback

Outbound call center software engage in collecting customer feedback to gather a pulse about the quality of their services and get a better understanding of the market and competition. Agents can be trained to follow a focussed questionnaire with previous customers via calls.

As you can deduce from this discussion, the varying functions create a clear differentiation between the two types of call centers. However, if your business engages with both forms of calling regularly, a hybrid call center model could have a significant impact on your delivery and service quality. Let us discuss the way of working in a hybrid system and how it impacts your business.

Hybrid call centers

A hybrid call center combines the functionalities of an inbound and outbound calling center on a single premise. Each agent is responsible for making and receiving customer calls, as per the customers’ requirements. Hiring agents for a hybrid role results in excellent benefits for the firm. Agents can be cross-trained so that they can understand and handle both incoming and outgoing calls.

These hybrid call centers streamline customer experience by integrating the inbound and outbound channels. All the data sourced from these conversations are routed through a central hub, allowing easier access to all channels. Ready access to customer information enhances the experience for the stakeholders. Quality management can be enforced through central control.

Hybrid call center models can be deployed in various manners through the application of multiple technologies as well. Different software is already used to extend the hybrid call center concept to other channels like emails, SMSes, and more.

Call blending is one example wherein an agent’s bandwidth can be adjusted automatically between the outbound and inbound call volumes. When inbound call volume is low, the automatic dialer can pull in and ring up a few outbound calls based on the active campaign. As soon as the inbound call volume rises, the dialer starts slowing down the rate of outbound calls.

With proper training, the hybrid model can have multiple benefits to the business.

Improved productivity

The strength and diversity of the active workforce are essential for the success of any call center. It is crucial to have sufficient numbers of trained agents capable of handling substantial call volumes. However, smaller call centers cannot afford vast batches of diversely trained agents specialising in both incoming and outgoing calls. This is where a hybrid model enables the agents to handle incoming and outgoing calls through various enabling software. This is especially important in phases of erratic call volume distribution across incoming and outgoing calls. The incoming agent can be shifted to outgoing calls when the former’s demand runs low.

Strategic dialling

Based on their calling data, most centers are aware of the various patterns prevailing in their region. For example, the volume of incoming calls might increase in the early morning stages, and this might require some outgoing call agents to share the load with the incoming call agents.
Such patterns can be configured into the automatic dialer systems to manage the calling schedule automatically. Similarly, outbound calls regarding any telemarketing campaign can be configured for phases when the incoming call volumes are generally low.

Intelligent routing

Hybrid call center solutions link all the customer data from all sources of engagement through an integrated solution, like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. This allows centralised instant access to all customer information for active call center agents.
Customer redressals can be executed quickly and seamlessly if the agent is already aware of the grievances and solutions through the integrated data stream. Intelligent routing systems can send the right information to the correct agent instantly.

A hybrid call center creates a consistent experience for the customers from the same team of agents in a more efficient and streamlined manner. With the correct selection of tools and proper training protocols, any business can reap the benefits of the hybrid model. The world is rapidly catching up with the help of hybrid call centers as well!

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Cloud Fits the Cost: Low Budget, Big Dreams

Acefone Editor

Author

Cloud Telephony

July 28, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

The world is in disarray.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit humanity like a tsunami and has spread to all seven continents. For most of last year, a worldwide shutdown was in place to contain and minimise the health risks posed by the virus. Even today, most countries around the world are adopting a policy of localised lockdowns to combat the second or third infection waves.

The pandemic also gutted the social and economic fabric in unprecedented ways. We are looking at an economic recession that might even overshadow the Great Depression of 1920.

To stay afloat, companies and businesses must continue delivering their services.

Business owners must strategise recession-proof business practices to ensure the same. It is time that businesses and organisations adopt new technologies that can help deliver better services at lower costs.

Cloud technology is one such technology that can be utilised to manage tasks with greater efficiency and reduced costs. Cloud solutions can help businesses perform a variety of functions, enabling their digital transformation.

