When evaluating your options for a private branch exchange, you will often come across the terms: cloud PBX and on-premise PBX. What is the difference between the two services and how do you decide which one you need?
Getting the Right PBX System for Your Business
A PBX, or private branch exchange, is a private telephone network. A PBX system makes internal call management easy and ensures smooth collaboration between different teams and departments within a business.
There are two common types of private branch exchange systems: Cloud-Hosted and On-Premise. And choosing between these two systems depends on a few factors:
What do you need from your phone system?
Do you want to connect multiple office locations through the system?
What communication features do you need?
What is your budget?
Do you have or need to hire an IT team?
The answers to these questions can help you determine which phone system is right for you.
What is a Cloud Hosted PBX?
A cloud PBX is what it sounds like: a private phone exchange that works over the cloud. This means that it does not need a physical space in your office. The host will take care of the maintenance of the system and all you need to do is use it.
You will not have to worry about installing any hardware, saving office space for the system, or high maintenance costs. You won’t even need an on-premise IT team to handle all of it. However, you might not have as much control as with an on-premise system.
How Does an On-Premises PBX Work?
An on-premise PBX system is installed on company premises. This type of phone system is installed, run, and maintained by your company. You might need an experienced IT team to handle such a system.
Choosing Between Cloud PBX vs On-Premises PBX
The bottom line is that if you want a system that is wholly controlled and managed by your in-house IT team, then an on-premises PBX is the choice for you. However, if you don’t want to worry about the hassle of running and maintaining your phone system, then go with the system that’s hosted in the cloud.
Here are the other main differences between the two:
Cloud Hosted PBX
On-Premises
Hosted by your provider
Operated on-site by you
Little to no control over how it operates
Controlled and managed fully by you
No physical space needed
Physical space needed
No installation or maintenance needed
Needs to be installed and maintained regularly
No professional IT experience needed
Needs an experienced IT team to operate the system
United World Telecom has the PBX solutions you need for your business. You can also choose to set up your own IP-PBX system. This way you can take full advantage of SIP to place calls over the internet. Doing so results in better international calling rates at higher scale.
Need to upgrade your contact center software but don’t know where to start? Here’s an in-depth guide to Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) with everything you need to know about cloud contact center software in 2021.
What is Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)?
Contact center as a service, commonly known as CCaaS, is a cloud communication software for businesses and contact or call centers. The most attractive feature of CCaaS is that it enables multichannel communication through one platform. And so, CCaaS is generally used by businesses to help them communicate with customers and leads effectively.
How Does CCaaS Work?
In essence, CCaaS is a call center software based in the cloud; that is, it connects users with essential communication tools virtually. This is a good solution for any company that wants to be in control of its business communication and manage teams from different parts of the world.
Your CCaaS provider is in charge of the software. This means that the provider takes care of developing, updating, and maintaining the software. Your business and employees don’t have to worry about managing hardware or maintaining updates. The tools and features included in such software are designed for easy usage and setup. Additionally, you won’t need a large IT team to make these communications possible.
Since contact center solutions and features benefit sales and customer service teams, sales managers usually make CCaaS purchasing decisions. These leaders look for solutions that make it quick and easy for their teams to connect with clients and leads and move them down the sales funnel.
CCaaS Features
CCaaS solutions were created to help agents and employees quickly and accurately connect with customers. As such, each feature and service involved supports call management, call forwarding and distribution, remote team management, and enhanced caller experience. Some common features include:
By including these features and services, contact center solutions help automate and manage call volumes and call flows more efficiently. With these features and self-service options, CCaaS solutions have grown into a trusted and reliable alternative to traditional contact center solutions and phone systems.
