Contact Center Live is a niche player in the customer contact field and a new knowledge partner of Ziptone. One of its notable features is that it is both a technology supplier and system integrator as well as a consultant in the field of customer contact operations and cloud solutions. Rob Wegdam and Elmer Sadikrama explain how this works and give their view on developments in the market.

 

“Contact Center Live once started as a technology expert: implementing products, training people. In case of questions or problems, the service desk is called and we solve it. But in recent years we have broadened our field of work with advice on the design, implementation and operation of customer contact," says the CEO. Robert Wegdam (photo) off.

Elmer Sadikrama outline the underlying context: “In recent years, almost all IT departments of organizations have changed. They used to have all disciplines on board: from technical platform management to workplace management and from functional application management to designing and implementing campaigns. Many applications have moved to the cloud and it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit staff for various parts of IT. IT departments have become more dependent on external and more specialized parties, especially when it comes to impactful or larger projects.”

As a result, Contact Center Live has become increasingly involved in customer projects. Wegdam: “A good example of this is that we assist a facility contact center in the Netherlands with advice in the field of technology and customer contact processes, also towards the customers of that player. Think of the technical onboarding of larger clients across multiple locations – including offshore locations – where solutions for campaign and project management and quality monitoring, for example, have to be scaled up.”

Market for routing platforms is growing

Not only customer contact processes have become more complex with more channels, more data, more applications (think of the combination of AI with quality monitoring and self-service). There is also a huge growth visible in new routing platforms – often with extensive functionality. Plenty of choice for companies that are starting out or that want to renew their platform. In addition, Contact Center Live has its own product – CCP, based on Vocalcom technology, supplemented with self-developed software. Is Contact Center Live independent or neutral?

Sadikrama: “All products have strengths and weaknesses. We deliver more than Hermes.NET and CCP, we look at which out-of-the-box solutions best meet customer demand. If it fits, we will definitely offer Hermes.NET. But Zendesk's solution is also a very popular application with our customers.”

Wegdam emphasizes: “We are not an independent consultancy that helps with the package selection, where you invite all kinds of parties. If you are looking for more independent advice, it is better to call in a consultancy. Our consultancy work mainly focuses on implementing solutions and setting up processes after a customer has already made a technology choice. As a result, we generally have long-term partnerships, because the customer contact operation of most customers changes regularly.”

Cloud solutions are often structured differently than on premise

Nevertheless, Wegdam and Sadikrama do have a view on the wide range of customer contact technology. Wegdam: “Large companies almost all have a solution from one of the established names in-house, simply because years ago they opted for an on-premise solution from that party. The cloud solutions offered by these players are really different from their old on-premise solutions. As a result, companies that want to go to the cloud with the same supplier often have to redeploy and adjust all kinds of things in their processes. Some companies then choose to terminate the long-term contracts. If you do have to change, you can also look around you.”

Sadikrama: “Not only the traditional large providers have invested in a cloud model – often via the route of CCaaS solutions. You can also see that suppliers of ERP and CRM platforms are adding the customer contact domain.”

Wegdam: “Despite a new billing model for cloud solutions, the rates of the major providers are very high, just as they used to be with on-premises. Arguments like stability and reliability may have been in play a decade ago, but that's a standard expectation these days. Flexibility, scalability and ready for the future have become just as important.”

The price of cloud solutions

Wegdam attributes the high rates – whether per user per month or per minute – to history: “The major players have all had to transform their financial business models. With the on-premise model, they had the full budget of the entire agreement immediately on their account, with the model of cloud solutions it concerns a variable small amount per user per month, per minute or on an annual basis. However, the existing players must also have their installed base keep in the air. Globally, we see that at least half of the market operates traditionally. The fact that the Netherlands has come this far with cloud adoption has a lot to do with our good infrastructure. And we see that many new providers are coming here who are not affected by such legacy.”

Ziptone also regularly reports about new providers, partnerships and takeovers. How do you keep track of the market? Rob, laughing: “Ten years ago you went to the Telecommerce Days once a year and you were completely up to date. Today it is a huge online market.” Sadikrama adds: “Within Contact Center Live, we expect every team member to stay up to date by attending webinars and demos, visiting trade fairs and following the trade news. Also about partnerships and integrations. In addition, we receive information from prospects, customers and, of course, the providers themselves.”

How do you find the most suitable solution?

So the market is fragmented. How complicated is it for a customer to find the most suitable solution? There are all kinds of factors to take into account in that search, but as far as Sadikrama is concerned, you have to look beyond just technical specifications. “At the core, most cloud solutions all contain the same basic functionality: routing, IVRs, multichannel, you name it. An important part of the distinctive character lies in the people who implement the application. What knowledge does a supplier possess? Not every RFP gives the same amount of space to explain this. Our people feel most at home in dynamic organizations that are busy with campaigns, peaks, changes and adjustments. They are also happy to give solicited and unsolicited advice – not every organization is open to that. The ideal customer sees us as colleagues. That is why we think that mutual click is so important.”

No-pray

Sometimes RFPs not only contain restrictions, but are even a reason for a no-bid. “Like the requirement that the application had to be on premise – seen recently, at a government agency. Such a requirement makes the number of possible partners very small and we will in any case drop out. It is not future-proof,” said Sadikrama.

“There are simply all kinds of solutions available for organizations that have very specific requirements for data governance, for example,” adds Wegdam. “Think of 'our data must be stored in Dutch data centers'. Such a choice may have cost implications, but it's really not a unique feature.”

Technology is rarely a stumbling block anymore

In any case, technology is less and less a stumbling block. Almost everything can be integrated with each other, says Sadikrama. What is often one thing is the opening up of data or the data management not being in order - think of duplications, so that you do not know which data another application should choose. “You then try to improve the data management together with the customer,” explains Sadikrama. “Especially then the challenges and customization come to the fore. For that you need to know what you want with data and that is not always clear in advance. Few companies have a complete picture of this.”

Another example that Sadikrama gives is about reports. “All solutions offer standard reports, but there is still quite a lot to be gained in that area. We then go in depth: find out what the business wants to know, we look at the definition of figures and we find out where that information can be retrieved. With a standard platform from the cloud, we can always use a separate application to enable customized reports.”

Best-of-breed or all-in-one?

What is the trend for companies embarking on the cloud migration of their contact center platform? Do they choose best of breed or all-in-one? Wegdam does not see a dominant trend, but encounters both variants: companies that believe in a CCaaS all-in-one solution and companies that think in terms of ecosystems. “Often all kinds of applications are already available. That usually has little to do with young or old or big or small. The vision does play a role: are you prepared to work with multiple applications or more advanced applications? For example, there are many companies that offer chat on the website but hardly use it, while other companies make full use of that channel. With all-in-one cloud solutions you have to take into account that not all functionality is equally advanced.”

In addition, according to Wegdam, customer contact departments also have their own crown jewels: applications that the business does not want to lose because they work well. For example, a well-functioning WFM solution, which must remain, while a new routing platform with a WFM module is selected. “Then we will just integrate that. Anyone who opts for an extensive application should think carefully about what the application is particularly suitable for. In any case, there is a wide range of good applications.” (Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

 

Contact Center Live (Naarden, 16 employees) has been around for more than 10 years and serves medium-sized and enterprise organizations in realizing the optimal customer experience through the contact center. The company claims to be the only Dutch player that provides both advice in the field of customer contact processes and technology services, enabling the company to offer total solutions. The Contact Center Live team consists of integration, implementation and support specialists. Examples of clients are the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region, KFC Nederland, Vattenfall and OYO, the parent company of brands such as Belvilla. View Contact Center's full profile

 

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