Businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, are intimidated by the thought of implementing an in-house call center solution. Just thinking of call centers conjures up visions of dedicated and expensive IP hardware and IT infrastructure with attendant costs of investment and maintenance.
Modern contact center solutions are far more sophisticated yet simpler and affordable because they are software based and run not only on existing desktop computers and laptops but also on laptops in a pay-as-you-go cloud-based service model. Given its benefits and low costs, the call center solution is not something to outsource or put it on the shelf.
It is something that you need to implement right now and discard traditional telephony for a more refined communications system that will help you to acquire more customers. Competition is intense and better engagement translates to more sales and revenues.

Globalization is the key

If you wish to get more customers you have to keep in step with current trends of globalization and be accessible to more people from anywhere in the world as well as reach out to them. Standard telephony is just too expensive to make free use of across international boundaries. The best contact center software is VoIP based and incorporates various features such as scheduling calls according to where customers are located and one can use the same software to segregate such leads and then use the automatic call distribution feature for smart routing of calls. It works for inbound calls with IVR allowing callers to be transferred to an agent with the right skill set. Smart dialer feature of the contact center software prioritizes calling with tracking and automatic recording. The world becomes a small place but people with many more target customers when one has the best call center software.

Omnichannel points of contact

Potential and existing customers are no longer restricted to using only the telephone to initiate contact and register an inquiry or a complaint. They may use email or fax or social media or their desktop or a standard telephone line or IM or chat or a smartphone. The omnichannel contact center software keeps track of all such inbound or outbound communications and presents all such communication in a unified interface in the agent desktop. Further, it integrates well with CRM, driving usability even further to acquire more customers or satisfy existing ones quickly with fast resolution of whatever issues they have. Customers demand prompt services and the best software will help businesses deliver just that.

Unified interface

Legacy systems are clunky, kludgy and not interconnected together well. The best contact center software presents a unified interface that is easy to use and speedy too. An agent handling incoming calls or outbound calls has all the information right on the screen in front of him and can use data from CRM or phonebook with effortless ease to carry out whatever function is required to follow up a lead and convert it into a sale in the first contact itself. The best solution for contact center utilizes a WebRTC interface that does away with kludgy IP phones and hardware. Agents are not restricted to desktops in the office; they can use their smartphones from anywhere, at any time and enjoy all the facilities that a standard desktop offers. And he can use his personal device for omnichannel communication as well as data access.

Real-time analytics

Performance metrics are important for any business to derive business intelligence and fine tune strategies. If the best contact center software integrates real-time analytics with reporting, that is the one to go for. Management and supervisors can monitor and track all activities stay on top of the situation. Communication and the speed with which it is implemented can make a whole lot of difference to acquiring a customer or losing him to someone else. Bridging the great divide is the call center software. Businesses are traditionally used to thinking of call centers as outsourced services but, as happens in all outsourced services, there is always a lack of real commitment.
An in-house solution is much better since everyone in the chain is “in the know”. The contact center solution not only bridges all team members in a seamless fashion but also customers. It is not expensive to implement especially if one considers the cloud-hosted model where one pays a monthly subscription. Subscribing to the contact center software service is easy.
Learning to use it efficiently is just as important for success in acquiring more customers. It may need some internal reorganization and training for staff to realize the full potential of the omnichannel solution and how best they can leverage all its features to drive sales. The best contact center software should be omnichannel and must be backed by some form of training to make it easy for the staff of a business to use the tool to the best advantage.