The contact center as a service (CCaaS) market is booming, as businesses everywhere are looking for ways to support remote agents.
The rapid acceleration of CCaaS is due in part to COVID-19, which has accelerated cloud adoption and digital transformation. In 2018, just 16.8 percent of contact center seats were in the cloud. By the end of 2020, this figure could reach 40 percent or higher.
To capitalize on the demand for CCaaS, contact centers need to be prepared to ask a variety of questions during the buying process.
Here are the top five questions that are currently asking:
What Features Do You Offer?
Companies will have different needs and expectations, depending on their size, industry, and goals. For example, HIPAA compliance will be a deal breaker for a healthcare company. Another company may prioritize features like SMS communication or omnichannel engagement.
Contact Center leadership needs to have a solid understanding of all the various features that a CCaaS solution may offer, to best align with solutions that meet their needs.
How Quickly Can You Scale?
Merely promising a company that they can scale is not enough to win a contract. Buyers will want to know how quickly a vendor can scale when needed — especially businesses with seasonal fluctuations or startups on the verge of massive growth. Buyers will want to see specific scalability details included in their SLAs.
What Security Features Do You Offer?
In a study conducted by Masergy and IDG, 93 percent of respondents said it was highly important to bundle security features and services with CCaaS and UCaaS.
CCaaS buyers will expect to hear how features like firewalls, real-time monitoring, identity management, and encryption can protect sensitive customer data as it flows over insecure remote networks.
What Type of Architecture Do You Offer?
Buyers will also want to know what type of architecture a vendor offers, whether it’s multi-tenant (meaning multiple companies share an instance) or multi-instance where each company has its own. Contact Center leadership needs to be prepared to discuss each approach’s pros and cons to help determine the architecture that’s best for their needs.
What’s your geographical footprint?
Performance and reliability are top of mind for buyers when purchasing CCaaS solutions. As such, vendors should expect IT-savvy shoppers to inquire about the geographical location of vendor network nodes.
To learn more about CCaaS and take advantage of a comparison of 100s of providers ... including FREE network design and sourcing support ... simply ask at FreedomFire Communications.
Labels: CCaaS, Contact Center, Contact Center Technology