Private Cloud vs Public Cloud: Which Is Better For Your Business

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

July 16, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Cloud phone service have empowered businesses to accelerate their growth. From being able to set up state-of-the-art remote ecosystems to enhancing productivity through real-time tracking, the cloud can do it all.

However, the complete benefits of business communication system are utilised with unified communication solutions or UCaaS.

As businesses work hard to achieve efficiency through a vertical department structure (silos), the unified communication strategy can support you to break through internal communication barriers and facilitate the free flow of communication.

However, before making the jump to UCaaS, one needs to pay attention to the differences between a public and a private cloud system. Let us dive into that.

An introduction to public and private cloud systems

To explain in a nutshell, cloud computing is an approach wherein data centers and servers are hosted centrally while allowing for easy access around the world. One of the many advantages of using cloud contact center solutions is that you need not worry about maintenance and infrastructure setup. All of the major setups is handled by cloud providers.

Let’s check the two different types of cloud computing in detail.

Public cloud

As the name suggests, a public cloud is where data centers, software, and services are offered in a publicly accessible data center. That is, several other organisations may share the same data center space with you. While the services are provided by a third-party cloud service provider, they may not dedicate a storage space or a data center exclusively for your organisation.

Advantages of a public cloud

The advantages of public cloud may include, but are not limited to:

Cost-effectiveness when it comes to start-ups or small-sized businesses who want to shift to the cloud
Disaster management services, which secures your data in times of crisis
High scalability and reliability as other services and tools can be added or removed as and when required
User-friendliness, in terms of accessing data or services
Private cloud

A private cloud, on the other hand, is set up specifically for your organisation. This exclusivity offers full freedom to customise and choose storage components based on your organisational requirements.

Private cloud is best suited for companies that deal with highly sensitive data and require high-end personalisation and scalability.

Advantages of a Private Cloud

The major benefits of a private cloud include the following:

It comes with future-ready data security and compliance capabilities
It offers the freedom to have complete control over your data. You can customise your core architecture based on your requirements
The components of your private cloud infrastructure can be tailor-made to accelerate your performance
Private clouds are also highly reliable
They come with features of monitoring and automated tools that simplify processes and boost performances

Now that we have a basic understanding of the difference between the two, let us check out more about the UCaaS strategy based on private and public clouds.

What is a unified communication strategy?

As we understand it, a cloud system enables communication over the Internet instead of using a Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN. All required infrastructure and tools are offered by cloud service providers.

UCaaS involves the integration of these cloud communication tools for better productivity. This enables an organisation to communicate in different formats like instant messaging, video messaging, chat, and other collaboration tools to streamline communications.

The UCaaS strategy can be delivered over the private or public cloud. Read on to check out more about them.

What is public cloud communication?

Now that we have already peeked into the details of the public cloud, you may have already guessed about the features of a public cloud communication system.

Just like your information, all your applications, tools, and data on CRM are managed by a publicly hosted platform. This is the most cost-effective way of moving your communications to the cloud.

However, if you deal with highly classified communications, then you must look for public cloud providers that offer the best in security.

For a public cloud communication system, the following are the benefits:

No need for a dedicated onsite team to manage your infrastructure
Enhance team productivity
Have your service provider take care of patches or software updates
Easily scale up and down based on your requirements
You pay-as-you-use and are saved from the trouble of paying more through a flat monthly payment model

What is private cloud communication?

As mentioned above, a private cloud allows your business to store data on an exclusive cloud system. Thus, in a private system, all your communications will be stored on that exclusive server.

Advantages of Private Cloud:

Comes with higher uptime
You can use it for sensitive and critical information
Better control on productivity and performance

However, private cloud phone system are comparatively more expensive than public systems. Additionally, since the server is exclusive to you, there may be instances where you would need to deploy an onsite maintenance team.

Private or public: what to choose?

After understanding the basics of both these systems, the next question is which one out of the two should your business adopt?

Typically, this decision depends on the underlying requirements of your business. You should consider asking your team the following questions.

