There’s no doubt about it. Contact center technology has gotten much more sophisticated. It offers a whole gamut of features and functions that we wouldn’t have thought possible years ago. But it’s also more difficult to create the same degree of stability and reliability that we used to enjoy with the old telecom systems.
Here are 5 things every contact center should do.
- Start with a base of good technology design – from diverse trunking to high-availability systems to dual-hub architectures. The right design provides the “built in” redundancy and resiliency that mission-critical centers need. Define standards against which you can assess current and future systems. Identify gaps that can be remedied or captured as known risks. Track risks against failure rates to see which ones should command management attention.
- Keep a finger on the pulse of your technology’s performance through monitoring and health checks. The right tools and processes lead to early detection and reaction to issues before they have too great an impact.
- Establish proper governance of technology change management processes. Adherence to define processes ensures that implementation teams don’t shortchange technology review and approval processes and appropriate testing by both IT and Users – even when under great pressure to meet deadlines.
- Set up restoration and repair processes to ensure speedy recovery of down systems and application. Complement your processes with properly staffed and trained resources within the company and with vendors. Provide the appropriate tools to capture, diagnose, and solve problems quickly.
- Tie all of the above together with ongoing analysis, communication, and optimization. Analysts can learn from architecture and risk information, outcomes of testing and monitoring, and the details of incident management. They can then share what they learned and drive continuous improvement.
If what I’ve suggested peaks your interest, I’ve written a whole article on this subject. Check out Keys to Success in Supporting Today’s Contact Center Technology.