The case for moving contact centres to hosted call centres

15 Mar 2011

Cutting the costs of contact centres by between 30-45% is possible by outsourcing to a hosted contact centre solution, based on the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model, thus eliminating the need for companies to buy, implement and maintain call centre technology. The technology is outsourced to the hosting provider, which assumes responsibility for maintaining the technology.

Bruce von Maltitz

Hosted contact centres provide contact centre technology on a monthly per-seat basis, enabling companies to deploy what they need when they need it. All an agent needs to access the system is a PC and a USB headset.

Seven primary cost saving factors

Predictable operating costs - with on-premises solutions, an increase in calls usually means an increase in costs, but this can lead to serious problems for companies working with a limited budget. Hosted contact centres allows for a single monthly price per seat, which includes support, upgrades and maintenance.
No capital costs - unlike premises based solutions, there are no capital costs associated with hosted contact centres. All that is needed is a PC and an agent to answer calls.
Reduced risk related costs - even the most smoothly run businesses are not immune to unforeseen changes. For this reason, many companies choose to purchase over capacity when starting a premise-based contact centre. Hosted contact centres eliminate the need for the surplus resources, but still allow for easy adjustments to meet a company's demand.
No technology upgrade costs - as technology develops, the need for upgrading increases. Since companies only pay the monthly price of the seat, all necessary upgrades are taken care of by the hosting company. Therefore, there are no hidden costs and no problems with rolling out new releases.
Lower operating costs - by having a hosted solution a company can ensure that they are operating at an optimum level. With on-premise solutions, a company has to ensure it is able to operate at its peak at all times. When demand drops, that capacity can sit idle, costing the company money in maintenance and support. A hosted solution allows users to only pay for what they use, eliminating wasted expenses as it only pays for its immediate demand.
No technology support costs - contact centre hardware and software requires highly skilled technical support staff to keep it operational. The hosted contact centre provider assumes responsibility for managing the technology and as this is done centrally they achieve significant economies of scale.
Increased business efficiency through focus on core business - contact centres are complex environments, when problems arise often the most talented staff is drawn into working on them. In hosted environments this does not happen as the hosting provider assumes responsibility for managing issues like integration, maintenance, upgrades, backups, licensing and all the other things that otherwise tend to eat up contact centre managers' time. Hosting also provides access to cheaper technology with faster turnaround time which allows operators to keep their focus on their most valuable resource, the people.

1Stream has an award-winning platform that is designed to serve customers of all sizes, providing a pay-per-use access to world-class technology. For more information, go to www.1stream.co.za.