With the nimbleness that comes as a result of migrating to a cloud platform, the days of the set it-and-forget it contact center are long gone. A constant flow of innovation isn’t just a chief benefit of the contact center-as-a-services (CCaaS) model but an imperative for staying ahead of the curve on customer experience.
Likewise, the days of the simple standalone contact center have disappeared. The modern contact center environment involves so much more than inbound and outbound calling. There are a host of digital channels to support, as well as a range of integrations to accommodate. The opportunities are truly endless — on top of core contact center functions, one organization might want to facilitate a team chat among agents and the business, another might want to weave in workforce management and quality management tools, while a third wants all that plus a customer relationship management integration, artificial intelligence-fueled agent assist, and much more.
Being able to weave together the piece parts comprising a contact center today means being able to tap into the right technology; industry vertical and line-of-business; and regional expertise. Only then can a contact center provider deliver value consistently and efficiently among a diverse customer set.
Having a strong services arm is a must, as is a go-to set of strategic partners.
When evaluating a CCaaS provider’s partner ecosystem, you might be tempted by volume. But don’t be drawn in by the sheer number. Lots of choice is great, yes, but more important is knowing that a provider together with its partners is going to be able to deliver the improved agent and customer experience you need. And the plural “partners” is crucial. Your next-generation, business-differentiating use case might best be addressed by a systems integrator working in tandem with a referral partner and an ISV — or some such combination!
Through the Five9 Partner Ecosystem, we understand how critical it is to be able to move in lockstep with our partners. Indeed, we think of partners as an extension of ourselves, and with them we’re able to deliver key business outcomes such as improved customer satisfaction scores, reduced time to resolution, and better revenue/customer growth. We all work together to optimize the agent and customer experiences.
As a customer, your key is knowing that partners can help add incremental value to a contact center implementation. Is automation a goal? Does lead management need an overhaul? What might the contact center do to align with the enterprise’s overall mission of building a collaborative culture? Do agents need better real-time guidance as they’re working with customers? Are chatbots behaving in human enough fashion? Oftentimes, these will fall in the purview of a partner or partners that will facilitate an implementation that yields desired results.
That’s why Five9 has placed a premium on forging strategic alliances and building out the industry’s most complete partner ecosystem. To learn more about the Five9 partner ecosystem,
click here.