CCaaS vs On-Premise Contact Center Solutions
When it comes to contact center software, businesses have two choices: on-premise or cloud contact center solutions. Deciding which of these solutions is most suitable for your business depends on your business communication needs and budget. Let’s look at the differences between CCaaS and on-premise contact center solutions:
CCaaS
On-Premise
Works virtually; located in the cloud
Located on-site
Enables remote team management
May not be effective for remote team management
No set-up or installation costs
Includes set-up and/or installation costs
Software is hosted, run, and maintained by the provider
Software is run and maintained by the company
In-house IT team not required for maintenance and updates
In-house IT team required for maintenance and updates
Additional hardware and equipment not required
Additional hardware, equipment, and installation may be required
Offers contact center features and services
Offers contact center features and services
High scalability, reliability, and flexibility
High reliability; low scalability and flexibility
Advanced communication features and services
Basic communication features and services
Enables cost-effective international communication
International communication is more expensive
Cheaper
Expensive
Taking note of these differences, you can make a decision for your company based on your company’s size, in-house and remote teams, call traffic, and budget. You may also want to consider what your business hopes to achieve with your contact center solution. Do you want to expand internationally in a cost-effective way or do you want to stay local? Is remote team management a key factor? Do you anticipate scaling up or down and need a solution to back you up? And so on. Answering such questions can help you make an informed decision.
CCaaS and UCaaS: A Business Communication Powerhouse
When looking for communication solutions online, you will often come across a number of viable options. UCaaS refers to Unified Communications as a Service and is growing popular as an internal communication tool.
The main differentiating factor between these two solutions is that UCaaS focuses primarily on internal communication while CCaaS aims to improve customer experience. For this reason, IT managers make purchasing decisions for UCaaS while sales managers make decisions for contact center solutions.
While these solutions work on different aspects of business communication, by bundling UCaaS and CCaaS your business gains a full-fledged communication system that manages both internal and external communication. This way, you can encourage internal collaboration as well as improve customer experience.
Maximize CCaaS with SIP Trunking
CCaaS and SIP trunking together can create a powerhouse for your business phone system. Companies can use SIP trunking to boost their business communication system through hosted cloud solutions. To make unified communications work effectively, your business will need a SIP trunking solution that bundles all necessary telephony solutions together. With SIP trunking, a business can access global coverage are various communication features, all in the same platform, inexpensively. SIP lines are cheaper compared to traditional PSTN solutions, considering the many options the solution offers.
Contact centers and businesses using CCaaS solutions will have multiple locations and customers from around the world. As such, using a single or global SIP trunking provider can prove more useful and cost-effective than working with multiple regional providers. Furthermore, CCaaS and SIP trunking providers offer scalability where a business can expand, as and when needed, without your business having to worry about accommodating compliance with various local regulations. Your provider takes care of everything.
So, why should your business consider getting CCaaS? If your company is looking to upgrade its phone system while keeping costs low, consider cloud contact center solutions. Here are 5 reasons to get CCaaS for business.
1. Better Internal Collaboration
Cloud contact center solutions offer multichannel communication in one place. This means various departments and teams can communicate smoothly and share information in real-time through the same platform. Increase team collaboration between departments by choosing CCaaS.
2. Low Communication-Related Costs
When all essential features and services are available through one platform or service, you do not need additional service or equipment to support your communication needs. In fact, CCaaS is a cloud-based solution that does not require hardware and additional equipment to make it work. Your employees can use existing devices and phone systems, and can use these devices from anywhere in the world.
Furthermore, your monthly bill is more predictable since you know upfront how much your service is going to cost. Lastly, CCaaS is equipped to help businesses conduct international communication at low rates as well. With all these benefits, you can see significant savings for all communication-related processes.
3. Better Remote Team Management
By going virtual, your business can easily manage remote teams since users can communicate through the business phone system from any location and any device. Cloud contact center solutions support remote contact centers, virtual call centers, BPOs, distributed teams, and more, by providing tools that let users work efficiently.
4. Low IT Costs and Maintenance
Similar to low communication-related costs, your business can also save on employing a full IT team as well as costs related to updating and maintaining the software. This frees up costs that may otherwise be put towards marketing and sales initiatives to boost brand awareness.
5. Improved Customer Experience
Finally, all of the above reasons make way for enhanced customer experience. If customers struggle to reach your business, they won’t hesitate to look for similar solutions elsewhere. By utilizing a reliable and high-quality phone system, you make it easy for employees to connect with valuable customers and vice versa. This means that agents and reps are given the tools they need to convert more customers and increase the business’ overall sales.
Get Contact Center Solutions for Your Business!
