How CCaaS Drives Contact Centre Innovation

The contact centre industry is changing fast, with more businesses turning to Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS). This approach modernizes infrastructure, boosts efficiency, and enables new ways of delivering customer service.

We spoke to Martin Hill-Wilson, Brainfood Consulting, to explore how CCaaS is shaping the future of contact centres.

Video: How Does CCaaS Drive Innovation in the Contact Centre?

Watch the video below to hear Martin’s insights how CCaaS drives contact centre innovation:

With thanks to Martin Hill-Wilson, Brainfood Consulting, for contributing this video.

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The Foundational Benefits of CCaaS

CCaaS is a cloud-hosted software solution that replaces traditional on-premises systems, as Martin explains:

“CCaaS is obviously a software as a service, and software as a service has a bunch of generic benefits, which I suppose are worth going through because a lot of people still haven’t actually gone into software as a service form of contact centre infrastructure. So just talking about that, it’s been around for a good 15 years…

The great thing about it is they’re hosted on the cloud, it’s run by a third party, which means you’re not constantly building, and means you’re not constantly maintaining it.

It also means that you get access to the latest features, which is fantastic, so it never gets out of date. You don’t go through a five-year cycle to getting gradually more and more further away from the best of the greatest, latest features.

It extends anywhere by virtue of being cloud, and again, I think in the kind of world that we live in, that’s especially useful. It’s flexible on pricing, it can scale up and down according to the number of seats that you want.

And also it, takes the software outside of your own data centres, which again, is a motivation that a lot of people have got.“

It eliminates the need for constant maintenance and upgrades, as the infrastructure is managed by a third party. This ensures contact centres always have access to the latest features.

Another major advantage is its flexibility. Pricing models allow contact centres to adjust the number of seats they need, making it easy to scale operations up or down. Being cloud-based also means it’s accessible anywhere, which is vital in today’s hybrid working environment.

CCaaS also reduces reliance on in-house hardware, lowering costs and freeing up IT teams for more strategic work. While the question of cost savings is debated, the flexibility and modern features it offers make it a strong option for contact centres.

Key Points

Cloud-hosted software keeps features up to date.
Scalable pricing adapts to contact centre needs.
Reduces reliance on hardware and IT resources.

CCaaS as an Integration Hub

CCaaS doesn’t just modernize contact centres – it brings systems together, as Martin continues:

“By virtue of it being an integration hub, because it’s all software based, the hardware is irrelevant and it’s just sitting in a cloud. It allows us to integrate stuff. It’s allowed us to integrate channels, which is good: text, video and voice.

It has allowed us to also bring those much closer, together with workflow and also with data. Now that’s very beneficial because if you look then to what we’re trying to output, in terms of experiences to the customer, and also for the people who are engaging with those people, the advisor community.

We need things to work well. And indeed the fact that they are traditionally being difficult to orchestrate, in terms of data, in terms of workflow, in terms of channels, just speaks to the fact that it’s been very important that we get that right. “

Traditional set-ups often struggled with siloed communication channels like text, voice, and video. It integrates these channels into a single platform, making it easier to deliver seamless customer experiences.

It also aligns workflows and data, helping contact centres personalize customer journeys. With CCaaS, contact centres can tailor interactions, use the best channel for each customer, and ensure relevant data is always available.

However, to fully unlock its potential, contact centres need strong change management. Training teams and updating processes are essential to ensure the technology is used effectively.

Key Points

Combines text, voice, and video into one platform.
Aligns workflows and data to improve personalization.
Requires careful planning and change management for success.

“CCaaS as an integration hub, allows us to do a number of things which are really sort of very important.

It allows us to essentially, if you do it properly, personalize each individual customer’s journey with you towards that service outcome, in a way that suits them in terms of offering best channel, and also having the relevant data available to personalize that experience.

So that’s the goal. That’s the North Star of that. I have to say, that’s not often delivered. And the change management that’s associated with making technology work is really the area that you need to concentrate on, but you can at least be happy to know that the technology facilitates that capability.”

The Role of AI in Driving Real-Time Innovation

AI is a key feature of modern CCaaS solutions, enabling real-time insights and smarter tools for contact centres.

“Something which is true of all CCaaS at the moment is to a greater or lesser extent, everything is now AI enabled.

And really one of the aspects of AI that is significant and important to understand, is that it allows us to work in real time.

And again, this is something I’ve emphasized for a long time, because previously we didn’t really ever know what was going on from the reporting perspective, from the perspective of were we doing a good job with customers, where to put our attention in the moment.

We can now see that in real time. And that’s massively significant because again AI is able to see what’s happening as far as intent is concerned, understand the conversation, understand things that are outside of the normal pattern of behaviour, and therefore deliver us to alerts.”

AI can analyse conversations as they happen, detecting customer intent and identifying issues. This allows contact centres to act immediately and make better decisions.

For example, tools like Agent Assist provide live prompts to advisors, ensuring they have the information they need during calls, as Martin explains:

“It means that you can provide Agent Desktop, for example, in a much more intelligent way, often called Agent Assist now.

But you can prompt because you now know what’s happening in real time in a conversation. You can also, for example, understand what is happening from the perspective of what the conversations are.

And the topics are, which again allows you to much better match your what customer’s needs are against the skill base of the advisor community.”

AI can also match customers to the most suitable advisors based on their needs, improving satisfaction and outcomes.

With AI, contact centres gain real-time visibility into performance, helping them deliver better service and use resources more effectively.

Key Points

Provides real-time analysis of customer conversations.
AI tools like Agent Assist improve advisor efficiency.
Matches customers to the right advisors for better outcomes.

CCaaS as a Catalyst for the Future

CCaaS is more than just a software upgrade. Its cloud-based architecture, integration features, and AI capabilities make it a tool for innovation. It helps contact centres stay flexible, efficient, and customer-focused.

However, contact centres must approach adoption strategically. Effective change management and planning are essential to fully realize its benefits.