The recent UC Today Partner Summit 2022 covered many current hot topics, one of which is the blending of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Centres as a Service (CCaaS), enabled by the evolution of the cloud. However, while the theory sounds great, turning the potential into tangible revenue is another matter.
During a panel discussion hosted by UC Today’s Rob Scott, our Chief Product Officer, Martin Classen, provided some practical advice for partners to maximise the opportunity.
While dedicated contact centre solutions integrated into back-office functions are still needed for larger enterprises, the vast SOHO/SME segment has different needs. Those customers have some kind of customer service or contact centre requirement. That means bringing them a fully converged UCaaS and CCaaS solution, representing a huge opportunity for partners.
Call centre agents are more on the move. So, solutions with contact centre functionality embedded into mobile phones are needed. This is something Enreach is already doing, especially in the Nordics. Mobility in all aspects of business, including customer service, has grown exponentially in the past couple of years and will continue to do so.
Support for different channels must be addressed and converged, such as mail chat, voice, and more. A customer could want to communicate with a company using several contact channels. So, it is essential to have a unified communications stream across them and switch between them according to the use case. For instance, the first contact could be with a chatbot, then turned into a voice call (or even video) if and when necessary.
Successful cloud contact centre selling requires understanding customer needs, such as the number of agents, the channels that customers use, and the nature of the business. Also, vertical market targeting is another way to add value. Similarly, helping businesses to improve the customer experience adds tangible value, such as using data and artificial intelligence and storing voice transcripts in the CRM system.