Legacy, Cloud or Hosted: Which Type of Contact Center Is Right For You?

Before you make any decisions about your business’s contact center, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of the different types of options that are available. The last thing you want to do is invest in one solution, only to wish you had taken another route.

There are three different ways to go about this: You can choose from a legacy, cloud or hosted setup.

Here is a breakdown of each:

Legacy: A legacy contact center is one that operates entirely in-house, using the business’s existing infrastructure, IT staff and agents.

Opinions on legacy contact centers will vary depending on who you talk to. Your IT team, for instance, may prefer a legacy contact center environment because they know the network better than anyone else. But keep in mind that in-house IT professionals may also be leery about outsourcing contact center operations, because they are fearful about losing their jobs.

The major downside to using a legacy contact center is that it will require much higher capital and operational expenditures. A business running a legacy contact center will be responsible for making its own purchases and upgrades. Legacy networks can also put extra strain on IT workers, too, as they require a lot of ongoing maintenance.

Cloud: Cloud contact centers are for businesses that want to keep the majority of their operations in house, without the hassle of managing their own infrastructure.

There are three different cloud models to choose from, including public, private and hybrid. In a public cloud environment, a business will share the same servers as many other different companies. In a private setup, you will have your own servers; and a hybrid model will allow you to use cloud services in conjunction with your legacy network.

Hosted: Conversely, a hosted contact center environment — what InfoCision offers — is one where contact centers services are stored off-site in an entirely managed environment. This is outsourcing at its finest.

This solution is ideal for businesses that are looking to streamline all aspects of customer care, without doing any of the heavy lifting. You won’t have to worry about purchasing or maintaining any network infrastructure or hiring agents. However, as the customer you will still have control over larger processes like branding and strategy.

Keep in mind that not all companies offer the same level of quality, privacy and security in their hosted solutions. So it’s important to do your research and scour the service level agreement (SLA) fine print to make sure you are partnering with a company that aligns with your vision.

So we encourage you to spend some time thinking about what’s right for your business. If you’re looking for some more detailed advice, InfoCision is standing by.

To learn more, contact InfoCision today.