United World Telecom offers various virtual communication solutions for businesses looking to add call center software and features to their existing communication system. We can help you upgrade your business phone system without much work! Call us today to learn more or chat with us online!
With the wide range of telecom terminology and phone system abbreviations swarming the internet, it is easy to get lost in new technology and systems available for business communication. BYOC is one such term and concept that has been gaining prominence with cloud telephone solutions. So, what is Bring Your Own Carrier and how can businesses benefit from this setup?
Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC): Definition, How it Works, & Benefits
BYOC provides businesses with the option to bring their own carrier or SIP trunking provider and add it as part of their communication setup. This is in place of using an all-inclusive communication platform. Let’s dive into what a Bring Your Own Carrier process looks like and why businesses should care about BYOC.
What is BYOC?
Bring Your Own Carrier or BYOC is the process of businesses bringing or choosing a carrier to plug into an existing phone system. In other words, businesses can choose what carrier to add to their existing UCaaS or CCaaS.
The main reason to consider BYOC as a telecom solution for your business is to shift from using on-premise communication solutions to cloud-based phone systems. By moving to the cloud, your business gains flexibility, mobility, scalability, and more control over your business telephone system.
Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) and SIP Trunking
Moving your telecom needs from an on-premise solution to a cloud solution may seem overwhelming. However, advancements in telecom and cloud communications have made it easier and cost-effective to make this move. Some ways you can switch from traditional phone systems to virtual systems include:
Adding SIP trunks to an existing IP PBX
Choosing a UCaaS that is packed with service features
Switching to a cloud solution
At the core of these options is SIP trunking which provides global communications functionality. SIP trunking replaces the traditional phone system by allowing users to place business calls via their internet connection instead of copper phone lines. SIP trunks in a VoIP system can hold multiple SIP lines (up to 100) at a time, allowing for multiple calls to occur simultaneously. These lines can be spread across different devices, departments, and locations. SIP trunks can be added to your existing PBX system without needing additional equipment or hardware.
For over 10 years, telecom companies have been offering an all-in-one communication solution that offers PBX, SIP trunking, and other business communication services. Not all of these providers own every aspect of their offering. For example, many of these providers have their own PBX functionality but they may get their phone and voice coverage from other SIP providers. This can pose a few issues, such as:
1. Higher bundled costs — Since these providers are getting services from elsewhere, the bundled costs may prove higher than if you were to get an unbundled solution.
2. Uneven quality — Since these providers don’t own all parts of their service, they cannot guarantee voice quality which may lead to coverage and quality issues.
3. Compliance issues — There are many regulations that telephony providers must follow and if the provider fails to comply, your business can face coverage issues such as dropped calls.
So, how can your business combat this issue? Enter: Bring Your Own Carrier!
How Can BYOC Benefit Your Business?
The concerns and issues mentioned above have led to the rise of the Bring Your Own Carrier alternative. You can opt for an unbundled solution where you choose your own carrier. What are the benefits of bringing your own carrier?
Maintain control over call routing and forwarding.
Lower service interruptions that may be compliance-related.
Save money on communication-related costs with low SIP trunk pricing.
Scale up and down as necessary.
Keep existing phone numbers through number porting.
Increase global coverage.
Not having a choice or being stuck with a carrier that doesn’t match your needs can become a liability. Being able to choose a SIP provider or carrier that fits right in with your phone system is a great boon in ensuring uninterrupted, high-quality service.
Choose the Right Carrier for Your Business
Having a solid business communication system in place can determine how well your business performs and how customers interact with it. United World Telecom offers SIP trunks in more than 160 countries around the world with international SIP termination and dynamic local caller ID. As your SIP trunk provider, we are here to offer a customizable solution to help you expand globally. Call us today to buy SIP trunks or to learn more about how this service can help your business improve its communication system and global coverage!
Don’t know which communication platform or software to use for your business communication needs? Here’s an in-depth guide to UCaaS or Unified Communications as a Service with everything you need to know about unified communications and how UC can improve internal and external business communication.
Everything You Need to Know About UCaaS
Even though it has been around for a while, the term ‘UCaaS’ is still not entirely familiar to everyone. And so, in this UCaaS guide, we are going to go through what UCaaS and unified communications are, how businesses can use this service to improve business communications, and how to choose a UCaaS provider that’s a perfect fit for your needs.
