Virtual Contact Center Technical Support - What Happens Post Deployment
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The document discusses the importance of evaluating technical support for hosted contact center solutions post-deployment, highlighting potential challenges like limited resources and the qualifications of support staff. It provides a list of markers and critical questions to assess vendor capabilities, ensuring reliable uptime and effective problem resolution. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for proactive communication and regular support meetings to enhance the overall customer service experience.
Virtual Contact Center Technical Support - What Happens Post Deployment
- 1. What Happens When They are Gone? What to Look for in a Hosted Contact Center Technical Support Group ....... Post Deployment
- 2. What happens after your Cloud-based Contact Center is Deployed? Will your vendor be capable of delivering uptime and support after the high intensity deployment? You’ve made your selection You like your salesperson Deployment seems OK What happens when they’re gone? 2
- 3. Post Deployment Will your vendor deliver uptime & reliable technical support? – Or…….will they focus on the next new customer? Will you be able to reach your support contact? – Or……. Will you be forced to wait as your vendor scrambles behind the scenes? The presentation will help you to identify “markers” that should cause you to probe a little more before selecting a vendor for hosted contact center and IVR solutions 3
- 4. Why is Hosted Contact Center & IVR Technical Support So Important? A cloud contact center support organization should provide: Confidence that the entire system performs as intended. Confidence that the system performs when unexpected situations arise. Confidence that issues are resolved quickly even when beyond normally reasonable expectations. 4
- 5. Technical Issues that Challenge Support Organizations Networking & Telephony Call Switching and IP – Some organizations familiar with only one SIP Compatibility – Some organizations not familiar with SIP integration challenges System & Transport Integration Carrier integration with enterprise systems – Few organizations have deep experience with high volume telco connectivity Call Volume Fluctuations Call spikes frequently challenge many Support organizations – Engineering expertise is sometime unavailable 5
- 6. Organizational Issues that Challenge Support Organizations Limited resources for Support Dedicated Support Staff in place? – Development engineers frequently double as support – Are they available when you need them? Support might not be a primary focus Are they focusing on the next Deployment? – Generate new revenue at the expense of existing customers? Support Expertise Enough Support staff to specialize? – “Jack of all trades” support frequently results in sub-optimal issue resolution. 6
- 7. Hosted Contact Center Support “Markers” Red Flags to investigate when evaluating a vendor’s Hosted Contact Center Support organization. 7
- 8. Support Organization “Markers” to be concerned with Ask more questions when you see……… The Harried Sales Person – Single point of contact to Support – Relays information to the Support organization – Usually energetic ( or they would not have lasted) The Issues – Not their primary responsibility – Need to focus on sales! – Problem resolution delays due to sales to support communication. – Lack of proactive Support communications as most contact must funnel through this sales “choke point”. 8
- 9. Support Organization “Markers” to be concerned with Ask more questions when you see……… The “Legend” – Usually from the Development Team – Has some level of knowledge about the entire infrastructure – You will be impressed The Issues – Usually only (1) Legend, especially in small organizations – Becomes increasingly scarce, especially after deployment as Legends get pulled in multiple directions – Response delays as junior team members wait for assistance from the Legend 9
- 10. Support Organization “Markers” to be concerned with Ask more questions when you see……… The “Multi-Titled” Exec – Responsible for more than a Support Group – Mentions benefits of cross-department communication – Shows up to promise results The Issues – Support can take a backset to development – Cross-department communications actually isn’t that good. – The Multi-Titled exec frequently become less available post- deployment as they move on to other customers 10
- 11. 7 Questions to Answer When Evaluating Hosted Contact Center Support 11
- 12. #1….Number of Dedicated Support Staff? How many are actually focused on Support? – Look out for Development Engineers counted as Support Staff. Is it a Support “Team” or more of one person pulling resources together? – Look out for the “Legend” where bottlenecks will occur. Ask about around the clock availability. – A limited support staff will have difficulty with 7x24 response. 12
- 13. #2….Is there a NOC? Does the Hosted Contact Center vendor maintain their own Network Operations Center (NOC)? – Look out for a NOC supported by a “partner”, which might indicate less control and potentially higher costs. Is the NOC staffed for proactive monitoring as well as troubleshooting? – Look out for “reaction only” or exclusive redline monitoring Is there a range of monitoring and reporting tools – A wide range or tools will indicate support for proactive outreach as well as response for troubleshooting. 13
