Virtual contact centers are gradually taking over the popularity and dominance of on-site customer service call centers due to the capability of the former to provide efficient, cost-effective services for businesses.
How the Virtual System Works
New technology and software used by service providers like Five9 enables inbound calls to go through a data center that is run by a Web-based device. The software determines where to route each call and then transmits every call to the appropriate agent of the particular company that a specific call was meant for. To ensure the security of routed calls, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology is used.
No Personal Software and Hardware Requirements
In a paper titled "The Hosted Model: Why It's Revolutionizing the Contact Center Industry" Frost and Sullivan, a global business development firm, pointed out that when companies decide to use hosted call center solutions, they do not have to acquire their own software and hardware but rather, they just have to pay a service provider for the needed capacity. In most cases, firms have to resort to outsourcing to a company that has the right technology to provide efficient and customer-oriented hosted contact solution.
Payments for Virtual services
How much a client company pays is determined by the services it requires. Frost and Sullivan explains that payment for virtual customer service is usually by agent seat. In the case where a client opts for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) functions, then the client company has to pay per port used. In an article "AT&T Launches Hosted Call Center Service" in the April 22, 2009, edition of Voip-News, Robert Poe, reported Nora Cheseby Peskin, Executive Director of Product Management at AT&T, as saying that the cost for the use of hosted call centers can be as low as between $100 to $300 all depending on what the user requires.
Advantages of Hosted Centers
The advantages of subscribing to facilities that allows inbound, outbound and auto dialing calls, without having to have agents on site are numerous and include the following:
- Agents and operators can transact business from different parts of the world. Hosted solutions provide the luxury of doing effective business with customers from different locations without necessarily having an onsite customer telephony service. This is especially good for companies that have multiple sites.
- All applications for providing the service are Web-based. This makes it possible and easier for customers to be served with information. Businesses need not hire a technical expert to man a center. The set-up simply requires a well-functioning computer with a high-speed broadband internet facility.
- Hosted solutions provide the most cost effective technology-based customer contact service. This is mainly because, a firm does not have to acquire its own facilities necessary for running a center. In addition, service providers offer very flexible payment models such as an hourly rate per login or a pay-as-you-go model.
- Hosted call centers are relatively quick to establish and operate, and with their efficient Web-based applications, training of agents are easily done.
