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With more and more companies settling into remote and hybrid work models, there is a growing requirement for cloud-based contact centers. Even organizations that were previously hesitant to embrace change are now adopting cloud-based contact centers to effectively cater to the demands of their customers and employees in the current era of remote and hybrid work.

Cloud-based contact centers have been around for a while, but any time there is a new technology wave, widespread adoption takes time. The tech can be great, but companies (and people) can be hesitant to make the jump until it solves a real problem they have.

Telcion became certified on Cisco’s cloud contact center platform—Webex Contact Center—over two years ago, but it took us a year of talking to our clients before we had our first deployment.  Since then, the pace has begun to pick up and we are seeing more and more clients make the transition.   

Telcion is one of the only Cisco partners in the United States that is Webex Contact Center certified, and we’ve got strong deployment experience under our belt. With more and more clients making the transition to Webex’s cloud contact center, here is what we’re finding when it comes to making the switch:

1. The choice has not been about saving money. 

Generally speaking, the cloud is not a cheaper solution than on-premise for most applications. The contact center is no exception, though you will save money in some areas. For example, if you are on an existing Cisco Contact Center Express solution, you'll no longer pay for annual SmartNet subscriptions.  These investments will migrate to the Webex Contact Center subscription where you will have many other cost/value benefits to consider. None of our clients have chosen WebEx Contact Center because it nets out a yearly savings. What they have chosen is a new platform that provides a significant increase in value, more than offsetting the incremental increase in cost.   

So why is this important? Because it's about more than just saving money—it's about enhancing experience. When you implement Webex Contact Center, you're getting an entirely new system with all the modern bells and whistles that improve every aspect of your business. It's like getting a new car—if the old one cost the same but had half the performance and comfort levels of your new one, would you go back? We know we wouldn’t.

2. The move is simpler & quicker than people expect.

Moving from on-premise to the cloud is a lot easier and faster than you might imagine.  Since the cloud instance is a fork-lift upgrade (meaning there is no migration or upgrade, but it’s a completely new build) it creates a lot of options.  First, we build the cloud instance. Then we confirm and implement the call flow.  Then we test it to make sure everything works as desired.  Agent training happens in between, and doesn’t interfere with any existing systems because it’s completely browser-based.  When ready, the cut over is simply a matter of pointing the inbound calls to the new system. If for any reason there is a need to failback, the existing system is still completely in place and functional.  

Often when deploying new solutions or adding on features, we have to prepare for various contingencies in case it causes an interruption to the existing system.  Cloud doesn’t have this problem.  We are able to completely build and test the new system fully, and then point inbound numbers to the new system when ready.  This lets us to move much faster with the deployment, and also avoid lead times and supply chain issues.

3. Companies enjoy new features they were not able to deploy before.  

There are a host of features that are available in Webex Contact Center.  Many of those features are also available for existing on-premise solutions.  The difference is that many of the advanced features are ready out of the box with the cloud system. But the on-premise Contact Center Express platform requires extra virtual machines, licensing, and configuration to light these features up. 

One of our clients had a simple need that would significantly impact their order processing:  SMS texting.  They were struggling to keep up with orders because incoming messages weren't coming through a single channel.  When we added SMS to their contact center, we enabled agents to receive these messages and process the orders more quickly.  As a result, they are now meeting their order commitments and improving customer satisfaction. This feature comes out of the box with Webex Contact Center without any additional licensing cost.   

4. It’s a good time to review and revamp existing call flows.   

It's easy for little things like call flows to fall by the wayside in the hustle and bustle of running a business. They may become bloated or outdated—and that can lead to confusion for both your customers and your employees. 

In our experience, the discovery and planning phase of the project is the perfect time to review your existing call flows. We’re finding that most of our clients need to clean up their current call flows or completely rewrite them! 

This is a great opportunity to simplify your call flow and make sure business executives are clear on what aspects they want to be measurable and reportable.  The end result will give your customers the fastest path to meet their needs.

5. Companies want more options for their agents to be hybrid. 

All of our clients want more hybrid options.  Employees are happier with more options to suit their needs around when and where they work.  And it's a win for employers, too—when they have a greater pool of agents available at any given time, they can meet high-demand time periods by having more staff ready and waiting to take calls.

With Webex Contact Center, each agent uses their browser to login to the cloud system.  The cloud app will prompt the agent for the phone number they want to use during this session.  The agent can use any phone number that is convenient, and the cloud will redirect calls to that number.  It can be a mobile phone, a home phone, or a 3rd party location.  It doesn’t get any easier than that!

6. Companies want to get out of the endless upgrade cycle.  

If you're like most companies, you spend a lot of time dealing with the endless upgrade cycle. Every 2-3 years, you do a major upgrade to your voice systems—and in between that, you still need maintenance windows for operating system patching and bug fixes to the existing system.  Let’s just say it – it’s a pain.  But we haven’t had any other choices.  Until now. 

Once you are on the Webex Contact Center platform, you don’t have to worry about upgrades any more.  They happen automatically in the background.  New version released?  Great, you’ll be on it soon, benefitting from the new features that come with it.  No more waiting until the next upgrade cycle or dealing with the cost of getting that upgrade done.  

7. You can still use your existing carrier dial-tone or move to the cloud for your PSTN.  

Some of our clients have been surprised to learn that they can use their existing dial-tone instead of waiting for their contract to expire.  Although long term we encourage all our clients to move their dial-tones straight to the cloud, in the near term, while you are under contract, we can connect your on-premise dial-tone with the cloud.  When your contract is up for renewal, we recommend moving your dial-tone to the cloud to remove one more piece of the on-premise solution and one less component to troubleshoot.   

Whatever your customer support goals, Webex Contact Center can help you achieve them. 

This is what we have found so far as we architect and implement Webex Contact Center. 

Telcion is here to serve.  If you’d like to think about moving your existing contact center to the cloud, consider engaging our contact center design team for a free consultation.  We'll help you learn about the costs and benefits of a deployment so you can decide if it’s right for you.

This post was contributed by Lance Reid, our CEO. Lance has worked in the technology industry for over 25 years. He became a Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) in Collaboration in 2005 and has been serving on Cisco's SMB Advisory Board since 2013.

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