What is UCaaS and How Does it Work?
Unified Communications as a Service — also known as UCaaS or UC — consolidates significant and relevant communication tools in one cloud-based platform. In short, UC as a service combines features of an office phone system with relevant, real-time apps to create a unified business communication system.
By bringing together phone, chat, video, and messaging services in one platform, UCaaS encourages communication, collaboration, and productivity. This service can be used through any device connected to the internet such as a computer, laptop, deskphone, or smartphone. This way, Unified Communications as a Service supports businesses that work remotely or spread across different locations.
UCaaS Features
UCaaS providers offer various call center services and features that can include telephony, video conferencing, messaging, and VoIP integrations. Here are some of the top features offered:
Advanced call routing
Hosted PBX
APIs and CRMs
Automatic call distribution (ACD)
Auto-attendant
Interactive voice response (cloud IVR)
Local and international call forwarding
Local phone numbers
International toll free numbers
Softphones and web dialers
Outbound calling (caller ID)
Fax and voicemail
SMS forwarding
Voice and video conferencing
Call recording
Chat and SMS
Encryption
Call analytics and metrics
Inbound call display
Call transfer
Extensions and DID numbers
Call detail records
Types of UCaaS Architecture
Businesses looking into UC as a software for their business communication needs must first understand the two UCaaS architecture options offered: single-tenancy and multi-tenancy. Choose the UCaaS model right for your company depending on your communication needs and budget.
1. Single-Tenancy UCaaS
The single-tenancy model is a UCaaS architecture where the organization is the only user (tenant) of the software. This type is highly customizable and can be tailored to meet the customer’s specific needs. Additionally, this type of UCaaS model keeps customer data separate and private. The single-tenancy model can prove expensive as the user pays for the service including updates and maintenance.
2. Multi-Tenancy UCaaS
In multi-tenancy UCaaS, more than one user is using the same software. This type of UCaaS architecture offers limited customization options. However, it is more cost-effective than a single-tenancy model as updates and maintenance are shared by all users.
On-Premise vs Cloud UCaaS
There are two ways to set up UC as a service for business communication: on-premise and cloud (hosted). The difference between these two types of systems is who is in charge of them: the business or the UCaaS provider. And deciding which type of UCaaS architecture and service your business needs depends on:
What is the communication budget?
Does the business have an in-house IT team or plans to hire one?
What is the stage of business growth — starting out or established?
Does the business have an existing PBX system or plans to replace it?
Does the business need to purchase a new communication system?
With on-premise UC, the servers are located in the business’ office and involve acquiring the necessary hardware. This means that the business will need an internal IT team to install, update, and maintain the system. And the upfront costs plus the cost of hiring an IT team can prove expensive.
Hosted UC or UCaaS, on the other hand, relieves businesses of software maintenance and management — all of this is taken care of by your UCaaS provider. You can even eliminate upfront hardware and equipment costs. With UC as a service, your business can scale up and down as needed.
UCaaS vs CCaaS: How They Work Better Together
UC as a software used to compete with contact center as a software (CCaaS) as the better communication platform alternative. However, lately, users and providers are realizing that UCaaS and CCaaS combined leads to better results.
CCaaS is basically cloud call center software designed to enhance customer service. It offers various cloud communication tools in one platform. By integrating it with UC as a service, you have a business communication system equipped for effective internal and external communication. A UCaaS-CCaaS solution, therefore, encourages and optimizes in-house collaboration as well as customer interactions.
More and more businesses are adopting UCaaS as part of their communication setup. Before we delve into why businesses are choosing UCaaS and how your business might benefit from this service, let’s look at UCaaS trends for 2022:
More cloud solutions
Adoption of AI
Higher adoption for remote teams and digital workspaces
More focus on customer experience
Growing focus on improving employee experience
Rise of additional service extensions
Improve data management and analytics
Rise of global SIP trunking
So, how are companies using and benefiting from UCaaS solutions?
