What is an enterprise contact center?

An enterprise contact center is a communications platform that helps brands conduct and manage customer interactions across various channels and platforms.

An enterprise contact center isn’t just about interacting with customers; it’s also about managing those interactions and drawing insights from them.

For example, a good enterprise contact center will include features like centralized databases, CRM integrations, AI assistance, and sophisticated analytics.

What is an enterprise contact center platform?

An enterprise contact center platform is a hub for all communications solutions. It helps large businesses manage customer touchpoints and customer relations holistically.

Your enterprise contact center platform doesn’t just focus on communications channels. It will also use communications APIs to pull data from a customer’s journey.

For example, if a customer is experiencing problems with a subscription, the agent handling their case could quickly access their entire journey with the brand, including usage stats, purchase history, and interaction history.

This will help the agent pinpoint the problem and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

What are the benefits of using an enterprise cloud contact center solution?

Using enterprise cloud contact center software can be a game-changer for companies and customers. Here are just some of the benefits of using an enterprise cloud contact center:

Improved customer experience

One of the greatest benefits of contact center software for enterprises is that it’s great for customer experience.

Customers who contact a business through an enterprise cloud contact center benefit from quick and easy call routing, personalized service, a swift and effective resolution, and more.

All of this leaves a great impression on the customer, which, in turn, has a hugely positive impact on your brand reputation.

Scalability and flexibility

The beauty of cloud software is that it’s easier to scale than on-premises solutions. Because all the necessary infrastructure is in the cloud, businesses can quickly upgrade or downgrade their cloud contact center solutions.

It’s easy to increase or decrease the number of active agents, bring in new features, or remove ones no longer needed.

This kind of flexibility is useful not only as businesses grow. It also helps handle seasonal fluctuations and moderate staff volumes at peak and quiet times without over or underinvesting.

Cost efficiency

Cloud software can bring businesses significant savings. When you opt for a cloud-based contact center, the associated costs are much lower than those of on-premises solutions.

Resource allocation also becomes easier and more efficient with a cloud-based model. Features like automated workflows, intelligent call routing, intensive agent support, etc., all boost productivity and speed up processes, which is fantastic for ROI.

Advanced features

Good enterprise cloud contact center software offers a lot of advanced features. For example, many cloud contact center solutions offer integrated AI that has a variety of use cases, such as:

• Enabling customers to solve their problems without having to wait on hold

• Prompting agents with valuable advice

• Alerting supervisors when something isn’t going as well as it should

• Gathering data and yielding valuable insights

These features are great for customer experience and provide valuable support for contact center staff.

Enterprise contact center software features

A good enterprise contact center will offer a range of useful features. Here are some of the features you should expect from enterprise cloud contact center software:

Robust security

Security and compliance with regulations are essential for enterprise-level organizations. Failure to properly protect customer data can result in heavy penalties and severe damage to a business’s reputation.

Contact centers gather a wealth of data every day, and enterprise cloud contact centers, thanks to their advanced data and analytics features, collect and analyze more data than traditional solutions. So they must have strong security and privacy protocols in place.

Good cloud contact center solutions will implement top-notch security systems. These systems and their features will be regularly maintained and updated as often as possible.

Reporting and analytics

Contact centers receive and use large amounts of data daily. To make that data useful, it needs to be organized, analyzed, and sorted into insightful reports.

Reporting and analytics suites will automatically do all of this for you. All you have to do is tell your software which metrics you want to track and why you’re tracking them. For example, you might want to track customer satisfaction metrics to ensure that you’re providing a consistently high customer experience.

Your software will then diligently track and monitor the selected metrics, deliver reports containing valuable insights, and flag important changes.

Omnichannel support

Traditionally, if people wanted to contact a business quickly, they would phone the business and speak to an agent. Now, there are plenty of other communication options available — good news since Millennials and Gen Z are notorious for their dislike of talking on the phone.

So contact centers must have omnichannel software that enables customers to communicate with businesses via numerous channels, including SMS, instant messaging, AI chatbots, and email.

A good omnichannel contact center will centralize all of these channels so that agents can seamlessly communicate with customers on whichever channel they prefer and even switch among multiple channels if that’s what’s best for the customer.

