CCaaS and UCaaS have historically been separate concerns for companies, often treated as independent purchases and investments. This distance also represented the schism between the back and front office within firms, where the contact center and business operations were seen as almost separate entities.
However, companies have recently realized that integrating business teams can have significant benefits from an efficiency perspective. Tech buyers, for example, have looked to consolidate their tech stacks in recent months, which has spurred vendors to offer one-stop-shop platforms.
A recent Salesforce study perhaps highlights this consolidation as a critical endeavor. Indeed, 81 percent of organizations are aware that increased investment in technology means the business risks struggling with more IT issues.
As such, simplifying and aligning technologies becomes the name of the game as organizations bid to form a single stack of capabilities. This can bring better integration and organization to a company and allow meaningful exchanges between the front and back offices.
Such a trend is driving the CCaaS-UCaaS integration movement alongside pure, simple convenience. As Zack Taylor, Director of Strategic Communications at Cisco Contact Center BU, said: "Humans like the least path of resistance. It's much easier for some companies, particularly small to mid-sized ones, to buy a single product from a single vendor.
Businesses don't operate as separate entities in their own world, so the technology should align to the way businesses are organized.
Also, the benefits of integrating CCaaS and UCaaS solutions should not slip under the radar, including:
- Increased cross-function collaboration
- Enhanced ability to drive the voice of the customer across the business
- Heightened opportunities for agent support channels
Yet, of course, integrating these two mission-critical platforms is not always plain sailing. There are critical technological and business considerations to think through first.
Technological Considerations
Integrating CCaaS and UCaaS is not an endeavor to take lightly. Indeed, there are opportunities for efficiency hidden in the process.
For instance, companies should consider any common security elements that might exist, alongside whether current infrastructure allows agents to bring in a colleague when necessary.
It’s also essential for businesses to consider the technological improvements that would come with CCaaS and UCaaS integration. Again, WebEx excels in this area, offering state-of-the-art noise-canceling capabilities for the 80 percent of agents working from home - fending off barking dogs, washing machines, and small children.
Finally, businesses may wish to consider how the integration will supplement AI transformation. Indeed, many prominent UCaaS vendors – such as Webex - will provide AI tools that enhance contact center performance that fit neatly into the CX stack.
One such AI-powered tool is the voicebot, which can support operations in evolving from the IVR, which brings friction, according to Taylor.