Why are you looking for a cloud-based communication system?

Before selecting a public or a private communication system, you should first understand why you need a cloud-based communication system.

Are you trying to cut down on your costs? If so, the public cloud should be your choice. On the other hand, if you want to have better control over your network and secure your data, then a private cloud system should be the choice for you. Analyse the different needs of your business and choose the best type of communication system based on those requirements.

Do you require self-service capabilities?

Are you looking to have maximum control over your cloud solutions? Do you have a full-fledged team to take care of your customisations? In that case, you should be good with a private cloud system.

However, if you want your cloud service provider to take charge of all your business operations, then you should conduct your business on the public cloud.

Evaluate your in-house capabilities and settle down with the best option for your business.

What is the nature of your business?

The nature of your business plays an important role in the efficiency of your communication deployment model. For example, if your business involves heavy data testing, requires scaling up and down, or if it includes a predictable computing need, public cloud communication should be your choice.

However, if your business involves an exchange of sensitive information and you cannot afford downtime, a private best cloud phone system should be the best option for you.

In a nutshell

Both public and private clouds have their set of pros and cons. Before making a decision, you should evaluate your business requirements along with the features offered on these two cloud communication platforms.

If you are interested in cloud communication services, then you can contact us at [email protected] or call us at 1888-859-0450.

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.

Things You Should Look for in a Partnership Programme [Infographic]

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Infographics

July 15, 2021

4 mins read eye

Table of content

A good partnership programme is a win-win for both parties. While one party gains in popularity, customer base, and validation, the other reaps the rewards for their efforts in the form of profits.

Before getting into such an alliance with another entity, the parties must carefully consider the fine prints. A successful symbiotic relationship is built not only on the basis of what both parties obtain out of it but also on how they contribute to each other’s growth.

Thus, if you’re considering getting into a partnership with a cloud provider, you’ll have to go beyond the profit margins you’ll incur and look at how they enable you to perform better and earn a name for yourself.

Here are some factors you need to keep in mind before partnering with a cloud provider:

Things You Should Look for in a Partnership Programme

Simplicity and efficiency

One of the first things you should look for is the simplicity of the product. Since you will partner to sell that product, it should be easy for you and your team to understand and explain its usage and advantages. If it is an Internet-based product, you should be able to fully access and use the features, even if you aren’t tech-savvy.

The product must also be easy-to-use and efficient for other users, only then will you find credible buyers for it. So, if the product is good, simple to understand and boosts user performance, you will have a beneficial partnership.

Steady and persistent

To make sure you can maximise your profits with the partnership programme, you must ensure it offers a steady revenue model. If the company ensures a stable and consistent profit stream, then the partnership is a good idea.

Always remember that partnerships are most beneficial if they are made for the long term. This ensures a constant revenue stream for your business and it also helps you grow in the process.

Broad target audience

You might want to make sure that the programme you are entering isn’t for a very niche market. The wider the target audience, the easier it becomes to sell.

If the product offers something for businesses of all sizes––small, medium and large—you will not struggle to find buyers for the product. Moreover, since the audience is broad, marketing strategies can be planned more efficiently.

High-profit margins

This one doesn’t require much explaining. You must always look for a partnership where you can get the highest profit. The bigger the profit margin, the better it is for you. It is as simple as that!

Easy to onboard

Neither you nor your customers would want a lengthy and drawn-out onboarding process. A tedious set-up might end up in you losing customers and receiving bad reviews, rather than making a profit.

Thus, you must get an understanding of the service and onboarding process beforehand. It should be quick and easy so you can induct new customers swiftly without having to invest a lot of your precious time.

Effortless

Look for a partnership programme where you have to put in the minimal effort for maximum returns. Believe us, these do exist! With the right businesses, you will be able to cut deals that offer high margins along with quality support and ask for the least time investment.

Engage and learn

It is okay to not know everything about the product from the beginning. What is not okay is for your partner to not lend you the support for learning.