1. More Internal Collaboration and Communication
UCaaS solutions allow various departments and teams to communicate smoothly. This way, marketing, sales, and services teams can work together to develop better products and advertising strategies. However, interruptions in communication can disrupt and discourage an easy workflow. UC solutions work to eliminate this issue letting teams share information and knowledge seamlessly.
2. Better for Business Continuity
With this platform, your business can secure business communications and reduce downtime by engaging its disaster recovery settings. What this means is, if your communications fail, calls and emails can be routed elsewhere for business continuity.
3. Low Communication-Related Costs
Furthermore, you can expect lower communication and IT-related costs. Since your provider handles updates and maintenance, your business does not need to pay for those costs. And you don’t need to worry about purchasing additional software, hardware, or equipment. Furthermore, hiring an experienced IT team becomes unnecessary as well.
4. Improve Customer Experience
By using the various communication features that come with your UCaaS software, you can practice effective call management and improve caller experience. This means reducing call wait times, routing calls to the right departments, increasing first call resolution rates (FCR), and more.
In fact, with a well-designed IVR, callers may even be able to resolve their call without needing to speak with an agent. This is because interactive voice response can provide certain self-service options that customers can complete. For example, providing business hours, processing a payment, or renewing a service, etc.
5. UC for Remote Team Management
Businesses have also been using UCaaS to enable smooth remote working. UC for remote teams allows all users and employees to stay connected and share data and information, irrespective of their location. UCaaS has, therefore, given rise to remote or virtual call centers and work-from-home call centers.
6. Access to a Unified Platform
In one cloud-based platform, UCaaS offers multiple features to support business messaging, collaboration, telephone (voice and video calling), email, and more. This reduces time wasted on moving between different services and platforms.
How to Choose a UCaaS Provider: 6 Steps
When looking for a new UCaaS provider for your business communication system, consider the following steps and questions:
Step 1. Check for Reliability
As with any new product you purchase or new service you sign up for, research the business and check for reliability and credibility. How long have they been in business? Have they been discussed by others in the industry? Have they participated in industry events? What are their customers (current and past) saying about the service? And so on.
Step 2: Browse Through Features and Integrations Offered
Look at all the features, services, and integrations they offer — do they match your company’s needs? Would it take long for your employees to learn how to use this system? Are these features easy to use and set up? What percent of the software is self-service?
Step 3. Look for Customer Reviews
Browse through customer reviews on Google and software review websites such as G2, Capterra, PCMag, SoftwareWorld, SaaSGenius, etc. Read through customer testimonials and case studies, when available, as they can give you more insight into how specific companies are using these services.
Step 4. Consider Scalability Options
If you’re a growing company, then scalability is a prime concern for you — you want to be able to scale up or down without much change or interruption. Can this UCaaS provider help you grow as and when needed without delays and service issues?
Step 5. Consider Security
Since UCaaS solutions manage much of your company’s data and communication, you want to find a provider with voice security and encryption protocols in place to protect consumer and company data. What protocols does this provider have? How do they handle data and security breaches? Do you need specific features and services to maintain compliance and does this provider offer these services?
Step 6. Check for Customer Service Accessibility
Lastly, how accessible is the UCaaS provider’s customer service team? Are there multiple customer service channels — phone, email, chat, trouble tickets? What is their response time? If it is hard to get in touch with the customer support teams, you may want to look for another provider. This is because when your UCaaS solution fails or starts acting up, you will need a responsive provider to jump on it and resolve the issue quickly.
Learn About United World Telecom’s Solutions
Still don’t know what type of office phone system will work best for your business communication needs? Speak with our telecom experts. We can guide you through the different features and services we offer and how you can customize your business phone system to match your needs. Call us today at 1 (877) 898 8646 or chat with us online!
When researching business phone service or VoIP providers, you will come across the term CTI or computer telephony integration. Here we explain what computer telephony integration or CTI software is and how businesses can use this technology to streamline business communication and increase agent productivity.
Computer Telephony Integration: What is CTI Software?
In simple terms, CTI is a technology that connects computers and telephony. Computer telephony integration or CTI technology enables computers to interact with telephones or perform telephone functions like placing and routing calls.
A CTI software is designed to streamline contact center operations and improve agent performance and productivity. Mostly used in call centers, CTI software can also be used in businesses of various sizes that have a steady stream of call traffic.
