Picking the right contact center platform can be a hassle. It’s so difficult to tell which features are crucial to smooth operation, and which are just fluff. With so many buzzwords flying around, it can be so difficult to tell what any platform descriptions actually mean. Well, I’m here to tell you that your search is about to get a lot easier. There are two components of contact center platforms that are non-negotiable if you want to maximize your labor resources. Through all the pomp and circumstance of feature descriptions, you want to be sure that what you are looking at can support integration and is time-efficient.
The need for integration is probably the feature of contact center platforms that is most symptomatic of our current state of technology. We want all of our systems to work together, to communicate and share information. Much like we want our wearables to tell our phones how far we’ve walked today, we also want all of our software to share information. To do this, each program must be optimized for integration and developed specifically to be able to share data across all applications. In the contact center world, integrations are the key to success, as cooperative systems can provide valuable customer information to agents that can minimize wait time and address the customer’s needs completely on the first call. Without integration capabilities, your agents could be left scrambling to find out exactly who is calling, why they are calling, and if they’ve talked to anyone else already. That’s a waste of time and money, and will lead to frustration for you, your agents, and your customers.
While integration is crucial, there are countless ways it can appear in contact center platforms. Once you sift through all the jargon, you will probably come to realize that most platforms require a massive undertaking by a large IT team for initial integration, significant expense from an outside contractor, or will require an extremely long implementation period to get everything working together properly. Using the full capabilities of integration is made infinitely easier when using a platform that is built on open APIs that can easily communicate with any other software. Open APIs also allow for customization, so you can set up your user interface how you like it, choose which metrics are reported, and anything else you can imagine.
Ideally, you want a platform that was designed by those who have actually worked in contact centers and can offer solutions for the most common and frustrating problems. This will streamline operations, while also providing the features that are actually useful while eliminating the extra bits that seem cool but really don’t serve much purpose. When a platform is designed by industry veterans, the focus is on getting the contact center to run at scale affordably, not packing the most features into one piece of software. To be a truly time-efficient platform, it needs to eliminate external IT involvement AND offer features that address your specific problems.
It may seem like these features are super obvious, but it is surprising how many platforms out there are more flash than function. When you find a focused platform, you’ll find that your contact center operations can become your biggest asset. By making your agents’ jobs easier, you’ve also made it easier for your customer to keep doing business with you.
Isn’t it time you make life as easy as possible for you, your agents, and your customers? Start the journey here.