Thus, it is important to partner with someone who is willing to give you training sessions and a wide range of marketing collateral. They should never hesitate to engage in a productive conversation that helps you understand the nuances of the product better.

Dedicated support

No one will expect you to be a master of the product just as you start. A good partner will know that you will be needing assistance from time to time, and thus, shall offer you consistent and quick support.

Ensuring that your partnership programme has dedicated 24x7x365 support is crucial for your success. Not only will this help you perform better, but it will also facilitate a smoother relationship between you and your partner.

Conclusion

Think of it this way––like you prioritise your customers, your partner should make you their top priority. After all, you’re not just making a profit for yourself, you’re also giving your partner a boost in popularity and business.

This is why you should always be treated equally and given complete assistance. A great partnership programme is one where both parties benefit each other, without any complaints.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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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.

5 New Call Center Challenges & How to Resolve Them

Karan Beniwal

Author

Contact Center

July 14, 2021

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Modern contact centers are the backbone of exceptional customer service. However, running a successful call center is no easy task. Startups face even steeperCall Center Challenges in this area.

With long odd work hours and low pay scales, agents find it difficult to continue working at call centers for long periods. This results in an attrition rate much higher than other forms of workplaces. This does not bode well for any business, let alone one that is in the nascent stages.

Additionally, businesses often set up their call centers in haste, hoping to get started quickly and gather more leads. While call centers allow customers to better interact with your business, a poorly set-up call center will do the opposite of the intended outcome.

This is because modern customers desire premium quality customer service irrespective of the size of your organisation. Thus, the onus of offering quality services falls on you and your management.

Major 5 Call Center Challenges

When businesses set up their contact center software, they can face a range of challenges and issues. Some of these are:

1. Outdated tech

This is one of the most overlooked Call Center Challenges. Businesses, especially startups, in a rush to activate contact centers at minimum costs often deploy out-of-date technologies. Not only does this severely impact the working of contact centers, but you will also miss out on valuable data insights from customer queries.

2. High attrition rates

As mentioned above, call centers are one of the most difficult places to work at. The constant pressure of maintaining targets, frustrated customers and being on the phone all day can take a severe mental toll on any individual. All of this results in either a demotivated workforce or high attrition rates.

3. Lack of training

While all contact centers train their agents about the company’s product and services, this is not where the learning should stop. Agent training should include a robust framework of how to answer customer queries, and how to engage in discussions.
Managers must remember that, at the end of the day, all the effort will pay off and bring in good results not just for the team but for the business as well.

4. Low funds

Since businesses feel contact centers can run on simple tools and an average quality workforce, they tend to get the least funding. This is one of the major reasons why new contact centers fail to garner much traction.
Thus, investing in training, quality agents and technology will result in better performance and the delivery of top-notch customer experiences.

5. Poor management

Strategic management of any department is crucial for its success. Without a proper direction and goal in sight, teams work in the dark. Thus, businesses need to manage these centers and their employees like they manage the rest of their organisation. This means it is important for managers to set aside tangible goals to support representatives and constantly monitor their performance.

How to Overcome Contact Center Challenges

Contact centers are often the primary contact for customers, thus, businesses need to get it right from the very get-go. Here are a few tips you can implement to mitigate the challenges and ensure success for your new contact center.

1. Invest in new tech

Contact centers must be run with up-to-date technologies. Not only does this augment their overall productivity and efficiency, but it also allows agents to provide better customer service.

While hardware like modern desktops and phone systems are necessary, proper communication tools must be added to the arsenal as well. These can include a unified communications system, a smart ivr service provider or better call routing and call forwarding methods.

Keeping pace with the technological advancement of the modern world will greatly improve your agents’ ability to have better conversations.

2. Get on the cloud

The world is moving to the cloud. While the pandemic has surely fast-tracked this move, the time of legacy storage and phone systems had already been passing. More and more companies are shifting from traditional phone systems to cloud telephony. Not only does this save on CapEx, but your centers can be up and running instantly.

