As a Service

Written by Jessica Alba

One of the ways companies can utilize call center software is to contract with software as a service providers or SaaS companies.

What does Software as a Service mean?

Software as a Service means that the software is hosted by a company on their equipment or uploaded to your site and you utilize the software under a monthly license fee. You get the software and guidance for setting up a call center without buying an expensive telephone system, ACD and IVR equipment. It is a pay as you go type plan with all the features built in and ready to go.

You can usually choose the type of package you want with the features and service options that you need, without buying the entire software program and all the equipment to go with it. Often using SaaS options mean you can start a call center or make changes within hours instead of weeks or months.

Benefits

Virtual or hosted call center software can reduce startup costs, keep ongoing operational costs under control and steady, and allow small businesses to operate and utilize the same functionality as larger premise-based businesses. SaaS companies can help call centers improve customer satisfaction by providing services and features that otherwise might not be affordable. Call centers can utilize flexible staffing options that include having remote agents working from home, in the United States and in other countries.

Starting a call center can be done within forty-eight hours or less. A call center would need agents to have a computer with headset plugged in, and broadband internet service. The hosted call center software company will do the rest.

Once the original set up has been completed, the call center management team can manage the agents with reporting and the ability to add, delete and make changes at will.

Utilizing software as a service provider means your company faces no capital expenditures. You won’t have to provide expensive infrastructure or pay and wait for telephone lines to be installed. You won’t have to maintain equipment or hire programmers. The service provider will maintain the equipment, disaster recovery plans, maintenance and upgrades for the call center.

If you need additional lines for seasonal peaks, or want the flexibility to manage a special campaign that lasts a short period of time, you can be flexible without having to add and subtract hard resources. There is no need to increase space, buy more office furniture and add more telephone lines.

On Demand Call Center

Imagine being able to respond to clients immediately. As soon as you can hire agents, your service can be configured, up and running in the increments that you can handle. There are tools that let you scale up or down as needed. Whether you have ten agents, or hundreds of agents you can get the features, reporting and functionality your business requires.

Inbound Call Center Features

Many of the SaaS companies provide a suite of services and features specific to Inbound call Centers. These features include automatic call distribution and interactive voice response. The service companies will provide you with Toll-Free numbers and voice recording options.

Even remote agents can be monitored and the system will provide real time and historical reporting. Your company can take advantage of the increased cost advantages of VOIP or Voice over IP service and voicemail for your agents.

Outbound Call Center Features

Features that are specific to Outbound Call Centers include the ability to utilize Predictive Dialers. Predictive Dialing means that the software will dial the next contact without the agent being on the line. When a live body is detected the call is transferred to an available agent.

Industry statistics imply that predictive dialing can increase your customer contact rates by 400%. Agents don’t have to dial the phone, wait for a busy signal or the ringing to end and then hang up and try again when no one answers the phone or the call goes to voicemail or a recording. A good predictive dialer will adjust to the centers calling patterns, the number of agents logged into the system, and what the average call length is running. Many will do this without human intervention.

SaaS companies offer Call Scripting, list management and help you stay in compliance with federal, state and local regulations. You can record calls, utilize voice mail and generate real-time reports.

Summary

If you are researching call center software, make sure you take a look at what the software for a service provider can do for you. Many of the companies have questionnaires online that you can fill out and get an immediate quote.