Cloud during the COVID-19 pandemic

The onset of the pandemic forced many companies to scamper around for a reliable cloud provider to enable remote working. As per industry reports, 26% of the IT buyers in the last year opted for managed cloud services to build a resistance layer to deal with these sudden changes.

COVID-19 induced various behaviour changes in terms of operational decisions and roadmaps. This was visible in the changing requirements from businesses:

Immediate shift to remote work and operations

The lockdown made employees stay at home to prevent the spread of the infection. This forced businesses to quickly shift to remote working solutions to maintain continuity. People had to now figure out how to work from the confines of their homes.

Increased security in digital access

The shifting of business operations to remote working solutions exposed the entire infrastructure to new threats. As weak points were exposed to both internal and external threats, a security update was needed to secure against breaches.

Workload optimisation

The rapidly shifting market conditions forced businesses to change at the same rate. That’s why flexibility in cloud solutions was another requirement sought by most business owners.

Cost optimisation

The economic slowdown brought upon by the pandemic tightened the budgets of all businesses. Thus, the cost-efficiency of operations became a major point of concern for all owners.

There has been greater use of cloud technology amongst European businesses, with 4 in 10 companies deciding to increase their use of MCS. The same growth has been observed in the businesses of major cloud technology providers, most notably being Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. As per Microsoft, there was a 775% increase in the business usage of ‘Teams’.

And this trend is expected to continue.

As we move forward, MCS providers are going to expand their portfolio to include cloud-based services like next-gen security, data platforms, and cognitive technologies. Currently, cloud solutions are utilised in a host of different capacities, some of the more popular ones being:

Remote WFH models

The Work from Home model became a standard operating procedure for all businesses during the COVID-19 era. Collaboration tools built on cloud technologies were quickly implemented to reduce the challenges posed by working from home.

Many cloud telephony tools helped businesses whether the COVID-19 storm:

Video conferencing –

Customised video conferencing tools have become very useful in the lockdown. They allow video meetings between employees, irrespective of location. The ability to conduct their work from home also helps save a lot of extra cost on maintenance.

Collaborative tools –

Collaboration tools enable seamless communication and execution of team tasks. Features such as instant messaging, white-boarding, and task management can also be accessed.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) –

Enterprises can employ RPA to automate various business processes through API. The automation of manual business processes essentially shifts the business from paper-based to digital.

Virtual Hiring –

Lockdown disrupted the HR pipelines for onboarding and hiring as well. It was not possible to call candidates to the office for interviews owing to social distancing norms. In this scenario, virtual screening and video interviews enabled engagement with candidates and new hires.

Customer support cloud-based centers

The social distancing norms made the physical setup of call centers a logistical nightmare. All this while customer inquiries increased drastically.

An omnichannel cloud-based support center became an important solution with better and cheaper service.

With an omnichannel solution, customer support can be enabled through multiple channels. Furthermore, businesses can route inquiries to the best-suited agents, allowing them to save time and money. Chatbots and IVRs can also be integrated to provide more personalised customer support.

Allowing customers to interact with your support agents through multiple channels would unlock several benefits. Digital knowledge banks can serve as helpful FAQs to direct customers towards the basic processes on the website or application.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing refers to the ability to store, process, and analyse data on remote or cloud servers. All of the data can be accessed through an Internet-connected device, anywhere in the world. This was the perfect solution to the issue the lockdown posed on the maintenance of several physical databases.

The shift to cloud-enabled businesses to reduce CAPEX, allowing them to divert funds to more pressing departments. Additional features like tracking also enable businesses to better measure the progress of their employees. Not only does this help the team stay on track, but also helps them develop and track KPIs.

Final thoughts

The current slowdown has tightened the wallets of all businesses. However, this should not result in a drop in service quality. Every crisis presents an opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented businesses the opportunity to quickly transition to the cloud and reap its benefits.

