Workforce Management Featured Article
Hesitations Don't Have to Limit Access to the Cloud
The standard approach to customer service in the call center has typically been to ensure the agent can satisfy the customer’s needs in the least amount of time. While it sounds like efficiency, the same old approach to hitting the numbers may not be enough to keep the customer base happy. In a market where workforce management is a formidable tool, it may just be time for a change.
Workforce management solutions provider Monet Software (News - Alert) addressed this from the perspective of the automotive call center in a recent white paper. While a number of organizations have considered workforce management in the cloud for the benefits associated with improved customer service, lower operating costs and upgraded efficiencies, they may be hesitant for fear of the cost, inconvenience and uncertainty that come with making a transition.
The Monet Software white paper is designed to address some of the common causes for hesitation and why they can be dismissed. One of the most common concerns is the thought of losing business while a transition is in progress. The key point to this process is that business doesn’t have to be lost at all. The customized solution in the cloud is prepared and tested before it ever goes live. It can even run parallel with the current hardware solution through the transition period.
Others question whether cloud-based solutions are really as great as they are purported to be. In a nutshell, workforce management in the cloud is more flexible and more scalable than an in-house solution. The automotive call center can make this discovery without actually experiencing any upfront costs. Therefore, the organization pays only for what it needs and upgrades are installed seamlessly and automatically, without any increase in price. Plus, the data that is submitted to the cloud is secure, relying on the backup and redundancy of a much bigger player that the call center can provide on its own.
Cost can also be a concern as companies may easily assume that access to better resources, capabilities and tools means there will be a bigger price tag (News - Alert). In reality, workforce management solutions in the cloud tend to be one-third the cost of hardware solutions, based on conservative estimates for total savings. And with no capital investments needed upfront, return on investment can be achieved much faster.
Of course it’s easy for a cloud-based solutions provider to tout the benefits associated with the cloud. The key to better understanding the options is to talk to companies that are already using them. There are significant benefits to be had; don’t let assumptions get in the way of real benefits that greatly profit the bottom line.
Edited by Alicia Young