Intelligent routing

Intelligent call routing helps customers reach the right department and agent for their situation. It also saves agents time that might otherwise be spent passing customers from person to person until they find someone who can help.

More importantly, it also saves customers a lot of frustration and time on hold.

Much of intelligent call routing can be done automatically. To speed things up even more, many contact centers offer intelligent voice response (IVR), which allows customers to verbalize what they’re calling about. IVR software can recognize a customer’s needs from this and route the call accordingly.

AI and machine learning tools

AI and machine learning tools have many use cases within an enterprise-level contact center. First, they’re fantastic at drawing sophisticated insights from data and using those insights to boost contact center performance.

For example, an AI assistant can use vocal and linguistic cues to pick up on how a customer feels and subsequently alert a supervisor when it senses a customer is becoming frustrated. It can also use past data insights to help agents get the conversation back on track.

AI chatbots can also provide sophisticated, personalized customer interactions that take pressure off your human staff. Speaking to an AI chatbot means customers don’t have to wait on hold and can get their queries answered quickly.

AI chatbots are capable of sophisticated problem-solving and can help with a wide range of customer issues.

CRM integration

Integration with your CRM (customer relationship management) solution and other tools and platforms can provide a range of benefits for your communications strategy.

Your CRM software is a goldmine of data that can be highly valuable for your contact center. Easy access to your CRM helps your agents and AIs get a holistic picture of each customer’s individual customer journey, circumstances, and needs.

With CRM integration, transferring data from your contact center to your CRM and vice versa is easy. This benefits your entire business, as adding contact center data to your CRM also enhances your business's overall picture of each customer.

Workforce management features

Workforce management tools can make your contact center much more productive and efficient, while simultaneously reducing pressure on your staff.

You can use integrated workforce management tools for scheduling, monitoring, and forecasting.

Monitoring and pattern-spotting tools are particularly helpful for staff training and support. Employee monitoring tools can identify high-performing employees who deserve to be praised and rewarded but may otherwise have flown under the radar. They can also identify when a staff member needs extra support.

Customer self-service facilities

According to a Gartner survey, 38% of millennials and Gen Z customers say they’re likely to give up on an issue if they can’t resolve it with self-service options. They would rather switch to another brand than call up a contact center.

So self-service facilities are a vital feature of enterprise contact center solutions. Self-service features can include performing routine tasks (such as redeeming PAY-G voucher codes) via SMS, talking to AI chatbots, or using IVR for tasks like checking the status of an order.

Types of enterprise contact centers

Enterprise contact centers can have a range of functions and specialties. Here are the three main types of enterprise contact center:

1. Inbound enterprise contact centers

Inbound enterprise contact centers handle incoming customer interactions. For example, inbound contact center staff would answer customer calls rather than make calls.

Inbound contact centers normally solve customer problems and answer customer queries. They often provide tech support and helpdesk services.

2. Outbound enterprise contact centers

Outbound enterprise contact centers are more focused on outreach than their inbound counterparts. They’re used for sales, marketing, follow-up, lead generation, and other functions that involve brands reaching out to customers and potential customers.

3. Blended enterprise contact centers

Blended enterprise contact centers provide a combination of inbound and outbound functions. To facilitate this, they may have outbound features like lead generation tools and inbound features like IVR and automated call routing.

Industries that are using enterprise contact center software

Enterprise contact centers are commonly used in many industries. Let’s take a look at how they’re used in some of the most prominent ones:

Healthcare

Healthcare providers both receive and make a lot of communications. Enterprise contact center software helps people do various things quickly, efficiently, and confidentially.

