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What Is CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service)? Your Ultimate Guide
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Thinking of switching to a modern CCaaS solution? You’re not alone. More and more companies are discovering the huge benefits to be gained from using a cloud-based contact center. Check out the ins and outs of CCaaS and our tips on how to choose the right solution for your company, and you’ll see why.
Unpacking the meaning of CCaaS
Let’s begin by establishing a basic CCaaS definition: what is CCaaS and what does CCaaS stand for?
CCaaS stands for Contact Center as a Service. It’s a cloud-based customer service solution for businesses, enabling them to deliver top-tier service to clients at a fraction of the cost of traditional on-site call centers.
Contact center vs. call center
If you assumed that CCaaS stood for Call Center as a Service, you weren’t too far off the mark. But in the modern omnichannel business environment, knowing the difference between a contact center and a call center is crucial.
Call centers deal in phone calls, and that’s it. However, if the only option your customers have to contact you is via the telephone, your customer service could be falling short.
These days, a substantial proportion of your customers will prefer to contact you using other methods: SMS, perhaps, or by messaging your company on a social media account.
Catering for every communication taste might sound complicated, but there’s a simple solution: The contact center. This acts as a hub for all your customer service communications.
Your agents can take phone calls, as well as deal with queries that come in by SMS, webchat, email, messaging apps, or any number of other digital channels. Essentially, a contact center makes it easy for your customers to reach out to you using their channel of choice.
Cloud-based vs. on-premises contact center solutions
That’s the “contact center” part of CCaaS, but what about “as a Service”? It starts with knowing there are two kinds of contact centers: cloud-based and on-premises.
If you have an on-premises contact center, all the equipment you need to run it will be on-site. That means your company will be responsible for buying and maintaining the physical infrastructure of the system. It also means scaling up can be costly and time-consuming.
This is where CCaaS can help. Because it’s cloud-based, all the infrastructure is maintained by the provider. The only thing each user in a company needs to access a CCaaS system is a suitable device and an internet connection.
If your company is experiencing a rapid growth phase, you can easily add as many users as you want simply by sending a request to the provider. And similarly, you can delete users just as fast. This makes CCaaS particularly well suited to businesses that experience seasonal fluctuations in service requirements.
When you explore the kinds of plans that are available for CCaaS, you’ll find that they tend to follow a pay-as-you-go model that gives you excellent flexibility. Unlike with an on-premises contact center, you don’t run the risk of being stuck paying for equipment you no longer need.
CCaaS vs. UCaaS: What’s the difference?
CCaaS is just one type of communication solution for businesses. If what you’re looking for is less about customer service and more about meeting your general communications needs, you might want to consider a UCaaS solution (Unified Communications as a Service) instead.
The two abbreviations are often confused, but they refer to slightly different concepts. Here’s a handy UCaaS vs. CCaaS checklist that explains the differences:
- Cloud-based - Yes, for both.
- Type of comms - UCaaS is most commonly used for internal business comms, CCaaS is for external customer comms.
- Main purpose - Team collaboration for UCaaS and customer support for CCaaS
- Key features - Messaging, video conferencing, and file-sharing for UCaaS. IVR, skills-based routing, and omnichannel support for CCaaS.
Must-have CCaaS features
Not all CCaaS options are alike. That’s why it’s vital to check that the system you decide to go for includes all the features you need.
Here are some of the key features you should expect to find in a modern CCaaS solution:
Interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call distribution (ACD) & call routing
First of all, you need to make sure that you have all the basics of phone-based customer service covered. Your CCaaS system should provide:
- Interactive voice response (IVR): This is an automated system that takes calls and presents customers with a menu-based options tree they can interact with via voice or using their phone keypad. It can be set up to offer self-service solutions, as well as to route calls to human agents, depending on what the caller needs.
- Automatic call distribution (ACD): The IVR works in tandem with the ACD system to route calls according to preset rules.
- Call routing: The system should be able to use intelligent call routing, so each customer’s query is resolved as quickly as possible.
Omnichannel capabilities
As we’ve established, one of the defining elements of a contact center is your customers can use it to contact you in multiple ways. Your chosen CCaaS software, then, must cater to all the channels you need.
For instance, RingCX and RingCentral Contact Center are omnichannel solutions that allow your customers to contact you via voice, webchat, email, and over 30+ digital channels, including the most popular social media platforms.
Workforce management
A top-tier CCaaS system should come with features that help you get the most from your team. RingCX puts your agents in the driving seat with its workforce management functionality.