Cloud communications solution provider provides a host personalised services at lower operational costs. These services can include voip phone system auto-attendants, call recordings, real-time call monitoring, and analytical reports among many others.

3. Set goals and KPIs

Parkinson’s law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for completion”. Thus, it is important for managers to define achievable goals for their team members. This will help them fulfil their duties in a better fashion and reach out to more quality leads.

Managers must also employ tools to track the performance of contact center agents. With cloud communications, you get a range of tools and metrics to measure team performance. These can include first call resolution, average handling time, customer satisfaction score, among others.
Based on their performance, you can modify or switch their responsibilities, design training sessions and more.

4. Train your agents

No consumer likes to talk to an agent who does not know the products and services well. Thus, training your agents about your offerings can improve their ability to resolve customer queries.

This will also enable them to significantly reduce their time spent on each call as they will be more confident and better prepared to guide the customer instead of referring back to the manual repeatedly.

5. Curb Attrition Rates

Many businesses might feel that attrition rates are beyond their control. However, this thinking is one of the few reasons new contact center solutions end up failing. Your agents are like your family. If you treat them with respect, they will make lifetime bonds with you.

Thus, to encourage agents to continue working with your latest contact center, you should employ strategies to curb burnouts. Starting with employee recognition programmes is a good way to boost the morale of your team and encourage them to strive for better results.

Even investing in new technologies can reduce the monotony of redundant and routine tasks they have to conduct on a regular basis.

To sum up

An efficient call center can be a major boost to a business. Not only does it let you connect with existing customers, but it can help you expand your reach with features like voice and SMS broadcasting. Thus, businesses must look to invest well in their centers and improve their overall customer service.

If you are thinking of launching your own contact center, then look no further. With Acefone’s personalised cloud communication solutions, you can get your contact center set up in no time. Interested? Then reach out to us at [email protected] or simply 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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Karan Beniwal

Author

Karan is a communications graduate with a passion for film and writing and is on an indefinite journey to search for and capture stories from around the world. He is currently exploring the world of content marketing to bring to life the products and services we use every day. Connect with him on Linkedin

Want to Emotionally Connect with Customers? Use These Effective Tips to Bond with Your Audience in 2021

Saurabh Sharma

Author

Customer Experience

July 13, 2021

7 mins read eye

Table of content

A few years ago, I ordered a pair of shorts online. The shorts were delivered and I realised that I had ordered the wrong size.

Now I wasn’t a tech-savvy person then, and something as simple as cancelling an order was an uphill task. But I braved and called customer care, and within a few seconds, I was speaking to an agent.

I told him that I ordered the wrong pair of shorts and didn’t understand the cancellation process. The agent raised the cancellation request on my behalf, asked me if I would like a refund or wanted to reorder the correct size. Not just that, he also taught me how to raise a cancellation request myself.

Guess what? I still order clothes from that brand.

I don’t do it just because of the quality or because it’s convenient to order online. I prefer the brand because I had a pleasant and positive experience. When I called their customer care, my queries were answered efficiently and immediately.

It’s what turned a customer into a brand advocate. It happened because I emotionally connected with the brand.

Building a rapport with customers and having an emotional connection can help businesses progress in a tremendous way. But how do you build such rapport, when all your customers vary in their age, geography, and behaviour?

It’s simple—foster lasting emotional bonds that make them feel valued irrespective of these parameters.

Without further ado, let’s learn how you can personalise customer relationships to build genuine connections and loyalty.

Build brand intimacy

The emotional connection that a brand builds with its customers is called brand intimacy. It is fuelled by feelings and constant support.

To put it simply, how a customer engages with a business depends on how they feel about the brand. They are likelier to promote your business if they have a positive experience and vice versa.

There are multiple reasons why a customer emotionally connects with a brand.

For example, most people use the same product for years on end. Is it because it’s the best brand in the market? No, it’s simply because there’s a level of familiarity and comfort. When a customer has a good experience with a brand, they become emotionally invested in it. And emotions are the core of a lasting customer relationship.

