What happens after deployment of a Virtual Contact Center? This presentation highlights the key technical support issues to consider before choosing a vendor for hosted contact center or IVR solutions.

1. What Happens When They are Gone?
What to Look for in a Hosted Contact Center Technical
Support Group ....... Post Deployment

2. What happens after your Cloud-based
Contact Center is Deployed?
Will your vendor be capable of delivering uptime and
support after the high intensity deployment?
 You’ve made your selection
 You like your salesperson
 Deployment seems OK
 What happens when they’re gone?
2

3. Post Deployment
 Will your vendor deliver uptime & reliable technical
support?
– Or…….will they focus on the next new customer?
 Will you be able to reach your support contact?
– Or……. Will you be forced to wait as your vendor scrambles
behind the scenes?
The presentation will help you to identify “markers” that should
cause you to probe a little more before selecting a vendor for
hosted contact center and IVR solutions
3

4. Why is Hosted Contact Center & IVR Technical
Support So Important?
A cloud contact center support organization
should provide:
 Confidence that the entire system performs as
intended.
 Confidence that the system performs when
unexpected situations arise.
 Confidence that issues are resolved quickly even
when beyond normally reasonable expectations.
4

5. Technical Issues that Challenge Support
Organizations
Networking & Telephony
 Call Switching and IP
– Some organizations familiar with only one
 SIP Compatibility
– Some organizations not familiar with SIP integration challenges
System & Transport Integration
 Carrier integration with enterprise systems
– Few organizations have deep experience with high volume telco connectivity
Call Volume Fluctuations
 Call spikes frequently challenge many Support organizations
– Engineering expertise is sometime unavailable
5

6. Organizational Issues that Challenge
Support Organizations
Limited resources for Support
 Dedicated Support Staff in place?
– Development engineers frequently double as support
– Are they available when you need them?
Support might not be a primary focus
 Are they focusing on the next Deployment?
– Generate new revenue at the expense of existing customers?
Support Expertise
 Enough Support staff to specialize?
– “Jack of all trades” support frequently results in sub-optimal issue resolution.
6

7. Hosted Contact Center Support
“Markers”
Red Flags to investigate when evaluating a vendor’s Hosted Contact
Center Support organization.
7

8. Support Organization “Markers” to be
concerned with
Ask more questions when you see………
 The Harried Sales Person
– Single point of contact to Support
– Relays information to the Support organization
– Usually energetic ( or they would not have lasted)
 The Issues
– Not their primary responsibility – Need to focus on sales!
– Problem resolution delays due to sales to support
communication.
– Lack of proactive Support communications as most contact
must funnel through this sales “choke point”.
8

9. Support Organization “Markers” to be
concerned with
Ask more questions when you see………
 The “Legend”
– Usually from the Development Team
– Has some level of knowledge about the
entire infrastructure
– You will be impressed
 The Issues
– Usually only (1) Legend, especially in small organizations
– Becomes increasingly scarce, especially after deployment as
Legends get pulled in multiple directions
– Response delays as junior team members wait for assistance
from the Legend
9

10. Support Organization “Markers” to be
concerned with
Ask more questions when you see………
 The “Multi-Titled” Exec
– Responsible for more than a Support Group
– Mentions benefits of cross-department
communication
– Shows up to promise results
 The Issues
– Support can take a backset to development
– Cross-department communications actually isn’t that good.
– The Multi-Titled exec frequently become less available post-
deployment as they move on to other customers
10

11. 7 Questions to Answer
When Evaluating Hosted Contact Center Support
11

12. #1….Number of Dedicated Support Staff?
 How many are actually focused on Support?
– Look out for Development Engineers counted as Support Staff.
 Is it a Support “Team” or more of one person pulling
resources together?
– Look out for the “Legend” where bottlenecks will occur.
 Ask about around the clock availability.
– A limited support staff will have difficulty with 7x24 response.
12

13. #2….Is there a NOC?
 Does the Hosted Contact Center vendor maintain their
own Network Operations Center (NOC)?
– Look out for a NOC supported by a “partner”, which might indicate less
control and potentially higher costs.
 Is the NOC staffed for proactive monitoring as well as
troubleshooting?
– Look out for “reaction only” or exclusive redline monitoring
 Is there a range of monitoring and reporting tools
– A wide range or tools will indicate support for proactive
outreach as well as response for troubleshooting.
13

14. #3….Experienced Support Organization?
 Ask about the years of service for the Support staff
beyond 1 or 2 lead managers.
– Look out for inexperienced engineers recently repurposed in Support.
 Does the Support staff have experience across
networking, telephony, applications, and voice
automation?
– Look out for situations where a vendor is relying on a partner for a
resource (such as speech recognition) and also its technical support
which adds another layer with accompanying delays & cost,
 Are experience staff dedicated to support?
– Some “share” personnel with development, making proactive
outreach minimal and troubleshooting inconsistent
14

