Why Flip Flops are Pushing Companies to Cloud Contact Centers

I talk to a lot of IT people who tell me that they are looking at an on-prem phone system for their contact center because of the ROI. My response is always that the one thing that never shows up on the books is flip flops.

Flip flops … don’t we all love flip flops? The IT Department DESPISES them
at work, though.

Flip flops in the corporate world are often fantastic but they also cause havoc.

I personally think flip flops are the most overlooked reason, yet one of (if not THE) biggest reasons why companies are going to the cloud.

The flip flops I’m referring to are the ones related to marketing strategy, staffing strategy, real estate strategy and all other strategies that flow from the C-Level.

If you have a call center, think about it. One minute, “client experience” is king. The next minute “cost control” is the order of the day… then surveys… then agent training…then workflow….

Will integrating online chat be important today, then not-so-hot next year, then re-emerge as important the year after? FLIP FLOP!

Can you hear it coming down the hall toward the IT Department? FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP…

Will you even have the same management team in five years? FLIP FLOP!

I flip flop myself all the time. Here at AeroCom, we embrace constant change and our employees and I often talk about trying to find the balance between staying the course and evolution. Today’s fast paced business environment is insane and our access to the “latest and greatest” ideas is at an all time high.

You people in IT know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been dragged through it too many times to count. AND you are smart and can see the logic better than almost anyone.
What phone system can fit all of the flip flopping and NOT leave you with a wake of sunk and wasted costs, which become hidden company killers? A cloud system my friend.

Here are SIX big reasons why companies are going to the cloud for their contact center:

1. Speed. If management walks in and says they want to add online chat and integrate it with email… done. You’re doing it within 30 days. You can satiate the company’s appetite for rapid implementation. No longer does it take six months to implement a new idea.

2. Experimentation. You’re not married to your ideas. After all, you never know what the results will be until you actually try something for six months. With a cloud system, you can turn on chat for a month or two, then turn it off. Get a big client that demands IVR? You can turn on IVR for six months, then kick it to the curb. Re-think it, then do it again. Or never again. Your choice, at a whim.

3. DR. Did a blizzard just roll through town? Did an agent’s child get sick? With a cloud-based system, you can send all of your agents a message to work from home today and re-route calls accordingly.

4. Nationwide Agility. With the click of a button, a cloud contact center phone system will allow you to add or remove anyone to a call queue, regardless of which nationwide location they are sitting in.

5. Scalability. You can immediately grow or shrink your cloud phone system costs up or down, at any time.

6. Always have the latest. Do you know what innovations will occur with phones and apps within the next five years? Pull out your cell phone and tell me that five years ago, you could have predicted what your phone would look like and do. If your company has a contact center, your phone system is a HUGE part of your success and you absolutely should always be concerned about whether or not you are leveraging the latest technology. A cloud phone system will always allow you to have the latest technology on the market, as soon as it is available.

Those are six flip flops that you know are true. But you can’t track any of those on the books.

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About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been helping companies with telecom and cloud services since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.