The Buyer’s Guide to Virtual Contact Centers

Virtual contact centers (VCCs) are fast becoming the preferred setup for distributed teams looking to efficiently scale their contact center operations. They are cheaper to run and easier to scale, allowing you to deliver a consistent experience to a global customer base.

Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, this guide will provide valuable insights to help you make an informed decision when selecting VCC software for your organization.

What Is a Virtual Contact Center?

Virtual contact centers (VCC) are cloud-based customer interaction hubs that can be accessed from any location with an internet connection. They allow agents to handle inquiries and provide support remotely instead of working from a central, on-premises location — offering ultimate flexibility for your contact center operations.

Using VoIP telephony, virtual contact centers empower agents to make calls via their broadband connection instead of a landline service. They also centralize your external communication channels — including phone calls, SMSs, emails, and social media platforms — allowing you to coordinate customer interactions in one place.

Common VCC use cases

Virtual contact centers are useful for many aspects of your organization, including:

• Customer support: VCCs allow agents to provide round-the-clock support through email, chat, phone, and other digital channels without having a physical presence.
• Sales: Your sales teams can use the VCC software to make outbound calls to leads and prospective customers, hopefully leading to conversions.
• Technical support: Technical account managers can leverage virtual contact centers to troubleshoot and resolve customer issues quickly.

Noteworthy Features of a Virtual Contact Centers

Good virtual contact center software offers the following capabilities:

1. Automatic call distribution

A VCC efficiently manages incoming calls by routing them to the best-fit agent based on skill set, call priority, or other predefined criteria.

Automatic call distribution reduces call wait times, making each interaction more effective and ensuring customers receive timely and appropriate support. All these factors result in better customer experiences and a more efficient contact center.

2. Interactive voice response

VCC software uses interactive voice response (IVR) self-service systems to streamline call flows, reduce call handling times, and make agents more productive.

IVR is a computerized phone system that recognizes and responds to voice or keypad inputs. When the system receives an inbound call, it prompts the customer to take specific actions through keypad inputs like “Press ‘1’ for payment issues.”

Sometimes, the IVR will provide automated responses to frequently asked questions. If the call requires a human response, the system automatically routes it to the appropriate department or call center agent.

3. Omnichannel communication

A VCC syncs all your customer communication channels into a central hub, allowing contact center agents to seamlessly handle customer inquiries across different channels from a single interface.

Omnichannel engagement unifies the customer experience regardless of where, when, or how customers interact with your business. For example, let’s say a customer kicked off a conversation on social media and placed a phone call after a few hours. They won’t have to repeat what they already shared on social media because you can track the entire conversation with your VCC software.

4. Call recording and monitoring

VCCs record and monitor calls to accurately track all customer conversations.

Call center managers can use this data to train new agents, evaluate customer interactions for quality assurance, and resolve disputes. Real-time call monitoring also helps supervisors provide immediate support to virtual agents and comply with organizational and regulatory standards.

5. Real-time reporting and analytics

A VCC platform provides real-time insights into key metrics, such as agent performance, call volume, and customer satisfaction. Access to real-time data enables managers to make informed decisions quickly and respond to trends and issues as they arise.

For example, let’s say you notice a lot of inbound calls for payment disputes in the afternoons. In that case, you can assign more virtual agents to that section to provide additional bandwidth for high-volume call times.

What Are the Benefits of a Virtual Contact Center?

Switching to a VCC can:

1. Reduce your operational costs

Running a physical contact center is very expensive. Apart from the cost of renting office space, you have to spend money on installing equipment and other maintenance costs. With a distributed organization, these costs can quickly rack up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A virtual contact center eliminates all the overhead expenses of a traditional call center, reducing operational costs. You can then invest this money into other strategic initiatives, such as employee well-being packages or customer acquisition campaigns.