CTI Functions
So, what can your business use computer telephony integration for? There are many functions for CTI technology — here are some ways to use this technology:
Make phone calls from your computer at the click of a button.
Identify callers by matching the incoming phone number to a database of customer records.
Route and transfer calls through advanced routing and self-service options such as IVR.
Display customer information on agents’ screens before they take the call, also known as screen popping.
Access to call logs, reporting, and recording functions.
Access to manual and automatic dialing options such as click-to-call, autodialers, and softphones.
Conduct basic phone controls such as answer, transfer, conference, hold, etc.
Computer Telephony Integration Applications
What are some common applications of computer telephony integration technology and what businesses can take advantage of this software? Some computer telephony integration applications include:
Call and contact centers
Business with distributed teams and remote employees
5 Benefits of Using CTI Software for Business Communication
How can your business use CTI and benefit from this type of VoIP integration?
1. Place Calls With Any Device
The main attraction and benefit of using CTI software is that users do not need telephones or desk phones to make and receive business calls. Instead, they can simply click to call through their computers or laptops using headsets. This helps cut down costs on additional equipment needed.
2. Caller Authentication Through Integrations
Computer telephony integration technology easily integrates with most CRMs, further simplifying and streamlining agent processes. The CTI preemptively identifies the caller by screening the phone number or email address through the customer database and then displaying the information on the agent’s computer screen. This is also known as screen popping or screen pop. By automatically authenticating the customer, the agent is prepared to offer fast service.
Additionally, depending on the type of CRM used, call records may be automatically added to the customer’s record for data analysis in your call center. Think: call history, call detail records, transcripts, metrics, and other important caller information.
3. Advanced Call Routing Options
Another key feature of CTI software is providing call routing and transfer. With computer telephony integration technology, your business can route and manage calls more effectively. You can use an interactive voice response system or automatic call distributor to route calls automatically based on predetermined rules.
To do this, design and create an easy-to-use and informative IVR system. When callers call your business, they will be presented with menu options and prompted to speak or push buttons for further options or to be transferred to the right department. Based on their input, they will be assisted or transferred to the appropriate department. Some ways to route calls include:
Caller input — Callers indicate what they need through the IVR menu
Caller history — Based on the caller’s previous interactions with the business
Agent availability — Routes to the next available agent or employee
Location-based routing — Based on the location of the caller
Time-based routing — Based on the time of day of the call
Skill-based routing — Based on the skill or expertise needed (for example, language preferences)
Department needed — Callers indicate what department they need
These call routing options help with call management so your callers get to the right agent and receive assistance as quickly as possible. You can reduce wait times and frustration related to being routed to the wrong person or department.
4. Collaboration Tools
Besides making it easy for customers to connect with your business, CTI technology also supports in-house collaboration through:
Voice and video conferencing
Call whisper and call barging
Warm call transfer
Call monitoring
Call recording
With these training and collaboration tools, teams can work together and managers or supervisors can listen in on calls and provide coaching.
5. Unified Communication Tools
Finally, along with phone calls, CTI software can also be used to receive faxes and emails. This makes it a UCaaS trend that lets you access all you need about a customer and their history with your company.
Want to Learn More About Advanced Telephony?
Our telecom experts can help you find the right business communication set-up for your company. Call us at 1 (877) 898 8646 or chat with us online to learn more!
Running a contact center comes with many overhead costs, leading you to charge more from your customers than needed to sustain your business. Thankfully, there are many different ways you can reduce contact center costs and optimize your spending.
Let’s first identify where you can save costs and then go over the different ways to cut down.
How to Save Money on Your Contact Center?
From needing office space to using various software, contact center costs can quickly rise up. This is especially true if you run an in-house or on-premise contact center and offer customers an array of solutions. You will need advanced technology and software to offer those solutions, and those costs can slowly creep up. So, what is your contact center spending on the most?
Contact Center Costs
Before you identify ways to cut down on costs, you need to review where your contact center is spending its money. This may be different for different types of contact centers (on-premise, in-house, or cloud contact centers) but generally speaking, here is where most contact center costs lie:
Office space,
Office equipment and hardware — desks, chairs, computers, desk phones, headsets, and so on,
Contact center software,
CRM and customer service solutions,
Salaries, benefits, and hiring costs.
