We live in an increasingly connected world and, with it, the landscape of customer communications is changing. Consumers are increasingly tech savvy and present across digital media, and this impacts their preferences when it comes to contacting businesses. While call centres across Europe recognised the changing nature of the sector, only 14% mid-sized call centres in Europe feel confident in meeting current and future needs. In the survey of 600 business and IT leaders across 26 countries, 76% respondents suggested that digital disruption across industries will significantly impact them. In response, more and more contact centres are moving away from on-premise call centre phone systems to cloud PBX call centre phone systems.

How can switching to a cloud PBX system solve the problems facing call centres today?

Adopting a unified communications call centre phone system that allows for multi-channel contact is the first step toward embracing the future of call centres. But which specific call centre problems can a cloud PBX system help to address?

Lower staff attrition rates

One of the biggest problems facing the call centre sector today is an alarming staff attrition rate. On average, call centres have a 22% annual staff turnover. A potential cause of high staff turnover rates is staff becoming demoralised in a limited role. Allowing advisors to work across a range of multiple channels helps to resolve this issue. Linked to high staff turnover rates is agents becoming despondent that their skillsets aren’t expanding in their role. Even if they receive training across a variety of communications channels, they may not be able to use their new skills. Switching to a cloud PBX system allows call centre advisors to move seamlessly across communications channels and, as a result, expand their skillsets. Training can be done continuously and discretely with the Listen/ Whisper/ Barge feature that allows supervisors to monitor calls and subtly advise agents when necessary. This, in turn, combats a low staff morale, increases staff motivation and lowers turnover rates.

Being more accessible to customers

Customer expectations are rapidly evolving, with increasing demands on accessibility and convenience. Switching to a cloud PBX system can help you meet these demands. More and more, customers want choice from business – and this applies to communication channels as well as product and service offerings. On average, 66% customers use three or more communications channels to contact a business. Switching to a cloud-based call centre phone system allows you to integrate voice call, video call, instant messaging and email in one system.

Addressing a lack of resources

For call centres with traditional on-premise PBX systems, there is a temptation to organise teams into separate divisions. For example, you may have a team of advisors purely for chat, or a team of agents who specifically manage phone calls. This way of organising teams does, however, pose a problem for small to mid-size call centres who are unable to do so because of a lack of resources. Unified communications do not require separate divisions (e.g. call advisors, chat advisors) since a single agent can have access to all communications channels as well as any data they need through an integrated CRM. Looking to improve customer service and retention in your contact centre? Get in touch with PBX Hosting to discover if a cloud PBX system is right for you.