2. Help you scale efficiently

Agents can work from anywhere, allowing you to hire from a wider talent pool and quickly scale your team up or down. You can easily leverage a pool of remote agents to handle call volume spikes without the delays associated with hiring and training new staff for an on-site contact center.

3. Improve customer satisfaction

VCCs enable you to provide round-the-clock support, reducing customer wait times. You can tap into different time zones and language skills, provide 24/7 customer service, and expand service capabilities without the need for multiple physical locations.

For example, let’s say you’re a U.S. company with customers in the APAC region. Instead of setting up a physical office, you can hire support agents in the APAC time zone to support these customers via your VCC.

4. Boost agent productivity

VCCs provide remote employees with the tools they need to work efficiently and productively. For example, VCCs use automatic call routing to assign inbound calls to the best-fit agent, reducing idle time and improving resolution rates.

Implementing a VCC also allows for more flexible working hours. Agents can work when they feel most productive, boosting efficiency and output.

How to Create a Virtual Contact Center

Setting up a virtual contact center is about more than selecting a VCC provider. Sure, that’s very important, but you also need to do some groundwork to help you make the right decision.

1. Identify your business needs

First, you must know the exact problems a VCC will solve for your organization. That way, you don’t waste money and resources on an investment with zero business value.

Review your current contact center setup to identify operational gaps. Then, speak with contact center agents to learn more about their current struggles on the job.

You should also review the business outlook to see where the organization is headed. For example, if the business plans to expand to a new region, a VCC is a good investment, as it allows you to scale your operations to support incoming customers.

Next, create a VCC wish list based on all the information from your research. Write down the number of agents and channels it will support, plus other must-have features that are key to your contact center operations.

2. Research VCC providers

Vet VCC providers based on your wish list. Pay particular attention to:

• Pricing: Ensure that any pricing plans offer the best value for your budget, especially if you’re a small business.
• Integrations: Choose VCC software that integrates with your existing workflows and systems. At the very least, the VCC should support your help desk platform and CRM integration.
• Scalability: The right VCC software scales with your business. That way, you don’t have to migrate service providers when you hit new milestones.
• Security: Choose a VCC provider with standard privacy systems to secure your business and customer information.

It’s also good practice to read reviews on third-party sites like G2 to learn about other customers’ experiences with the VCC provider.

3. Sign up with a provider

Our advice? Never commit to long-term contracts with a tool you haven’t tested. The only way to confirm that a VCC provider is a good fit is to try things out for yourself.

Most VCC providers offer limited free trials, meaning you can test their platforms without making a significant financial investment. Others, like Nextiva, have detailed demos that show precisely how the software works. If a VCC provider doesn’t have a demo or free trial, it might not be the right choice.

Virtual Contact Center Best Practices

Follow these best practices to make the most out of your VCC:

1. Agent training

Provide agents with the training necessary to use the VCC platform and effectively handle customer interactions.

Most VCC providers have onboarding baked into the software implementation process. But this is hardly enough because it takes time to become proficient in a new system.

Utilize your extensive knowledge base to provide ongoing agent training through group sessions and peer reviews.

2. Performance monitoring

Regularly monitor agent performance and identify areas for improvement. One way to do this is to record real-time agent-customer conversations to see how agents handle these interactions. Then, set up a postmortem to review the call and discuss what the agent can do better next time.

3. Customer satisfaction surveys

Use customer survey software to get feedback from your customers and ensure you’re meeting their expectations. The best way to do this is to administer rating scale surveys at the end of an interaction — like after a phone call — to gather real-time feedback.

Alternatively, you can organize face-to-face customer feedback sessions to gather more qualitative responses. Consider offering incentives to encourage customer participation, and let them know that you appreciate their time.

Take Nextiva’s Virtual Contact Center for a Spin

Nextiva is the preferred VCC software for growing businesses with high support volumes. With its flexible pricing plans and advanced contact center capabilities, Nextiva is the perfect fit for companies looking to efficiently scale their contact center operations.