10 Major Benefits of Systems Integration with Cloud Contact Centre Solutions

New communication channels and real-time interaction are opportunities, and a challenge for today’s customer service operations. To ensure next-generation customer service, IT systems that talk to each other are essential to provide an overview of an organisation’s information and knowledge of individual customers.

Integration into a single view and the instant retrieval of full and reliable customer information allow a tailored and personalised service. But surely, I hear you say, aren’t cloud solutions difficult or even impossible to integrate with other applications? And don’t you risk losing control and the ability to customise along the way?

Interestingly, there’s a growing trend to suggest that the reverse is actually true. Recent research from ContactBabel makes several, perhaps surprising, revelations about the role of integration and customisation as more organisations move to a cloud-based contact centre environment.

(i) When originally asked whether the cloud made it easier to make changes to the system in 2012, there was a significant difference of opinion with 44 percent agreeing and 31 percent disagreeing. Fast-forward to 2017 and the reality is very different: 75 percent of respondents now either ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that using cloud contact centre solutions simplifies the process of making changes to the system.

Dispelling the myths, and advocating integration and customisation in the cloud are needed.

The truth is that today’s cloud-based applications are typically built using the latest web services technology, making them easier, not more difficult to integrate with both premises-based and other cloud applications. It’s time to dispel the myths and consider the benefits. Puzzel’s latest white paper unveils ten benefits to systems integration using cloud contact centre solutions:

1. Simple for agents, simple for customers
2. Access to a complete contact centre solution
3. A more engaging customer and agent experience
4. Fewer input errors and quicker response
5. Faster decision-making and reduced average handling times
6. Customisation is easier
7. Empowered agents and reduced attrition
8. Integration with Workforce Management
9. High levels of security
10. Time and cost savings

By connecting multiple systems from the contact centre, all stakeholders from across the organisation can access a central source of truth, to drive efficiencies and increase customer satisfaction across the entire business. This is the very essence of successful integration and customisation using web services and open, flexible APIs.

-- Colin Hay is Vice President Sales, at Puzzel,  UK.