Now, you pin down areas where you can reduce contact center costs. For instance, you need to hire quality customer services and sales representatives, so that may not be the best place to get stingy. However, you can cut down the amount of office equipment and software needed by finding providers that offer packages and combined services.
For example, you might find a phone service provider that lets you make and receive business calls from a computer, removing the need for a desk phone. Similarly, if you hire remote agents, then you can cut down on the need for more office space and computers by having these employees use remote phone systems.
So, what can you do to save money on your contact center? The solutions listed below are suggestions for new processes and technologies. Not all of these solutions will work for your exact business needs. Evaluate your current options and make a decision accordingly.
Here are 5 ways to reduce contact center costs without compromising on the quality of service:
1. Take Your Contact Center to the Cloud with VoIP
If you run an in-house or premise contact center, the first step to reducing costs is moving to the cloud. Switching to a cloud VoIP communication system can drastically bring down the amount your center spends on core telephony services.
Cloud VoIP services have monthly subscriptions that can easily be scaled or canceled as needed. Additionally, these subscriptions come packed with features, services, and integrations that let you expand your offerings without needing to purchase additional services.
One such example is the softphone offered by United World Telecom. This softphone can be downloaded on computers and smartphones as an app or web browsers as an extension. By doing so, users can make and receive calls through the business phone number from any device. This cuts down the need to purchase high-quality and feature-filled desk phones.
2. Consider BYOC & SIP Trunking Services
Bring your own carrier (BYOC) enables organizations to add their own carrier or SIP trunking provider to their communication or CCaaS system. SIP trunking is a bundled telephony solution that gives you access to multiple cloud phone lines in one trunk.
BYOC and SIP trunking, together, make a quality cloud-based contact center solution that brings more flexibility, scalability, and control over your communication system. By mixing your suppliers and choosing ones that you want, you can:
Add new markets by choosing providers that have access to global regions and countries.
Customize and control call routing and forwarding.
Avoid regulatory and quality issues.
Reduce costs spent on high-priced carriers that offer little-to-no flexibility and control.
Next, you want to consider hiring remote and distributed teams. Remote employees can stay connected and do their jobs effectively through your cloud communication solution and cloud-based CRM. By doing so, you can save on office space and equipment costs.
With advanced call center software, you can monitor agents on call and even join these calls silently. This way, remote agents don’t work in isolation, and you can track their progress through reports and metrics.
Additionally, with remote agents and international call routing, you can offer 24/7 support for customers who call outside the 9-5 workday. This way, you don’t pay your regular employees overtime or have employees work in shifts. You just forward incoming calls to the few remote agents working outside of office hours. This way, your contact center continues to offer services even when most businesses are closed.
4. Consolidate Services into One Platform
Another benefit of using a cloud communication service is bringing all your services to one platform. With Unified Communications (UCaaS), you can access your contact center’s communications, data, reports, and management systems, all in one place. By consolidating services into one platform, your contact center can have:
Communication and customer service automation can help you reduce contact center costs quite dramatically. Using APIs and automation features, you can save time and money on manually completing tasks and moving processes along.
One example is to use an automated voice response system (IVR) to answer common questions asked by callers. This reduces the number of calls coming to agents and gives them space to work on more complex calls. Similarly, you can even have the auto-attendant route calls to the right department based on caller input, saving costs on hiring an operator or receptionist.
Reduce Contact Center Costs Try United World Telecom’s Cloud Phone Service
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One aspect that every business needs to offer is being reachable to its clientele. This means giving your customers many simple ways to get in touch with you. And one such way is by adding a click-to-call button into your email signature.
Why Include a Click-to-Call Button in the Email Signature?
What is a click-to-call button and how can it be useful? A click-to-call or call now button is a widget or button that is linked to an individual or business’ phone number. As such, when a person clicks on this button, they initiate a phone call. By clicking or tapping the button, they place a call to that individual or business.
