Make a Business Case for Increased Customer Satisfaction

While the cost benefits of IP Telephony have influenced a migration from traditional solutions, the true value of IP goes well beyond the absence of toll charges and reduced “cost per call.”  The increased functionality of an IP contact center raises the level of customer service, increasing customer loyalty and providing new avenues for revenue and growth. To demonstrate the benefits of an IP contact center, a strong business case can be built around three areas:

 

Effective Management

• IP greatly simplifies network administration by replacing a far-flung infrastructure that required placement and management of hardware in multiple locations with a software solution that can be centrally deployed, managed, and scaled across any number of sites. Easily add staff to accommodate call load fluctuations. Bring remote branch sites online much faster. Make real-time changes to single agent or agent group allocation with drag-and-drop remote management, without reprogramming the switch. IP drives both customer satisfaction and agent efficiency while optimizing contact center resources.

Business Agility

• Standards-based IP provides the unprecedented visibility and flexibility that enables contact centers to provide consistently excellent service and capitalize on changing customer desires. Deeper integration between the front and back office provides a more personal and rewarding customer experience. This is achieved through integration with ERP and CRM applications, which can increase an agent's knowledge and provide them with the ability to connect the customer to experts outside the contact center. This type of integration can dramatically increase first call issue resolution. The flexibility to use new interaction methods including Instant Messaging, video, chat, co-browsing and push page technologies lets your customers communicate with you in the way they choose, and allows agents to quickly provide information for common questions. Service quality can be maintained during peaks, call spikes and disasters with the ability to extend the call center to remote agents and branch offices.

Cost Reduction

• An IP contact center enables you to cut salary, real estate and communications overhead — without compromising customer satisfaction. Agents can be brought online only when necessary, reducing salary overhead. Home workers and branch offices in low-cost areas reduce real estate costs. And, IP trunking (transporting calls over a WAN) allows multi-site contact center environments, especially those with overseas offices, to reap significant savings in call charges.

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