15. #4….Network Operations Knowledge?
 Is there expertise to handle integration issues?
– Look out for situations where a support organization has not
encountered a variety of IP and SIP challenges.
 Are there any network “specialists”?
– Look out for a lean Support organization where everyone must cover
many areas with some that may be out of their level of expertise.
 Has the Support Staff encountered complex networking
environments?
– Look for a Support organization that has successfully integrated
systems that require high volume processing, secure
infrastructures and multiple network and API protocols.
15

16. #5….Proactive Monitoring?
 Will the Support staff reach out when there is not a
problem?
– Look out for Support teams that cannot provide evidence of suggested
solution BEFORE a problem appears.
 Does the Support team monitor and analyze?
– Look out for a Support group that only references response times.
 Will the Support staff suggest alternative configurations
or process adjustments?
– A Support organization directed toward persistent optimization
will have evidence of improvements made due to proactive
analysis, suggestion and implementation.
16

17. #6…. Direct Support Staff Relationships?
 Does the hosted contact center Support staff establish
direct relationships?
– Look out for situations where all communication must be channeled
through a single point such as the “Harried Salesperson”.
 Is there a channel for regular communication?
– Look out for a Support group that claims to provide proactive outreach
as well as troubleshooting but does not establish a regular channel of
direct communication.
 Are there regular meetings and/or quarterly updates?
– A good hosted contact center support organization will perform
as an extension of your internal team, not simply a contact
when a problem appears.
17

18. #7….Experience with Meaningful Call Volume?
 Has the hosted contact center Support group managed
situations with high call volume?
– Look out for Support organizations that have only faced relatively low
call volumes
 Ask about experience with unexpected call volumes?
– Look out for groups that reference how they stepped into assist but
with lower call volumes (thousands per day). That could indicate little
experience when faced with high call volume spike conditions.
 Are processes in place as call surges build?
– Look for evidence where a Support organization has
implemented procedures and strategies to deal with call spikes
as they build, not simply for the aftermath.
18

19. Hosted Contact Center Relationship
When They are Gone…….Post Deployment
19

20. Post Deployment …….Support Availability
 Is Support Immediately Available?
– A common complaint is difficulty reaching someone in Hosted
Contact Center Support that can make a difference for a current
issue.
 What Happens Outside of 9-5, Monday – Friday?
– Make sure that experienced Support personnel are on the job.
After hours Support can especially be a problem for Hosted
Contact Center providers that do not own a NOC (Network
Operations Center).
20

21. Post Deployment…….Ticketing
 Keeping track of inquiries and issues
– Multiple people from your team may be submitting. Look for
Hosted Contact Center Support with an easy to use ticketing
system
– Availability of a knowledge base makes immediate self help a
resource for solving a problem or research for optimization
Open a Ticket Tracking Issues Knowledge Base
21

22. Post Deployment …….. Support Relationship
 Regular Support Meetings
– Establish a schedule for regular conference call or meeting with
the Hosted Contact Center Support staff
– Encourage communication dialog that explores potential issues
(such as call spikes) or opportunities (such as partial
automation of incoming calls) beyond basic troubleshooting.
22

23. Conclusion
 Make Hosted Contact Center Support a Key Element
Within Your Vendor Selection Process
– The level of competency will either become an important
contributor to success or a reason for failure.
 Answer the 7 Questions
– Every Hosted Contact Center vendor claims “GREAT” Support.
Take a closer look to understand what will actually happen post
deployment.
 Engage with your Support team
– Work closely with Support beyond problem resolution to
proactive reveal opportunities that can contribute to customer
care and cost savings.
23

24. About VoltDelta
 Virtual Contact Center & Voice Self-Service Solutions
 Data Centers and Customer Care applications within
and beyond North America
 More than 2 Billion calls/year at 99.99% reliability
 Multi-Channel solutions with CRM integration
24

25. Contact VoltDelta
 www.voltdelta.com/resources/support
 info@VoltDelta.com
 twitter.com/voltdeltanews
VoltDelta is part of the Volt Information Sciences family of
Talent, Technology and Consulting organizations. Please
visit www.volt.com
The information contained herein is provided for information purposes only, is intended only to outline (VoltDelta’s) presently anticipated general technology direction and is
therefore subject to change. The information communicated is not an obligation to deliver any product, product feature, service, service feature, software, software upgrade or
functionality and VoltDelta’s version of the (Hosted Solution operating system) may vary. None of the information should be interpreted as a commitment on the part of VoltDelta.
25