At this point, most businesses will have a click-to-call button on their website which can be accessed by web and mobile visitors. There are different types of call buttons. You can include a call page on your website that lets users type in their contact information to receive a callback. Or, you can include call buttons that, when clicked, place a call to your business immediately. For instance, when interested prospects search for your company’s website through their phone, they will notice a phone number along with a “call” icon near it. Upon tapping or clicking this, they will be directed to their phone’s keypad to make the call.
While your business phone number is available on your website and social media links, it is crucial to give interested and returning customers more quick channels to communicate with your business. And including a click-to-call button within your email signature is one way to accomplish this.
Adding a Call Button in a Gmail, Outlook, of Office 365 Email Signature
So, how do you add a click-to-call or call button into your email signature? The below steps work for Gmail, Outlook, and Office 365 signatures but can also be used with Yahoo and Hotmail signatures. To include a click-to-call button, you need to:
Create an email signature that includes your business phone number. For example,
Jane Doe
Product Manager
XYZ Tudor Ln, M 339284
P: +1-345-454-4545
Next, select the text of your phone number and click the “link” 🔗 icon. This is to add a link to the text of your phone number.
In the dialog box, enter “tel:yourphonenumber.” For instance, following the above example, you will add “tel:+1-345-454-4545” in the link dialog box. Remember to include your country dialing code at the beginning of your number (+1 is the US dialing code).
Then, click “Ok” and save your changes.
Test the click-to-call button in your email signature to ensure it works accurately. You can do this by sending yourself an email and clicking the phone number to place a call. Or, by sending an email to a fellow employee and having them click the number to place a call.
Take the Right Steps to Reach More Customers
Whether it is adding click-to-call buttons on your website, social media platforms, and email signatures or using an international toll free number to make it free for local customers to call your business, you need to take the right steps to make your teams more reachable to potential customers. To learn more about improving customer service and finding the right tools, speak with our experts today!
Choosing a business phone system for your communication needs is an important step in developing strong customer relationships. It can be hard to choose the right business phone system, unless you understand the difference between VoIP and PSTN. Here we will look at how these phone systems differ so you can make a better decision for your company.
Understanding the Difference Between VoIP and PSTN
Technology has advanced greatly over the past two decades, enabling exceptional options for businesses in regards to their communication systems. When researching business phone systems for your communication needs, you will come across voice over IP (VoIP) and public switched telephone network (PSTN) as two major options. But how do you decide which is better for your communication needs? Here we will look at the difference between VoIP and plain old telephone service.
How Does VoIP Work?
Voice over IP or VoIP, transmits voice messages via the internet. With VoIP, voice gets converted into digital signals and then get transferred from one end-point to the next using secure network protocols. Upon reaching the recipient, the signals get converted back to voice messages.
Since VoIP is not attached to a physical line, users with a VoIP phone system can make and receive calls from any location and any device. All they need is a stable internet connection. Additionally, VoIP numbers or virtual phone numbers also route calls over the internet, letting companies do business with target countries without increasing expenses. You also get access to a suite of cloud communication features.
VoIP system costs are considerably less, as well. Users can easily scale up or down, as needed, without buying new lines or paying for additional equipment. In fact, there are no set-up or installation fees. And you won’t even need new equipment. VoIP proves to be more cost-effective, especially considering the features available and international calling.
Is IP Better than PSTN?
PSTN connects callers through a circuit-switched telephone network. This type of phone system has been used for years. When used, calls are transmitted through a network from one end-point to the next. The call quality is generally excellent.
Businesses using PSTN will need a different physical phone for each employee. The costs for desk phones can skyrocket to $300 per phone! Plus, you must then deal with installation and clunky hardware.
Small businesses with 10 or fewer employees can benefit from a VoIP phone system. However, even when the business size grows, they would be better served with a cloud PBX.
VoIP Versus PSTN: Difference in the Systems
So, what is the difference between VoIP and PSTN? Let’s have a look:
VoIP
PSTN
Price
More affordable than PSTN (even with international calling and virtual communication features)
Expensive; especially for international communication
Connectivity
Uses the internet; make calls from anywhere at any time
Uses a landline; makes calls via the landline only
Flexibility
Highly customizable; add/remove multiple phone numbers and extensions; use features as needed
Structured with copper wires; has less customization
Mobility
Can make and receive calls from any location and any device
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