Not only will your employees benefit from tailored feedback on their performance, but they’ll also be able to take control over some of the more practical elements of the job. For instance, they can use the self-service interface to schedule requests and bid on or trade shifts.
Call monitoring
It’s essential that you keep track of the quality of the service your agents provide to ensure a consistent standard of customer care. A call monitoring option allows you to do just that.
Supervisors will be able to listen in to live calls, join them, and even take them over completely if needed. It’s an excellent way of assessing agent performance and very useful for training and coaching purposes.
Built-in analytics
One of the major aspects of CCaaS that sets it apart from traditional call center solutions is the sheer wealth of analytics options that come built-in.
For instance, RingCentral Contact Center comes with customizable dashboards that you can tailor to the needs of each employee or team. It’s also possible to monitor overall performance and service levels and stay informed on a granular level about important indicators, such as employee workload and queue information.
Advanced AI-powered functionality
Recent advances in AI technology have made all kinds of new features possible. You can deploy sentiment analysis and conversational intelligence in real time to determine a customer’s state of mind in-call. This can help identify calls that need to be escalated quickly, so they can be prioritized.
More generally, AI can help give in-call guidance to agents to help them deal with tricky queries. It can also be used to generate performance scores automatically so, supervisors can see at a glance how each member of their team is performing.
What else to expect from CCaaS providers
Product features aren’t the only factor you should take into consideration when deciding between CCaaS solutions. The top CCaaS providers also prioritize other aspects of their service.
Make sure to look out for the following:
Ease of setup and use
A contact center could come packed with features, but if it’s too difficult to deploy, you’ll run into problems.
Given that one of the advantages of using a cloud-based contact center is supposed to be its flexibility, you should always check how user-friendly a solution is before you decide to choose it.
Look for easily customizable dashboards and straightforward setup protocols. After all, you want to be certain that you’ll be able to add and delete users quickly in response to your changing business needs.
You also don’t want to spend a lot of time coaching new users on how to operate the system. Ideally, you want a CCaaS solution that requires only minimal training, so your agents can hit the ground running.
Enterprise-grade security
A CCaaS provider should make sure their system comes with top-tier security. In today’s complex digital environment, companies need to know they can rely on their communications systems to be safe and reliable.
Check that your choice of CCaaS system comes with multiple layers of protection. Look for features, including multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and end-to-end encryption.
There’s no reason to leave safety up to chance, so make sure your choice of CCaaS system provides the very latest in enterprise-grade security features.
Integrations with your favorite business tools
Many companies use a variety of business tools in their day-to-day operations, so you should choose a CCaaS system that integrates with them.
Well-designed integrations are key, so your agents can take full advantage of all of your tools without constantly having to switch between different accounts.
This is one area where a solution like RingCentral Contact Center truly shines. It comes with over 300 integrations with your favorite tools, including apps like Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace.
Reliable customer support
Inevitably, there will be occasions when unexpected issues crop up. When that happens, it’s essential you can access support easily, so they can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Check that the CCaaS provider you select has a clear customer support procedure. It’s also a good idea to explore what existing customers have to say about their experience via review sites since that’s where you’ll find the most candid opinions.
CCaaS: The present and future of your business
There’s never been a better time to switch to a cloud-based CCaaS solution. The benefits your company will gain in terms of flexibility, cost savings, and customer satisfaction make it the obvious choice.
CCaaS FAQs
What is CCaaS technology?
CCaaS uses VoIP technology to eliminate the need for on-premises infrastructure. The software is hosted in data centers maintained by the CCaaS provider, so the company using the system doesn’t need to do it themselves.
This means that all you need to use CCaaS is an internet-connected device and an account with the provider.
How does CCaaS work for businesses?
Because there’s no need for on-premises infrastructure, businesses can deploy a CCaaS solution across multiple locations. This makes it particularly suitable for teams following a remote or hybrid work model.
Is CCaaS just for enterprises?
No. One of the biggest advantages of CCaaS is that it works well for businesses of any size. You’re in full control over how many users access the system and can increase or reduce the number of users at any time.
For smaller companies with simpler needs, a solution like RingCX provides all the benefits of a fully operational contact center at a fraction of the price of an on-premises system.
And for larger organizations, RingCentral Contact Center is an excellent solution that includes all the additional features you’d expect from an enterprise-grade system.
How much does CCaaS software cost?
The price is calculated on a pay-as-you-go basis, billed either monthly or annually (annual billing tends to work out cheaper).
Depending on how many features you want, you can access a modern CCaaS system for as little as $20 per user, per month. You can read more about our plans and pricing to get the details.