To know more about this, get on-call with our cloud experts at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected]

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Country In The Cloud: Here’s How You Run An Entire Government Using Cloud Communication

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

July 27, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Cloud communications have significantly disrupted the traditional ways of transmitting, collecting and processing data.

They are now ushering in a seamless and quicker method of disseminating both public and private messages. Private sectors have already begun to adopt these services en masse.

Could your local or national government be next?

The government sector, seeing the benefits of Cloud in the private sector, is now aiming for mass cloud adoption in its domains. Governments require the flexibility and efficiency, which the cloud can provide. These services can enable their workforce and agencies in delivering top-tier public services.

The major benefit of cloud services is that it opens up seamless and innovative communication channels between the public and their elected officials.

This reduces the bureaucratic friction of permits and approvals and allows remote governance. In fact, due to the pandemic-fueled remote activities, governments will see a two-fold increase in the rate of cloud adoption with a 17.7% (average) spend.

Several governments around the world have already adopted “Cloud first” policies. Herein, public sectors are instructed to work on a PPP model to utilise commercial cloud services. These not only help public sectors improve customer service but also pushes them for an overhaul of outdated IT capabilities to modern and more secure services.

Certain governments including Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have already adopted such policies.

The rate of adoption seems to vary between developed and developing countries. While the public agencies in the UK have plans to reach 60% coverage of cloud services, the same cannot be said about developing countries. However, even developing countries are now aggressively trying to move towards a more cloud-based IT system.

Cloud adoption offers the following innovative and technological benefits to public institutions:

1. Reduced delivery costs

Cloud adoption can help governments bring down total operating costs in many different ways. First, it allows the government to shift from an infrastructure-driven procurement model to a consumption model, thus providing cost benefits through economies of scale. Further, it results in direct cost savings on infrastructural costs by replacing bulky hardware of legacy systems with sleek software of cloud solutions.

2. Scale innovation

Cloud computing offers innovative tools and new technologies to government agencies at highly affordable costs. This allows large scale deployment of services to cover maximum ground possible. Cloud services also provide worldwide and instant support to government agencies, allowing them to acquire the technical tools and infrastructure for setting up IT projects at scale.

3. Efficient citizen services

As cloud services bring down the infrastructural setup needed to start operations, services for citizens can be thus deployed at scale, rapidly. Further, it reduces the barrier of accessibility between the public and the elected officials, allowing greater collaboration, resource sharing, and efficiency in delivering solutions.

4. Improved security

Government agencies can be guaranteed better security in cloud solutions as opposed to traditional data computing and storage methods. Cloud solutions emphasise ensuring the best-in-class protection against cyber attacks and hacks through the deployment of strong data encryption methods. This coupled with 24×7 surveillance and maintenance by top security experts, make cloud services extremely the best choice to secure important data.

5. Operational backbone

With multiple fail-safes in place, such as centralised data storage over multiple geo-locations and cloud-driven backup services, cloud providers offer a safety net for governments in times of national crises. These services also offer the ability to quickly start restoration efforts in the aftermath of disasters.

By cutting down the barriers to implementation, eliminating delays, and promoting collaboration, cloud services can provide huge advantages to governments across the world. This has already been demonstrated by the United States of America, who in 2008, led a concerted effort to move their entire government onto the Google email client and other cloud-based software.

Right in the first phase of cloud adoption, governments can achieve multiple milestones:

1. Government cloud

Cloud adoption can convert the traditional rigid public services into flexible e-solutions for its citizens, thus enabling the renewal of existing information infrastructure and allowing more agility in the delivery of services.

Customer support models utilised by private companies can be replicated for the host of services provided by government agencies. Imagine booking your railway ticket by talking to a chatbot?

These solutions will facilitate the shift from existing legacy systems to a central cloud solution. For the accommodation of required physical infrastructure, multiple geo locations can be considered to manage the public data and information systems in an integrated manner with sufficient backups. Currently, the majority of these clouds are used for storage purposes but this trend would change to introduce its more advanced offerings.

