For a number of years, there has been an alternative to the traditional approach of purchase and management of CPE Dialler and contact centre solutions.
Hosted and Network solutions are an innovative business model where the telephony service is provided in the PSTN network and functionality accessed over the web - clients do not own (or pay) for any hardware or software but rather pay just for using it.
Sometimes known a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in a similar way to salesforce.com, in Ultra's case it is more appropriate to use the expression 'Telephony-as-a-Service' as the end user is not using software as such, but integrated solutions that fulfil applications ranging from simple IVRs to fully functional contact centres.
In general these solutions fall into one of two main areas; Network solutions or Hosted. The definition of these type of solutions - where a service provider owns and operates a contact centre technology platform and leases its services and features to end-users for a monthly or usage-based fee.
While the solutions share many similarities and benefits, they also have some intrinsic differences which can affect the potential gains of the users, depending on the primary reasons for choosing them.
Network solutions are marketed as solutions with dialling equipment physically located in multiple locations, permitting users to access the various services via a combination of the call centre’s internet connection and the standard PSTN networks. They allow for total geographic independence and provide complete disaster recovery (DR) solutions for the client.
Hosted solutions generally consist of the more traditional and understood CPE provided equipment, hosted at a site external to the operational contact centres, and adapted to permit access to be segmented and shared amongst many contact centres. Access to the Hosted systems are generally provided by fixed access links installed specifically for the purpose, but can also be via connecting to existing private WAN networks. Therefore these have less flexibility than the true network model.
Network solutions and Hosted have at least the same level of functionality as CPE type equipment, and they also offer remote web-based access to authorised users. The real advantage is that as the system is managed remotely, the hosted/network supplier should be able to offer a much higher level of support to its users.
Other advantages of a
network system: -
- Network systems can arrange for their solutions to be integrated and live in days, as no specialized on site equipment or dedicated connections are required. This reduces project times and costs, and allows business to react to requirements far quicker.
- Ultra systems being available in days are very cost effective option, and the only requirements are IP connectivity and phone lines – something a normal contact centre would already have in their infrastructure. The Hosted type solution will require a complete change in the connection between the centre and the hosted provider’s equipment and will therefore take longer and more cost to integrate.
- Network solutions permit a substantially reduced telephony and switch infrastructure. Automated Call Distribution (ACD) functionality is controlled via the network and inbound calls are routed through a variety of selected rules and then using a script application ‘pops’ the agents screen with all information collected from the call.
- Network solutions can provide back-up DR protection to centres with on-site CPE, as reserve protection - although indeed, a good network solution provides a high level of DR integrally, and thus businesses employing them primarily should not require additional DR cover.
- Superior network solutions do provide their solutions as managed services. These offer the added benefit of complete management support for the supervisor and centre. Ultra provides 24/7/365 comprehensive support and is incentivised to ensure that the centre is working at optimum productivity levels, unlike on-site providers.
- Network systems allow for shared services, especially across larger contact centre sites. This gives access to more functions, for less cost and better productivity.
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