Irrespective of your business size, small gestures make all the difference. Customer feedback, polite support, instant solutions, free coupons as rewards are just a few simple ways of building intimacy with customers.

Be authentic

The idea behind being authentic is simple.

Don’t think of your customers as just potential leads and start treating them like people. Your customers are astute, they can easily sense traditional marketing methods based on how you interact with them. Instead, stand apart by being “less professional” and “more personal” with your customers.

Show them the human side of your business. Create your content strategy around authentic stories about your business and employees.

Be transparent. Unveil how your business operates to deliver the best services in town. Make them feel excited about your brand. Tell them about the challenges you face and how your employees work together to overcome them.

There are numerous ways in which you can develop personal relationships with your customers.

For example, If you are an e-commerce business, send a handwritten note to make your customers feel special. Make every delivery personalised.

Additionally, if a customer is dissatisfied with your service, call them and apologise instead of letting a machine do the same. Let your customers know you care.

How To Be Authentic

Tell a story

Everyone loves a good story. We all have been telling stories about our experiences, struggles, and cultures for generations now. Humans are wired to be drawn towards stories because they are effective, engaging and interactive. When a customer can relate to a story, you create an emotional connection.

Talk to your customers. Be vulnerable. Tell them the journey of your business struggles and challenges. Give your company a face that people can relate to and build a strong emotional connection with them—via stories. Wondering how?

A great way to do it is through testimonials and reviews.

Testimonials are the best way to foster trust. When a customer sees other people facing the same issues, and how your company solves their problems, they develop trust.

Put up reviews of customers on your website. It is important for them to know how your agents deliver instant solutions without wasting their time. Unfold stories about your CEO and employees to resonate with your existing and potential new customers.

Different Ways To Tell A Story

Interact with your customers

The COVID-19 pandemic has made interaction crucial more than ever. Ask your audience how they are doing. Interact with them in-person or through social media, but delve into conversations.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes, ask questions that will help you understand what drives them better. Ask them if they are satisfied with your services, what problems they face, take feedback for customer support, delivery, communication, and understand their needs.

Don’t be afraid of criticism and focus on interacting with your customers.

Social media plays a significant role in understanding consumers. How people engage with your content, the things they like and dislike can give you an insight into your customer’s emotional needs. For example, incorporating AI voice dubbing into your videos can help you engage with a broader audience by providing content in multiple languages, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity. This approach demonstrates your commitment to meeting customer needs and enhancing their experience

Therefore, build a strong social media presence and engage consistently. Respond to the questions, complaints, and comments of your customers. Talk about issues that stir conversations among people. Use visuals and themes that your audience is drawn to.

customer interation

Have fun

Humour is the best way to build a connection with your audience. People relate to humour faster than paid advertisements. The added perk? It costs nothing.

The majority of businesses are notably serious—humour can steal the show for you. It creates a positive and refreshing impact on the customer, making your business more memorable and relatable.

You can incorporate humour in your content strategy, promote it via social media in the form of GIFs, memes, comments, etc. Play with industry trends, greet your customers in a warm and friendly tone, make them feel relaxed, etc., to forge loyal and emotional connections.

Conclusion

Emotional connection is the key to building loyal relationships with customers. By empathising with your clients, you can elevate your marketing and sales strategy.

As mentioned above, a customer who is emotionally invested in your brand is more likely to use your services and promote your business via word of mouth. Think about your customer’s emotions and connect with them today.

If you want to build emotional connections with your customers, in these tough times, contact us at 1888-859-0450 or send an email to [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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Saurabh Sharma

Author

Saurabh is a content writer at Acefone. He is a fan of standup comedy, football, and Hindu mythology. He is fond of travelling to unexplored places, meeting new people, and having newer experiences that enrich his soul. Connect with him on Linkedin

Acefone’s Partnership Programme Is The Best Way To Boost Profits

Anshika Nagar

Author

Partnership

July 12, 2021

5 mins read eye

Table of content

When it comes to cloud communication and its potential, the sky is the limit. At Acefone, we tend to reach it expertly and often. Our cloud solutions come with unlimited advantages—but most importantly, they streamline and simplify communication.

