{"id":8924,"date":"2020-03-31T11:15:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T10:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=8924"},"modified":"2023-01-16T17:32:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:32:17","slug":"what-to-look-for-cloud-based-contact-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/what-to-look-for-cloud-based-contact-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Look for When Choosing a Cloud-Based Contact Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost all of us who are working are now doing so remotely. Almost overnight, organisations of all sizes have had to transition their entire staff from working in the office to working at home. For many of us, working from home isn\u2019t new. Even before we began self-isolating, the demand for working from home capability was growing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies with their own contact centres were discovering that allowing agents to work from home meant they could save money on overheads, while delivering a better work\/life balance for their employees. What\u2019s more, working from home allowed companies to benefit from expanding their access to talent and hiring professionals from around the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, even though the benefits of moving to the cloud are clear, making the switch to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/contact-centre\/overview.html\">cloud contact centre<\/a> can be a stressful experience if you\u2019re not properly prepared. So, what should you be looking for as you consider the options of a cloud-based contact centre?<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t@media (min-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img {\r\n\t\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\r\n\t\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img img {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta {\r\n\t\t\t\tbackground: #001138;\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 30px;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy {\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 0 30px;\r\n\t\t\t\toverflow: hidden;\r\n\t\t\t\tcolor: #fff;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy .btn-primary {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp IID-cta-69d35fcb9cbcc\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"cta\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-img\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/vs-cc-rw-social-images-design-text-2.png\" alt=\"Call to action banner\">\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-copy\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<span style=\"font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;\">All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together.<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"text-center\" style=\"display: block;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Register UC Summit CC Expo\" href=\"https:\/\/ucsummit.com\/ringcentral\/\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dl-additional-info=\"All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together.\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"All the latest contact centre industry know-how in one place \u2013 register for CC Expo: Virtually Together. | Register\">Register<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\n<h2><strong>1. \u00a0 Security and Reliability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Security is critical in any contact centre. Whether you\u2019re dealing with financial information or just personal customer details, you need to ensure that your contact centre provider has the right encryption and certifications in place. PCI DSS Level I, SOC 1 Type 2, and more are all pivotal to ensuring that you comply with the industry regulations in your area.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your cloud contact centre provider will need to ensure that secure cloud networks and data hosting solutions are in place, while also making sure that you have the right levels of data encryption in place. As well as security, it\u2019s worth checking the tools you\u2019re investing in have suitable redundancy measures in place. Will you be getting high uptime guarantees, or failover mechanisms to ensure that calls aren\u2019t dropped or missed?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. \u00a0 Omnichannel Engagement<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The contact centre isn\u2019t just focused on calls anymore. Customers expect to make contact with brands via their channel of choice &#8211; whether that\u2019s via email, on Twitter or WhatsApp, via live chat on a website, or over Facebook Messenger or Apple Business Chat. For your contact centre to be as effective as possible in the cloud, you need a solution that enables omnichannel conversation on the platforms that your customers use most.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensure your cloud contact centre provider can give you access to different kinds of communication media. At the same time, make sure your agents don\u2019t have to jump through tabs to switch to different platforms. The best omnichannel contact centres make it easy to track conversations from all environments in a single place. This could also include integrations with CRM and ticketing tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. \u00a0 Real-Time Analytics and Reporting<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitive-guide-customer-experience\/\">Customer experience<\/a> is the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/business.trustpilot.com\/reviews\/learn-from-customers\/5-reasons-why-customer-experience-is-the-pulse-of-every-business\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">key to success<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the modern landscape. The companies that can deliver the most relevant and engaging experiences to their audience are the ones that will come out on top. However, the only way to ensure you\u2019re delivering the meaningful movements that your customers need is to track your interactions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/definitions\/real-time-analytics\/\">Real-time analytics<\/a> and reporting in the contact centre can track everything from the number of calls that connect to a customer to the amount of dropped calls and unsuccessful conversations. Some advanced analytics tools can even use techniques like sentiment analysis to let agents know when a conversation isn\u2019t going well. You may be able to find a tool that allows you to give a supervisor an alert when a conversation is going poorly so that they can give the agent extra help.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. \u00a0 Flexibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you need for your cloud contact centre now might not be the same as what you need in the future. Although things like artificial intelligence and natural language processing might not seem necessary for a small business, as your company grows you may decide you need more access to these kinds of tools and insights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best cloud contact centre vendor will be able to give you the freedom to evolve at a pace that suits you. What\u2019s more, because your tools are delivered over the cloud, it should be easy to simply click a button when you want to install something new.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>5. \u00a0 Remote Support<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, companies of all sizes must consider the option of having a remote contact centre team. Even after we emerge from lockdown, the demand for cloud communications and remote working will likely continue to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look for a cloud contact centre vendor that can deliver all the tools that you need for a remote workforce. This could include things like workforce management tools where you can track employee performance, and global <strong><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/what-is-cloud-pbx-benefits-pbx-to-cloud\/\">cloud-based PBX environments<\/a><\/strong>, with things like local numbers and easy routing. RingCentral\u2019s global office, for instance, connects business users worldwide with an international solution for cloud communications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more information about managing a cloud-based contact centre, or <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/cloud-contact-centre-help-remote-working\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how cloud contact centre can help remote working<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, visit<\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-work-resources-around-the-web\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our remote work resource centre<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"uc-expo-cta-2 text-center IId-bottom-banner-144903516 CId-bottom-banner-1098205596\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;\">How can\u00a0contact centre technology create a better experience for customers and agents?<\/span><span class=\"text-center\" style=\"display: block;\" data-dtm-element=\"button\" data-dtm-context=\"bottom-cta\" data-dtm-additional-info=\"Learn more about contact centre tech\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\" title=\"Learn more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/contact-centre\/overview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dtm-name=\"Bottom CTA\">Find out<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Almost all of us who are working are now doing so remotely. Almost overnight, organisations of all sizes have had to transition their entire staff from working in the office &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/what-to-look-for-cloud-based-contact-centre\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;What to Look for When Choosing a Cloud-Based Contact Centre&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":16813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-content-hub.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[25,163,61,39,126],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to Look for When Choosing a Cloud-Based Contact Centre | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Making the switch to a cloud contact centre can be a stressful experience, what should you be looking for in a cloud-based 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