Cloud Telephony Enables Flexibility and Efficiency in UC Solutions

Cloud Telephony Enables Flexibility and Efficiency in UC Solutions

May 02, 2012

The trend toward Unified Communications (News – Alert) (UC) is an important one, as long as the solutions provided ensure flexibility and efficiency. This is especially true in the contact center as efficient communications mean the difference between a profitable operation and one that drains all available resources. To support the former, a number of companies are turning to cloud telephony.

A recent UC Strategies piece focused on the importance of flexibility and efficiency when UC solutions are used in the contact center, especially where self-service applications and automation complete the communications mix. This focus is important as consumers increasingly rely on smartphones, tablets, self-service channels, SMS, instant messaging and other forms of rapid communication.

Cloud telephony allows for the integration of key communication channels with streamlined elements that keep costs contained, while still delivering on the initiatives in flexibility and efficiency.

This platform also allows for tight integration between vendors developing the technologies, services providers and their channel partners who are delivering the benefits. In the convergence of communication software technologies with applications in the business environment, cloud telephony is enabling those services that were once out of reach.

The traditional call center can expand to a multi-channel contact center environment without significant capital investments. UC-enabled software applications are implemented with cost-efficient and customized innovations. The contact center is a complex and changing environment, one that demands the flexibility and cost savings associated with cloud telephony to thrive. It enables the reliable, integrated and open solution set necessary to support the changing industry.

UC enabled applications are delivered from different sources and must be supported in a way that is truly unified. It only makes sense to rely on cloud telephony to leverage best of breed applications and services. The UC contact center has the opportunity to leverage cloud telephony through a private, public or hybrid solution.

This approach is a considerable value when agents work from home, or business partners and industry experts must be mobile while still able to communicate and collaborate. Mobile apps and self-service business applications rely heavily on the benefits of cloud telephony, as well as the click-to-connect feature of the company’s website.

IBM (News – Alert) is an example of one company leveraging the opportunities afforded for applications in the cloud, selecting solutions according to their operational needs. The IBM PureFlex is a packaged approach to private cloud platforms, and the PureApplication SaaS (News – Alert) option delivers a variety of virtualized applications to support that steady trend toward cloud-based innovations. As professionals and consumers continue to become more mobile and rely on their smart devices for communication and information, the need and demand for cloud telephony will continue to grow.

Those companies already on board are likely to dominate as they enjoy a competitive advantage.

Edited by Juliana Kenny