Each solution is completely scalable, flexible and customisable.

In the past few years, cloud communications have seen a steep rise. Not surprising, given that they enable remote working, support omnichannel communication, remove infrastructural burdens, and offer a no-strings-attached, plug-and-play experience. Not to forget, they can be used across industries, by businesses of all sizes and types.

For instance, Acefone’s VoIP services enhance and elevate business communications in all avenues of application. With both internal and external communication capabilities, our cloud solutions can provide excellent customer service and enable deft collaboration between teams whether they use softphones or unified portals.

There’s no denying the profitability that comes with investing in the Cloud. And, so, with all this in mind, Acefone is proud to announce its Partnership Programme.

Acefone Partnership Programme

Our partnership programme creates the perfect platform for businesses to grow and foster long-term business relationships, maximise earnings and increase customer retention. The fact that you get all this with a steady revenue model is a definite plus.

Become a reseller

As a reseller, our partners can leverage great income opportunities by selling Acefone to their customers. They get an inventory of solutions that can be sold to all kinds of small, medium and enterprise-level businesses, and earn lucrative commissions for every renewal and upsell.

Over the course of the journey, you’ll realise that we stay with you every step of the way. We aid you in all your endeavours as well. An exclusive account manager ensures smooth functioning, regular feedback sessions and offers support 24x7x365. Additionally, partners have access to a wide variety of sales tools, marketing collaterals and efficient service delivery.

Become an affiliate

Our affiliate or referral programme strips everything down to the basics and adds the finishing touch of an instant, steady income flow. Under this programme, our partners need only sign up, bring in leads and earn rewards. The rest, we’ll handle. No hard-selling involved!

The benefits are endless

The Acefone Partnership Programme is designed to bring in results that help our partners expand their operations and add quality products to their portfolios. What sets us apart, however, are the benefits our partners get to enjoy.

Minimal efforts with high profits

Our partners get to buy our products at a heavily discounted rate and then resell them at a significant profit margin. Our cloud services come with instant set-up and superlative offerings, ensuring a high customer retention rate. This means customers are likely to renew their services again and again.

Selling is easy

When it comes to cloud solutions, one never has to worry about them going obsolete. Our cloud phone system and VoIP solutions have industry-wide utility and zero restrictions when it comes to customisation and scalability. When everything is so simple, selling is certainly not an issue.

24x7x365 partner support

Under the Acefone Partnership Programme, you are our top priority. With an exclusive account manager at the helm of all your endeavours, we can easily ensure a low turnaround time and unwavering support in all that you do. Add to this 24x7x365 availability, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Sales-focused

Acefone offers logistical management, provisioning and high-level customer support. While we take care of all this, you do what you do best: focus on sales without any distractions.

Multitude of collaterals

From the very beginning, our partners get access to a wide range of sales and marketing collateral. It starts with detailed demonstrations, guides and training sessions. And continues with sales pitches, dedicated support and joint campaign planning.

Top-of-the-line products

Acefone’s promises quality, robust products. Our cloud solutions are easy to deploy and use, have enterprise-grade security standards, and are entirely flexible. When you resell our products, there are no hiccups.

Advantages that set you up for success

We work with our partners round-the-clock, offering 360-degree support and end-to-end assistance. While there are numerous ways we achieve this, here are some of our favourites:

Advantages Of Becoming Acefone's Partner

Battle cards

We arm you with everything you need to face the sales battle. Dramatic? We think not. Think of our sales battle cards as cheat sheets for all our products. All the important information is right there for your perusal—product features, use cases, benefits, and FAQs. There’s more still, these cards will help you figure pricing negotiations and how to make attractive pricing bundles too.

Call talk track

What if we told you that we have a detailed checklist that can help you meet your sales targets every time? Our partners are happy to get access to our call talk track that operates like an indexed sales pitch. Be it probing, solution design, pitching, negotiation or closure, the talk track offers relevant insights on all fronts, pushing your sales process forward.