- 14. #3….Experienced Support Organization? Ask about the years of service for the Support staff beyond 1 or 2 lead managers. – Look out for inexperienced engineers recently repurposed in Support. Does the Support staff have experience across networking, telephony, applications, and voice automation? – Look out for situations where a vendor is relying on a partner for a resource (such as speech recognition) and also its technical support which adds another layer with accompanying delays & cost, Are experience staff dedicated to support? – Some “share” personnel with development, making proactive outreach minimal and troubleshooting inconsistent 14
- 15. #4….Network Operations Knowledge? Is there expertise to handle integration issues? – Look out for situations where a support organization has not encountered a variety of IP and SIP challenges. Are there any network “specialists”? – Look out for a lean Support organization where everyone must cover many areas with some that may be out of their level of expertise. Has the Support Staff encountered complex networking environments? – Look for a Support organization that has successfully integrated systems that require high volume processing, secure infrastructures and multiple network and API protocols. 15
- 16. #5….Proactive Monitoring? Will the Support staff reach out when there is not a problem? – Look out for Support teams that cannot provide evidence of suggested solution BEFORE a problem appears. Does the Support team monitor and analyze? – Look out for a Support group that only references response times. Will the Support staff suggest alternative configurations or process adjustments? – A Support organization directed toward persistent optimization will have evidence of improvements made due to proactive analysis, suggestion and implementation. 16
- 17. #6…. Direct Support Staff Relationships? Does the hosted contact center Support staff establish direct relationships? – Look out for situations where all communication must be channeled through a single point such as the “Harried Salesperson”. Is there a channel for regular communication? – Look out for a Support group that claims to provide proactive outreach as well as troubleshooting but does not establish a regular channel of direct communication. Are there regular meetings and/or quarterly updates? – A good hosted contact center support organization will perform as an extension of your internal team, not simply a contact when a problem appears. 17
- 18. #7….Experience with Meaningful Call Volume? Has the hosted contact center Support group managed situations with high call volume? – Look out for Support organizations that have only faced relatively low call volumes Ask about experience with unexpected call volumes? – Look out for groups that reference how they stepped into assist but with lower call volumes (thousands per day). That could indicate little experience when faced with high call volume spike conditions. Are processes in place as call surges build? – Look for evidence where a Support organization has implemented procedures and strategies to deal with call spikes as they build, not simply for the aftermath. 18
- 19. Hosted Contact Center Relationship When They are Gone…….Post Deployment 19
- 20. Post Deployment …….Support Availability Is Support Immediately Available? – A common complaint is difficulty reaching someone in Hosted Contact Center Support that can make a difference for a current issue. What Happens Outside of 9-5, Monday – Friday? – Make sure that experienced Support personnel are on the job. After hours Support can especially be a problem for Hosted Contact Center providers that do not own a NOC (Network Operations Center). 20
- 21. Post Deployment…….Ticketing Keeping track of inquiries and issues – Multiple people from your team may be submitting. Look for Hosted Contact Center Support with an easy to use ticketing system – Availability of a knowledge base makes immediate self help a resource for solving a problem or research for optimization Open a Ticket Tracking Issues Knowledge Base 21
- 22. Post Deployment …….. Support Relationship Regular Support Meetings – Establish a schedule for regular conference call or meeting with the Hosted Contact Center Support staff – Encourage communication dialog that explores potential issues (such as call spikes) or opportunities (such as partial automation of incoming calls) beyond basic troubleshooting. 22
- 23. Conclusion Make Hosted Contact Center Support a Key Element Within Your Vendor Selection Process – The level of competency will either become an important contributor to success or a reason for failure. Answer the 7 Questions – Every Hosted Contact Center vendor claims “GREAT” Support. Take a closer look to understand what will actually happen post deployment. Engage with your Support team – Work closely with Support beyond problem resolution to proactive reveal opportunities that can contribute to customer care and cost savings. 23
- 24. About VoltDelta Virtual Contact Center & Voice Self-Service Solutions Data Centers and Customer Care applications within and beyond North America More than 2 Billion calls/year at 99.99% reliability Multi-Channel solutions with CRM integration 24
- 25. Contact VoltDelta www.voltdelta.com/resources/support info@VoltDelta.com twitter.com/voltdeltanews VoltDelta is part of the Volt Information Sciences family of Talent, Technology and Consulting organizations. Please visit www.volt.com The information contained herein is provided for information purposes only, is intended only to outline (VoltDelta’s) presently anticipated general technology direction and is therefore subject to change. The information communicated is not an obligation to deliver any product, product feature, service, service feature, software, software upgrade or functionality and VoltDelta’s version of the (Hosted Solution operating system) may vary. None of the information should be interpreted as a commitment on the part of VoltDelta. 25