Hosted call center software is a customer experience solution where the necessary data, utilities, software, and features of a traditional contact center are hosted by a third-party provider. Hosted call center software provides flexibility and value that is unmatched by traditional on-premise solutions. Powerful contact center software and functionality that was once accessible only to the largest corporations is now available to any business, large or small.
In the past, contact centers were primarily run with on-premises software systems. This meant software was downloaded and maintained on-premise. This required a significant upfront investment, ongoing investment in terms of IT professionals and operational costs, and constant upgrades. Due to this, access to powerful contact center functionality was limited only to the largest companies, and even then, it was difficult to maintain.
Over time, many companies realized that there were huge benefits to taking the traditional call center software and hosting it in the cloud. Rather than having a costly on-premise solution managed by a professional IT team, contact center solutions can now be managed, upgraded, and provided as a service by contact center vendors.
Having a hosted contact center provides many advantages over traditional on-premise solutions. One advantage is decentralization of the contact center. Rather than having all agents working in the same location, agents can now work from home or remotely. Businesses can hire call center agents from anywhere around the world and agents can work flexible hours. Hosted call centers are also extremely scalable, able to add or subtract seats as needed. This is ideal for businesses that are seasonal in nature.