Exclusive account managers

As a partner, you get paired with an exclusive account manager who is dedicated to your success. They’ll help you with query resolutions, aid in collaterals, help you finalise deals and even set up training sessions.

Feedback sessions

Monthly feedback sessions facilitate the two-way communication needed for a successful partnership. We’ll simply get on a call to discuss analytical reports and some important metrics that will help you define your business strategies better.

And we have so much more up our sleeves. Partners also get:

> Ready-to-use sales presentations

> Dedicated support staff

> Exclusive sales workshops

> Sales training manuals

> Marketing workshops

> Easy-to-implement marketing campaigns

> Post-sales engineering coaching on first five deals

> Minimum turnaround time for queries

> Software demos

Ready to be our partner?

Whether you join as a reseller or an affiliate, the Acefone Partnership Programme opens many opportunities for increased engagement, growth and prosperity.

Here comes the best part: our programme is open to a variety of business profiles so everyone can benefit. And, signing up is just as easy. All you have to do is fill our form and wait for us to contact you.

Learn more about the Acefone Partnership Programme and join today.

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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Anshika Nagar

Author

Anshika Nagar is the assistant content editor at Acefone. She enjoys interacting with different forms of media and loves to write about tech, travel and lifestyle. When not working, you will find her reading and binge-watching tv shows. Connect with her on Linkedin

The communication landscape has changed a lot in the past decade. Internal communication is no longer limited to voice calls and emails, and contact center solutions don’t have to be rigid on-premise deployment models. We are moving into an era where communication tools are more flexible and connected than ever.

Modern customers demand a personalized experience from their banks. Keeping this in mind, financial institutes like banks, mortgage companies, etc., have adopted an omnichannel approach to communication.

This is where the integration of UCaas and CCaaS can take things up a notch.

A glance at the two technologies

The UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) tool improves internal communication and strengthens the back-end productivity of any organization. A unified environment provides everyone access to messaging, video conferencing, voice calls, emails, and much more.

On the other hand, CCaaS (Contact center as a Solution) focuses on customer engagement. Conversations with customers are getting more complex with time; a cloud contact center helps businesses navigate through their intricate demands and needs.

The banking industry is heavily reliant on customer engagement. Thus, it is always looking for ways to enhance customer experience while reducing service costs. Unified communication has come forward as a cost-effective solution. It enhances internal collaboration in banks, ultimately allowing them to effectively track customer journeys via different channels.

Meanwhile, contact centers improve customer engagement—by keeping track of the customer’s needs and making sure they don’t have to repeat their query again and again. This enhances the overall experience and improves banks’ performance by allowing seamless collaboration between various departments.

This is why banks that are aiming for better internal communication and customer engagement combine UCaaS and CCaaS technologies. Let’s look at how the two solutions help.

1. Marketing driven approach

The best type of marketing is through word of mouth. A satisfied customer will likely tell their friends and family about your services. They may do it verbally or through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. Potential customers looking to switch their banks will gain trust in your company and won’t hesitate in investing their money.

By integrating contact centers with a unified communication environment, banks are able to improve their marketing strategy and drive customer satisfaction. The data obtained from UCaaS solutions help with customer behaviour analysis, based on metrics like age, gender, location, income, and more.

Using this analysis, banks can design strategies that aim for greater market penetration. They can deploy tools like outbound IVR, video conferencing, and automate SMSes to reach out to customers and educate them about different products, services, and offers, etc.

Subsequently, banks can also clarify doubts and resolve queries with tools such as a smart IVR integrated with their toll free or vanity numbers, SMS broadcasts that gather feedback, and self-service FAQs among others.

Maintaining consistent and transparent communication can help build trust between financial advisors and new clients. Employees can easily sell schemes and policies with all parties, irrespective of their location, meeting through a unified platform.

