Customer expectations with regard to customer service are continuously growing. If businesses want to meet these expectations, they need to optimize their current environment. In order to do that, they need to switch to the technology that ensures smooth customer service. That, in turn, can also strengthen the loyalty of the customers, which leads to the company gaining competitive edge over its competitors.
Continuous development of call centre technologies gives companies flexibility, comfort in use and allows them to optimise their costs. To cope with the limitations of older systems and address the customers’ changing needs and behaviour, companies need solutions based on automation, reliability and flexibility. All this can be found in hosted solutions (cloud-based call centre systems).
Learn more about hosted call centre systems
Many businesses in call centre sector still use obsolete systems and maintain the critical data of their customers with the help of traditional local solutions. Of course, an on-premise PBX has its pros and cons: companies that choose this solution, are responsible for maintaining and upgrading of their software and need IT professionals. They also need to make all the strategic and budget decisions, from the system set-up to operational costs. Another significant factor related to an on-premise phone system is that a company using such a solution is responsible for the security and privacy of its customers’ personal data.
Hosted phone system
A hosted PBX is a service offered by a provider that owns and operates a call centre technology. It delivers its services remotely to companies as a subscription model. Such solutions gain more and more popularity due to the advantages they offer, such as enhanced interactions with customers, improved customer satisfaction, reliable contact and data security. Furthermore, a hosted PBX does not require that the company own phone system hardware, thus eliminating the need of maintenance and upgrading.
Is it worth to choose a hosted PBX instead of an on-premise one?
TRADITIONAL VS. HOSTED CALL CENTRE SYSTEMS
IMPLEMENTATIONS
| On-premise solution | Cloud-based solution |
| Time-consuming: you need to plan necessary hardware, obtain a license, set up the system and ensure the compatibility of software. | Easy installation and quick deployment, does not require hardware maintenance and is ready to use right after the deployment. |
TRADITIONAL VS. HOSTED CALL CENTRE SYSTEMS
OPERATIONAL COSTS
| On-premise solution | Cloud-based solution |
| The costs of set-up include the purchase of hardware (servers, headsets or phones, computers, etc.), licenses, server room and upgrading of software. | No costs related to hardware, hosted systems do not require significant deployment costs. Reliable Internet connections are required. Users are charged for actual use. |
TRADITIONAL VS. HOSTED CALL CENTRE SYSTEMS
Business operations
| On-premise solution | Cloud-based solution |
| If the number of agents changes, it is difficult to ensure flexibility of hardware maintenance, as it requires modifying of the systems, licenses etc. In the case of local deployments agents cannot work remotely. The company is not able to serve its customers 24/7/365, which might lead to losing valuable customers. As the call centre grows bigger, scaling becomes necessary; it is a slow process, as you have to bear the costs of new hardware and architecture in order to ensure smooth operation. | Call centre software is flexible and responds to scaling according to the expectations. Since hosted phone systems are offered as subscription services, it is easy to add or remove users. Cloud-based systems allow for agents to work remotely via a strong Internet connection, regardless of their location. Companies do not need to purchase any new hardware systems. |
TRADITIONAL VS. HOSTED CALL CENTRE SYSTEMS
RELIABILITY
| On-premise solution | Cloud-based solution |
| One of the main advantages of on-premise systems over hosted systems is the quality of the connection. The disadvantage is that a system breakdown might occur, which will affect call centre efficiency. | Hosted phone systems depend on reliable Internet connections. With such connections the system will run smoothly and without problems. |
Businesses in call centre sector switch to hosted systems due to multiple advantages these solutions offer, such as quick and easy deployment, greater flexibility and scalability, increased data security and effective management of agents working off-premise. The superiority of hosted phone systems has been confirmed by a number of market studies:
- It is estimated that the market of hosted contact centres will reach the value of USD 24.11 billion in 2023 with CAGR of 25%. – MarketWatch 2018
- In 2008 the ratio for hosted PBXs was 2.2%. Since 2017, 62% of businesses switched to this solution. – Talkdesk)
- Hosted contact centre systems are cheaper by 27% and have 35% fewer operational disruptions, compared to their on-premise counterparts. – Talkdesk
- 50% of contact centres that do not use hosted solutions stated that they will start using them by the end of 2020 in order to implement multi-channel customer service. – Masvoz