Among other things, enterprise contact centers are used in healthcare for:

• Scheduling appointments

• Providing test results

• Patient inquiries and support

• Telephone consultations

• Virtual care (for example, video appointments with therapists)

• Emergency and after-hours help

• Data collection

Real estate

Contact centers help real estate businesses streamline customer inquiries, optimize sales processes, generate leads, and more. Here are just some of the ways that a real estate business could use an enterprise contact center solution:

• Lead generation

• Customer inquiries

• Scheduling viewings

• Sending out property information

• Notifying potential customers of properties they might like

• Virtual property tours

• Mortgage assistance

• Data collection

• Follow-up services

Ecommerce

Enterprise contact centers are widely used in ecommerce. They have several use cases within this industry, including:

• Sales inquiries

• Technical support

• Order management

• Order tracking

• Returns and exchanges

• Sales support

• Getting customer feedback

• Data gathering

• Handling complaints

• Marketing and promotions

• Sales outreach

• Lead generation

SaaS

Companies providing software as a service must stay in frequent contact with their customers to encourage them to renew their subscriptions and troubleshoot any issues they may be having. SaaS businesses use contact centers for:

• Subscription management

• Marketing and promotions

• Building customer loyalty

• Technical support

• Onboarding and setup

• Upselling

• Gathering customer feedback

• Troubleshooting

Challenges and considerations of enterprise contact center solutions

Implementing and using an enterprise contact center solution isn’t without its challenges. Here are some you might face and things you should take into consideration when using an enterprise contact center:

• Integration with existing tech stack: Your contact center will work much more smoothly if you integrate it with your existing tech stack. Otherwise, you may have to hop from platform to platform and need help integrating incompatible software.

• Onboarding: Staff onboarding can be lengthy, and your contact center’s more advanced features may present a steep learning curve.

• Maintenance costs: If you opt for an on-premises system that you maintain yourself, maintenance and repairs can be frequent and costly. A cloud-based solution reduces the need for in-house maintenance, but you’ll still need to monitor and maintain your solution to some extent.

• Implementation: Depending on your chosen solution, implementing your new contact center and transitioning from your old solution can take time, resulting in a lot of downtime.

• Handling high call volumes: Contact volumes tend to fluctuate depending on the season, the time of day, current product issues, and other factors. Managing this ebb and flow is difficult if your contact center infrastructure isn’t flexible enough.

Top tips for what you should look for when choosing an enterprise contact center solution

What should you think about when picking an enterprise contact center solution? What features will make your customers happy and give you an edge over the competition?

Here are some ideas:

Omnichannel support

Omnichannel support integrates all your communication channels, including digital channels like social media. This not only gives customers multiple ways to contact you, but it also provides your agents with a holistic overview of all customer interactions.

This centralized all-channel system means that customers don’t have to repeat themselves when switching channels or agents, allowing for much swifter resolutions.

AI features

AI can enhance your contact center in various ways, from enhanced data gathering and analytics to helping customers solve their own problems.

AI chatbots can take on a variety of customer interactions, freeing up your agents for customers who need that human touch and speeding their customers through to a hassle-free resolution.

Similarly, AI can “chat” with your agents, providing valuable real-time data-based insights that can help your agents steer each conversation toward a successful outcome.

Workforce management tools

Workforce management tools can make life much easier for your contact center staff. They can streamline workflows, automatically handle scheduling, monitor performance, and even offer support or flag problems when needed. The result is a lean, efficient contact center with a happy and productive workforce.

CRM integration

Your CRM (customer relationship management) software is an incredibly valuable resource. It gathers and provides a wealth of customer data that can be used for everything from personalizing customer journeys to optimizing marketing campaigns.

If your contact center has seamless access to your CRM, it will also have valuable customer insights and be able to augment your CRM with customer interaction data.

Scalability

Scalability, both upward and downward, is something to consider when choosing a contact center solution. Most contact centers experience flux in call volumes, and those fluctuations can sometimes be extreme, e.g., universities might experience a sharp rise in contact during enrollment season.

So it’s useful if your solution can quickly expand and contract in accordance with these fluctuations. Look for contact center software that can easily add and remove extra agents whenever needed.

Security and compliance

Robust security features are essential to protecting your customers’ data and ensuring compliance. Look for a solution that’s committed to cybersecurity and has a range of security and compliance certifications to prove its dedication.

Choose an enterprise contact center solution that can handle complex customer service needs

The right enterprise contact center solution can make an enormous difference to your customer experience and bring big positive changes for your business.

But it’s important to pick the right solution for your business. Not all contact center platforms offer the perfect blend of features and services.

Vonage is known for providing an enhanced customer experience, both for the businesses they serve and the customers of those businesses. The use of AI is game-changing and provides exceptional outcomes for staff and customers alike.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.