2. Centralised data embassy

Governments can use cloud storage capabilities to create centralised data centers as an alternative to physical data banks, which are inefficient and costly. Such data centers can be used to store vital state information and protect them against physical and cyberattacks.

Apart from providing an additional layer of security through backups, it also performs other critical functions. Data classification models, as designed by the government, can be employed via these data centers, to safeguard sensitive data with critical levels of protection as well as to tag relevant data that can be analysed to understand public feedback.

3. E-voting

Voting is amongst the most important aspects of a healthy and functioning democracy. Considering the magnitude of its impact, it is essential that each and every eligible citizen gets to cast their vote seamlessly and conveniently.

However, 100% turnout is often hampered by scenarios such as inaccessible residences or nationals staying abroad. One of the solutions currently being discussed to address this issue is remote E-voting.

E-voting is a unique solution that enables the engagement of the public in the process of governance, by making the voting activity very convenient and simple. It allows eligible voters to put in their choices through any internet-connected computer anywhere in the world. In fact, Estonia began discussing remote E-voting back in 2001 and went on to conduct its first Internet election in 2007.

4. Digital Cabinet

Cloud adoption can be implemented to create a multi-user database that collates real-time information relevant to elected officials, such as discussing agenda items and details. In-house voting, as well as motions, could be automated via simple digital checkbox mechanisms to streamline decision making, saving considerable time.

Cloud adoption can also unlock the capability of remote participation, allowing cabinet officials to work securely from anywhere through their internet-connected devices. The London Borough of Hackneys initiated the rollout of digital workspaces back in 2018, which allowed the said council’s 4000 members to be able to start working remotely during the UK lockdown in March 2020.

Like any new innovation, the successful deployment of cloud solutions in developing countries requires political consensus and financial support.

However, the cost-effectiveness and operational efficiencies of cloud computing solutions can slightly tilt the balance in their favour. Public institutions can reap the benefits of a digital society in ensuring the well-being and sustenance of their citizens.

To know more about this, get on-call with our cloud experts at 1888-859-0450 or drop an email at [email protected]

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Lord Of The Rings: Reimagining It With The Cloud

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Contact Center

July 26, 2021

8 mins read eye

Table of content

“…And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men—who above all else, desire power,” said Galadriel.

Now, what if one of those nine rings came with the power of cloud communication?

Lord of the Rings is considered to be one of the greatest stories ever told. While the setting of Middle-Earth is everything that fans could have asked for, still their imagination knows no boundaries.

Thus, here we are. Reimagining the story of Frodo Baggins, and how he saved Middle-Earth from the wrath of Sauron. However, our rendition brings a little twist to this evergreen story.

So, let us dive into the world of LOTR and see what change would cloud communications have brought to this fictional world.

Isildur might not have lost the ring

At the beginning of the series, we see how King Isildur loses the ring he got from Sauron in the water. It is this unfortunate incident that helps Smeagle secure the ring in the first place.

But, what if Isildur was connected to the cloud? Could he have contacted Elrond, the half-elven warrior? Could the wielder of Vilya, the most powerful ring among the elves, have helped the King?

If only they were connected via UCaaS. This would have allowed them to interact with voice, video, or even chat messages and keep Elrond updated about the location of the ring at all times. Thus, when Isildur dies and loses the ring, the elves could have initiated a recon mission to find and destroy it.

The Great Eye could blink

The Great Eye Could Blink

The Great Eye of Sauron was the form taken by the Dark Lord in the third age. Now try to imagine the magnitude of this task on Sauron? Imagine the pressure of tracking everything in Morder. All this stress—and he couldn’t even blink!

Tracking the activity of over 10,000 soldiers is tough for anyone, no matter how powerful of a dark lord you are. However, it would have been a bit easier if Sauron decided to deploy cloud communications to his aid. He could have tracked the activity of every soldier under his command, that too in real-time.

Additionally, he could have even assigned them different levels of authority. Thus, establishing a chain of command where higher ranking Orcs could watch the foot soldiers below them. Cloud solutions might have even made catching Frodo and Sam that much easier.