Nowadays, banking customers use mobile devices when seeking support. Unified applications can be embedded into mobile phones to enable quicker and easier conversations. From something as essential as opening a savings account to understanding which bonds and stocks your client should invest in, customers can quickly seek assistance via their mobile phones.

2. Promotion

The integration of UCaaS and CCaaS result in more effective and economical promotional strategies for banking institutions.

Customers may seek information regarding different services—net banking, credit cards, loan eligibility, life insurance, etc. Banks should primarily focus on satisfying the customer by providing them with the relevant assistance.

They can do so with the help of toll free numbers. These numbers are free to call and thus, customers don’t hesitate to reach out to banks for query resolution. They also lend a professional image even to an institution that may have only started yesterday.

Banks can deploy smart call routing strategies to enhance caller satisfaction and can even add the self-service option to ensure first call resolution for simple queries.

Another brilliant promotion strategy is to reward your loyal customers and offer customer-friendly schemes and policies. For example, offer special credit cards to college students, small business owners, or mature bankers. Low-interest rate credit cards that offer unique rewards and cashback will appeal to consumers.

Information regarding these can be disseminated by voice or message broadcasting tools. Both help you reach a large audience at once and deliver important information in a quick and efficient manner. What’s more––all this happens without any human intervention.

3. New customers

UCaaS and CCaaS technologies can provide customers with an omnichannel and personalized experience. Banks use customer behaviour and critical insights based on their current income, spending patterns, saving and investing habits, frequency of banking interactions to understand their audience better. Based on this data, they can efficiently expand their reach.

Outbound IVR and outbound messages allow banks to engage with customers and broadcast relevant information among leads. Provided alongside toll free numbers, they allow banks to promote different products like home loans, personal loans, and other services.

Similarly, automated dialers boost sales leads as agents can gather information about a contact before making a call, resulting in a more personalized conversation—improving the chances of lead conversion.

To further amplify these efforts, banks can practise social media listening which allows them to track brand mentions on social media platforms. This helps them gain valuable insight and act on emerging opportunities.

This, coupled with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system will help them effectively build and maintain customer journeys and convert leads into deals.

However, one must not forget––human interaction is the key. All these promotion techniques will help banks get new customers. These customers will want their complicated and private financial inquiries addressed.

Agents should resolve customer queries quickly and make them understand complex terms. Smart routing strategies like round-robin, order by and more can route callers to the right destination quickly, while sentiment and keyword analysis help agents steer the conversation in the desired direction.

4. Engagement

Customer engagement improves drastically with inbound and outbound call automation, system integrations, and analytics which help agents smartly track the customer’s journey.

Data analytics tools predict customer behaviour to help banks better understand customer feedback. Identifying key goals and metrics like the number of account types (savings, checking), analyzing user actions, session time, etc., result in improved customer engagement and retention.

Banks can further enhance the caller experience by using features like customized music and message on hold. While the former entertains them during the wait time, the latter delivers updates and announcements.

Banks can also opt for the sticky agent feature which connects customers with the same agent within a specified time threshold. Connecting with the same agent every time saves them from explaining their query again.

Automated SMSes for transactions, online payment, appointment reminders, etc. help banks in improving their communications and engagement strategy.

Implementing flexible systems not only improves work mobility but helps achieve consistent, multisite connectivity. Additionally, it can enable better customer support calls via dedicated agents—saving customers time and improving efficiency.

Also, sending out surveys and interviewing your customers is a quick and efficient way to improve engagement. Tools like a toll free number or a missed call number, integrated with an IVR, and SMS broadcasts help gather customer feedback. This feedback can then be attached to their profiles on a CRM system and used to enhance services and eliminate shortcomings.

Conclusion

Combining UCCaaS and CCaaS technology helps banks get a deeper and better understanding of their customer’s journey without the need for too much investment or effort. Agents get more meaningful done in equal or lesser time and customers get a better experience each time they call.

Thus, integrating these two technologies is a win-win for banking institutions. Get in touch with us at 1888-859-0450 or send an email to [email protected] anytime to get started with cloud solutions.