Managing Next Generation Contact Center Technology in a Global Environment

We know clients today expect customized technology solutions. Clearly, one of the best ways to deliver this successfully is to assemble a technology team that is proactive, keeps in touch with the end user and encourages tailored solutions developed through collaboration each step of the way.

One of the key steps we have taken at Ubiquity Global Services is locating our global infrastructure and development teams directly at the very heart of our day-to-day operations. This enables us to build, adjust and customize our tools to the exact needs of the end-user, and bring the user experience to the next level through rapid iterations focused on usability improvements. Though different from the typical model of headquartering the technology team in the United States with subdivisions around the world, we’ve witnessed great results from this approach.

Our Manila-based Software development team focuses exclusively on Ubiquity’s proprietary tool kit, which has been tailored to operational needs and integrated via CTI (computer telephony integration) with our cloud-based ACD infrastructure. We’ve also located our global IT infrastructure engineering team closely to our agents, team leaders and operations managers. By engaging in an active dialogue with our co-workers and end-users, we are able to proactively identify potential issues and reduce resolution time.

In addition to traditional integrations with content management systems (CMS) or customer relationship management (CRM) tools, next generation call-center offerings need to become progressively more advanced when it comes to integrations of real-time chat/text systems (especially in international market segments) and in real-time interactions with a fast growing variety of mobile applications. The ability to manage multi-channel queues of real-time and near-real-time customer interactions annotated by intelligently selected context sensitive meta-data such as help context, process flows or customer information is becoming increasingly important as preferred consumer-business interactions evolve. At Ubiquity we manifest this approach in the design of our SideKick agent desktop tool, fittingly named as we consider our agents to be superheroes.

All of Ubiquity’s tools are hosted in a cloud-based infrastructure that enables configuration and access across all of our delivery and/or client locations. With this approach we are able to deliver real-time data and tools worldwide without the usual hassle of complicated IT setups involving proprietary tools. Combined with our 24 x 7 approach to IT support we are able to deliver world-class contact center services in today’s agile and fast-moving business environment.

Based on our experience developing our team and environment, we’ve put together a few tips for managing next generation contact center technology in a global environment:

• Keep the technology team close to the end user: Think carefully about where your teams are located, and how you can facilitate their contact with end users. The more they can directly communicate and see their solutions in action, the better the user experience will become.
  
• Pick the right partners to work with: Go beyond the sales presentations and talk to the technology leadership team directly when selecting technology vendors. Ask how the team is organized, where they are located and who your first (and direct) point of contact on the technology team will be. If the doors stay closed on those initial questions, chances are that you will not get far in future interactions.
  
• Be flexible: Flexibility is needed to integrate with a wide array of third party technologies that characterize the contemporary contact center solution set. Have the initial conversation to understand the client’s technology landscape and identify better ways of doing business before developing the networking and telephony solution.
  
• Create transparency: Remember that data generated by your contact center is ultimately information that belongs to the client. Work to embrace this recognition by opening access and creating full transparency into your contact center network. Try to preempt as many scenarios as possible by offering direct integrations into your system, allowing clients to push real-time data to agent desktops, give direct access to a variety of raw call data feeds and allow for access to real-time updates.