The Best Cloud Call Center Software: Desk Phones

Your company is interested in a new call center software, but you’re uncertain whether your agents should use a desk phone, soft phone, or both?

In this video I explain which questions you should ask yourself about:

1. Are your agents multitasking?
2. Are your agents moving?
3. What features do your agents need?
4. Are your agents doing omnichannel tasks?

Want my recommendations on the best cloud call center software solutions to quote for your organization’s requirements? Click the button below to ask me today.

About Me

Mike Smith has been helping companies select the best telecom, WAN, security, and cloud services since 1999. He founded AeroCom in 2003, and has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards, including being recognized as one of the top 40 business people in tech-heavy Orange County, CA. Follow Mike on YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit and SpiceWorks.

Transcript

Okay, so your company is looking into a new call center software solution and one of the things you should think about are desk phones. So but before I get too far into it, quick plug, if you’d like my recommendation on the best cloud, call center software vendor for your company, hit me up, by email or by phone (714.593.0011). I’d be happy to help. I’ll ask a few questions and I’ll recommend the best two or three vendors you should be quoting and why? And I won’t charge you a thing for my service. More information on that at the end of the video. Also, please don’t forget to like the video if you like it and subscribe to the channel if you like it even more, that’d really be a big favor to me. I’d appreciate it. Okay,

Do your agents need a Deskphone?

so your company is looking into a new call center software solution. Well, one of the things that you should be thinking about is do your call center agents need a desk phone. I know for some of you that’s a ridiculous question because your call center agents are on headsets already. They don’t use a desk phone. But for a lot of people, you know, a lot of companies out there, their agents today are multitasking, and they are using a desk phone. Well, with cloud call center software or contact center software, as some people call it these days, some service providers offer desk phones and some do not. So with some vendors out there, they do not allow you to use a desk phone. It is a soft phone only application. So if your company needs desk phones, that’s definitely something you want to think about up front.

Are your agents multitasking?

But going a little bit deeper does your company need a desk phone? What questions should you be asking? And you’re probably wondering, I don’t know if we really do need a desk phone. Maybe, maybe your call center agents are saying they do need one, but how do you know if they really need one? Well, one question you need to ask is, are they multitasking? Are they sitting there just answering the phones all day long or making calls all day long? And, you know, if it’s just that if they’re not multitasking, like meaning that they’re not ever doing anything else inside your company other than being on the phone. 24/7, that’s something to think about. Because if that’s the case, you might not need a desk phone.

Are your agents moving?

Also, something to think about is are they on the move? So are they sitting in one place all the time or are they moving around? Like are they mobile or are they sometimes on a mobile app and receiving calls or sometimes are they working from home and are receiving calls then coming in the office and receiving calls? So if they have a desk phone and they’re moving around a little bit, it’s not as easy to use a desk phone if you’re sometimes working from home sometimes, or working from the office.

What features does your agent need?

Probably the biggest one in my mind that you should be thinking about, though, is what type of features is the employee meeting or is the call center agent needing to use for your call center? Is it just calls coming in and they’re just answering the phones or are they doing things like processing credit card transactions as well as being on the phone? So are they having to do things on their computer anyway? Because if they are, you might as well be using a cell phone application that integrates, you know, PCI compliance and things like that into it, as opposed to having them take calls with their desk phone and then having to go to their computer anyway to do other applications if they’re having to go to their computer anyway to process things on the call, then they might as well just use a soft phone.

Are your agents doing omnichannel tasks?

The desk phone is just maybe out of their old school convenience. Old school habits that they’re using. So you might want to think of it that way. Another big one to think about, in addition to just features alone, kind of going along the same lines is features, is omnichannel. Is it just phone calls that they’re taking or sometimes are your call center agents doing more than just taking phone calls? Are they answering chats from the website, chat inquiries? Are they responding to emails that come in, that come into their queue? You know, are they responding to social social media? Are they replying to text messages? All those things add up. And if you’re doing that, you’re going to need a soft phone to answer those things in the queue, to answer chats, to answer SMS, text messages, to answer emails. Those are all going to be things that obviously you can’t do on a desk phone. So if your call center agents are doing omnichannel tasks and doing omnichannel queuing, then they don’t really need a desk phone. In my opinion, you should just scrap it and go to a softphone only. So then you won’t have to worry about vendors.

Conclusion

You know, whether or not they allow desk phones or not. Okay. So I hope that helped a little bit. If so, don’t forget to hit the like button down, down below and subscribe to the channel. And again, if you like, my recommendation on the best cloud contact Center software vendors for your company to, quote, reach out, contact me, by email or by phone (714.593.0011). I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I know every single major vendor in the marketplace, and I know what their niches are. So based on some questions, I’ll ask your company all know, Hey, if I put myself in your shoes and say, If I were you, here’s the 3 to 5 vendors that I would definitely quote and I’ll tell you why. And not only that, I will introduce you to the best reps to work with at those companies and oversee the quoting process. And the nice thing is, is is I will pay you or I won’t charge you anything for my service. The service providers actually pay me my broker fee so you don’t have to pay me a thing. So there’s absolutely no reason not to at least reach out and see what my opinion is on this stuff. All right. So it’s a way to say thank you. If you enjoyed the video, if you got something out of it, the way you can say thank you is ask me for a quote. I’d love to help. I love talking about this stuff all day long, so I hope to hear from you soon and I will catch you on the next video.