Time to Lift Off from On-Premises and Move to the Cloud

Why are so many contact centers still so slow to migrate to the cloud? Is it due to the complexity of moving off-premises, security due to the remote/hybrid work environment or cost? With the current economy, and many questions around migrating to the cloud, it's reasonable to be hesitant about upgrading. But with the demand coming from agents for more empathy and emotional support, along with the longer, more complex calls coming into contact centers, now is not the time to stick with an outdated legacy system.  

Change is hard but is inevitable in today’s digital world. Yet according to Shelia McGee-Smith, founder of McGee-Smith Analytics, 70 percent of agent seats are still on-premises! Customer experience is critical when it comes to building brand loyalty and gaining new customers. No longer can brands afford long wait times when customers need help, or a rise in dropped calls when Chat Bots do not do their job collecting and distributing detailed information to agents. Customers are pickier and less patient in today’s digital world. And with the Avaya news and their struggle to migrate legacy to the cloud, many questions are arising.  

Before you start your migration, there are some key things to consider, as it should not be a simple “let’s digitally transform.” For instance, do you know where to begin? What are the biggest pain points? A good place to begin may be with episode 10 of the "Dare to Reimagine" podcast featuring Sheila McGee-Smith and Blackchair CEO, Jason Owen.  In this episode, they talk about key business challenges that need fixing when considering updating. Many might say, “I’ll stay with my on-premises provider and just upgrade.” But is that really in your contact center's best interest?  

If you must completely start over (rip and replace), we recommend looking at the market to make the best decision. Reassess your operational and customer service needs. Do your research and you improve your chances of picking the best solution for your specific enterprise contact center needs. 

Together with partner Blackchair, we are offering customers (including Avaya customers that may be rethinking things), the opportunity to easily migrate to the cloud, leaving on-premises contact centers in the dust and enabling your workforce with AI and collaborative intelligence. 

Recently, Five9 commissioned Forrester to do a study showing the financial benefits and savings for large enterprises when they migrated to the cloud. "We are making our agents more efficient by automating the front-end support by bringing in the chat bots and IVAs,” was one comment from an IT manager in automotive retail, said when being interviewed for the study. The report highlights the benefits of migration cost saving and the ROI when leaving old legacy systems behind.  

Ask your team when evaluating technology solutions, what do you they want to fix, or in the words of Jason Owens, “What do you want to design out?” An article published earlier this summer from Sheila McGee-Smith, Moving to CCaas? Take a Clairty Bath First, highlights enterprises that made the jump to the cloud. She discusses what one should learn from history, how to re-evaluate and avoid a repeat, and how to avoid a copy/paste version of what you currently have in place. 

Know that migrating to the cloud is not as difficult as some make it out to be. In fact, working with the right partners can help with timing, cutting costs and ensuring you have the reliable, secure infrastructure your business needs to help agents become more productive and happier. Workforce engagement is equally as important as agent experience. A happier contact center agent means better customer service.   

Meeting the needs of today’s ever-changing customer is today’s challenge and means it is time to rethink your CX capabilities and strategy. Moving off on-premises and into the cloud enables you to automate mundane tasks, provide agents with details to further help complex calls, keep customers happy without having to repeat information, and cut overall costs. Through the right tools, you can empower your agents to be more connected, empathic, as well as more focused on your customers throughout the entire journey. In addition, you gain the flexibility and scalability to meet your customers' needs without the complex, time-consuming upgrades and hidden costs. 

Contact Five9 for more information on how you can migrate, and we can help make the transition go smoothly--cutting your operational costs and giving your agents and customers the ultimate positive experience.