Gates could have been easier to open

Gates Could Have Been Easier To Open

The gates in Middle-Earth never let anyone pass. They always came with a puzzle that not even the smartest being could solve. Even if you were welcomed inside the gates, what’s the point if you cannot pass through?

The gate to the Mines of Moria was equipped with a password too. A puzzle that was solved with the word ‘friend’ in Elvish. And speaking of gates, let us not forget the entrance to the Lonely Mountain where the Dwarves used to live. It would only open at a very specific time during a very specific season.

Opening the gates in Middle-Earth was tougher than living in Middle-Earth!

The solution? The cloud, of course!

It would have been easier to open the gates if they had multi-factor authentication instead of awkwardly easy puzzles.

And it would make them a lot safer too.

Imagine every high-ranking dwarf receiving an OTP whenever someone requested a password at the gate. No unwanted creature could ever dare enter. Moreover, one would not have to spend hours working out the answer to the puzzles. Just a four-digit pin, and that’s all!

Additionally, to boost up the security more, they could place different kinds of encryptions. This would make the gates truly impenetrable, like the doors of Gondor, where not even the Grond would be able to enter.

Why wait for insects to come?

Remember when Gandalf was held captive in Isengard by Saruman? He had to wait for a month to fly in so he could call upon the ‘mighty eagles’. What if the moth didn’t come? Or worse, what if it was eaten by something on the way? Would the message never reach the eagles?

It is, without a doubt, the most unreliable way to call upon something so important. So, why not deploy a solution that would guarantee your message will reach them instantly?

I present to you the helpline—IVR. Not only will it ease the process significantly, but it is also very easy to remember. With special vanity numbers, you just have to dial 0800-EAGLES, and voila! They are on their way.

With IVR, the possibilities are endless. You dial 0800-Eagles then select 1 for a single eagle, or 9 for an army. Or another number 0800-Animals. Where you dial 1 for eagles, 2 for bunnies, and 0 for Fellbeasts. You know—the Nazgul dragons. Why leave the bad guys out of the equation, right?

Stop travelling for days just to talk

Stop Travelling For Days Just To Talk

“There is a matter of great concern that needs to be discussed immediately”. Great, why not travel for three whole days just to converse for 15 minutes?

If only cloud communications were employed, residents of Middle-Earth could have many unnecessary commutes.

Want to talk to someone? Have a video conference. Everyone is available instantly from anywhere around Middle-Earth. They don’t even need the same device as you, their preferred device would work. Need to pass on some crucial information without revealing yourself? Just use an audio conference.

I don’t think Rohan had to waste 3 days gathering up an army, going to every kingdom and asking for help if they had just done a conference call.

Nor would the Wizards have to gather from different locations to discuss a matter that took 5 minutes in total. Middle Earth residents can resort to so many different communication methods and none that require walking for miles.

Moreover, it’s not like the server is going to be down and the calls won’t connect. Most cloud providers, like Acefone, offer 99.99% uptime, allowing you to make calls 24x7x365.

One does not simply set up an Orc factory

One Does Not Simply Set Up An Orc Factory

Saruman had set up a factory of Orc for creating soldiers for battle. The factory was destroyed by the Ents in a matter of minutes, but what was worse was that Saruman didn’t have any backup for his research. So much for creating the perfect warrior.

The cloud may not give you the power of creating your own Orc army, but at least you don’t have to spend your hard-earned money and time on physical set-ups. More importantly, your data will be backed up on multiple servers, so when the Ents come and try to destroy everything, you can get it all back.

Never mind the fact that turning to the Cloud is a greener option. This would turn the Ents to your side, helping you destroy your competition.

The beacon of Amon Dîn is…slow

If you are in dire need of help, you would want your message to reach your allies as quickly as possible. While the beacon of Amon Dîn is pretty cool and has a wide range, you wouldn’t say it is the fastest solution out there.

Firstly, it takes 2 men to light the fire at the post. After the fire is seen by the men at the other post, they light their own fire. And so on. In a life and death situation, a process like this can take too long and your allies might not be able to save you.

However, when we have the power of the Cloud, why bother lighting fires? You can just send all of your allies a voice broadcast and they would immediately know that you are in trouble. You can even customise your message about the kind of trouble you are in and include that in your voice recording. If your allies are not responding to your calls, then you can just send an SMS broadcast.

Before we destroy the ring…

Cloud communications would bring an interesting twist to the ‘greatest story ever told’. While these technological advancements would help the enemies too, why not give everyone equal opportunities?

If the Lord of the Rings was set in the current era, the Elves would surely be the ones to develop cloud communication first. Also, the benefits of cloud communication will not be limited to the ones I’ve mentioned. Like I said, with cloud communications, the possibilities are endless!

I wonder if Frodo would even go on an adventure to save Middle Earth.

While I have spent considerable time making the magical realm of Middle Earth match the current era, if you are looking to get a cloud-based solution for your business and boost your chances against Sauron’s forces, you can get in touch with one of our experts at 1888-859-0450 or just drop us an email at [email protected]

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

Reviews

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Ratnam Sinha

Author

Ratnam is an SEO enthusiast and content writer working as a Digital Marketer with Acefone. He is fond of traveling and new experiences. He is a huge Marvel fan and is always open to learning.

XaaS: The ‘Anything and Everything As a Service’ Era Is Here

What is XaaS?

What is included in XaaS?

1. SaaS

2. CPaaS

3. BPaaS

4. DaaS

To conclude

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CPaaS 101: Communications Platform as a Service

What is CPaaS?

1. Voice (outbound and inbound):

2. Text messaging (SMS):

3. Video and MM:

4. Social media messaging:

5. Virtual phone numbers:

6. AI support:

How is CPaas different from UCaaS?

How does CPaaS work?

Benefits of CPaaS

1. Cost savings

2. Flexible customisations

3. Global scale

4. Improved customer experience

Some practical use cases of CPaaS

1. Healthcare

2. Banks

3. Retail

4. Hospitality

5. Education

Summing up

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Expert Opinion: Towering and Transforming Your Customer Experience

1. What defines a good customer experience?

2. Does employee satisfaction impact customer experience?

3. Role of personalisation in CX

Wrapping Up

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Your Managers aren’t the Only Ones That Can Give You Real-Time Feedback. Here’s How Your Contact Centre Solution Can Do It Better

Access feedback for each agent

Access detailed call analytics in seconds

Detailed call records for each customer

Access reports on each of your business numbers

Access call queue reports

Schedule email reports while you’re on the go

Get real-time feedback, wherever you need it

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Expert Opinion: The Key To Winning New Customers Is To Retain The Existing Ones

1. What made you choose a career in customer experience?

2. What do you think is a criterion for a successful customer experience expert?

3. Have you ever successfully motivated a business to achieve demanding performance standards during an uncertain time? If so, how?

4. How do you feel after becoming the first person in the USA to hold the title of CXO?

5. You have worked in CX for around two decades now. What were the most challenging situations while advising businesses?

6. What, according to you, works best to ensure a seamless customer experience?

7. Would you like to tell us some CX elements that are usually missing in startups and businesses?

8. Lastly, how do you think technology affects customer service? How does it influence CX?

Wrapping up

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Food Aggregators: Refining Customer Experience with Call Center Solutions

Challenges for food aggregators

How can call center solutions help

Ease of use:

Speedy resolution:

Enhance brand image:

The tech advantage:

Cost-effective:

Ease of integration:

The power of bulk SMSs:

Scalability:

Host of services:

Consider call center solutions today!

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Inbound or Outbound? Heard about Hybrid Models?

Inbound and outbound call centers

Bookings and confirmations

Customer support

Emergency services

Grievance redressal

Sales and marketing

Customer feedback