So you’re ready to transition to the cloud. Perhaps you’ve heard from other businesses about the benefits, including low cost, advanced features and flexibility. But where do you start?

That’s a tricky question to answer because it depends on the type business, to some extent. But for this blog, we’ll assume you’re a small to mid-size business looking to incorporate public cloud for the first time.

Do your research

We hear about the cloud all the time these days, but more people than would like to admit it don’t understand exactly what the cloud is and how it benefits business. If you’re in this group, that’s perfectly OK. It just means you’ll need to do some research first. It’s impossible to make good purchasing decisions if you don’t understand what the cloud can do for your business operations.

Here’s a great PC Magazine article that offers a simple explanation, including the difference between consumer and business cloud products. This guide from Explore B2B is a great resource, too.

In simplest terms, the cloud allows you to carry out essential business functions via an Internet connection. Rather than purchasing expensive hardware and software and installing it on site, the software is provided as a service over the Internet. Cloud-based software makes enterprise-level features available to smaller businesses at much lower price. It also allows companies to access business data from any device or location, not just a single computer.

Develop a strategy

Cloud technology is an umbrella term, but there are thousands of products that perform various business tasks, from storing and backing up data to invoicing to product tracking. You can find a cloud tool for just about every business function imaginable, and many tools offer a wide range of functions. A single software product might handle invoicing, expense management and project tracking.

Because there are so many options, it’s important to decide what you want the technology to do. Maybe your accounting software is installed and managed on a single computer or server and you want to make it accessible on multiple devices via the cloud. Perhaps you’re looking for a customer service tool that offers reporting and analytics, data sharing across departments, email marketing and more. The type of cloud-based software you purchase completely depends on your needs. For many companies, more than one product is needed.

Start comparing products

Once you know what you want to do with cloud technology, you can start shopping for products. Companies like Software Advice can answer some of your basic questions and recommend appropriate vendors. Always request a demo of any software product you’re considering. That’s the only way to gauge whether it’s user-friendly and meets your company’s needs.

For small businesses that have no idea where to start, this PC Mag list of the top 20 cloud-based software products is helpful. It covers features and pricing for the most popular cloud products for small businesses.

Take your time — and scrutinize

Finding the right cloud product might take several weeks. This is a not a process that should be rushed. Sure, most cloud providers won’t force you to sign a long-term contract, but you’re better off finding the right product the first time around. Switching means getting used to a new system all over again.

In addition to functionality, pay attention to security. If your data will be housed in a public cloud, find out how the company secures it. Is the vendor compliant with data security standards and, if so, which ones? Data security is more important than ever in the wake of large-scale breaches. Most cloud-based products are highly secure – otherwise the vendors wouldn’t be able to compete in this security-conscious market – but it’s important to verify that.

Finally, pay careful attention to the pricing structure. Some cloud-based call center software vendors, for example, advertise low upfront fees but tack on additional hidden expenses for extra features or telecom. Find out exactly what’s included in the monthly price you are quoted to avoid billing surprises.

Kunnect sells 100% cloud-based call center software that includes a predictive dialer to businesses and political campaigns. Our software, hosted in the Amazon platform, seamlessly manages all inbound and outbound calling for a flat rate of $125 per agent per month with a flat deposit of $125 per user.

The traditonal benchmarks for measuring success in the call center are pretty well ingrained, and old habits are hard to break. But call centers – and the whole notion of customer service – have changed drastically, particularly in the last few years. To keep up with the times, and to keep your customers and employees happy, it’s time to shift the way you think.

Before: Call length

Better: Customer satisfaction 

Patting yourself on the back for reducing the average call length? Probably, given that’s always been considered a measure of success. Shorter talk times mean shorter wait times and happier customers, right? Not always.

Sure, paying attention to call length is important. Unusually long calls could indicate that customers are having trouble getting the resolution they need. However, pushing employees to get off the phone faster is a slippery slope. They might be short-changing the customer in terms of service just to get better numbers. You’re better off prioritizing and rewarding customer service benchmarks and bringing up call times only if they become a problem.

Before: Low salaries

Better: Strong retention

There’s constant pressure in the contact center to keep costs down, and many companies do this by keeping salaries low. There’s a limit to how much you can spend on wages, of course, but when your wages are not competitive you’re going to see high turnover, which can be even more costly. The Center for American Progress estimates that for each $30,000 employee lost, most companies spend more than $5,000 in recruiting, hiring and training costs. 

Before: Reactive Customer Service

Better: Proactive Customer Service

Call centers were designed around waiting for the customer to come to you with a problem or question. In the modern world of social media and high customer expectations, you need to be seeking out the customer, too. The most successful contact centers proactively reach out to customers through social media, email marketing and more to address problems as early as possible. Respond to customer complaints on Twitter and Facebook, offering solutions to the problem, and send customer feedback surveys via email to gauge satisfaction.

Before: Script memorization

Better: Improv skills

Your customers don’t want to speak to robots; they want to chat with empathetic people who can offer creative solutions. If your call center agents are reading from a script, they’re not going to come off as caring, and they lose the ability to think on their feet. Some operations managers are going as far as bringing in an expert to teach their agents improv skills. You don’t have to go that route, per say, but you should train agents not to read word for word. Empower them to take a more natural approach.

Before: Dispute resolution

Better: Exceeding expectations

Solving a customer’s problem used to be enough. Service isn’t working? Fix the issue. Shipment didn’t arrive? Resend the product. These solutions will probably keep you from losing the customer, but they don’t boost your brand.

The modern customer wants more, and they appreciate brands that go above and beyond to make them happy. These are the brands they Tweet about, praise on Facebook and recommend to their friends. Talking to a customer who needs a shipment of contacts before vacation? Overnight them for free. A customer who returned a defective item? Offer 15 percent off the next purchase. The money you spend (or lose) will pay for itself in positive brand exposure.

Kunnect sells 100% cloud-based call center software that includes a predictive dialer to businesses and political campaigns. Our software, hosted in the Amazon platform, seamlessly manages all inbound and outbound calling for a flat rate of $125 per agent per month with a flat deposit of $125 per user.

The traditional idea of what a call center has to be is fast going out the window. You don’t need a giant room filled with cubicles and agents anymore. You don’t even need everyone to be in the same city or country.

Thanks to the cloud, a modern call center can be something as simple as a handful of agents answering phones from their home offices. Cloud technology makes it possible to operate like you have a call center — without one.

How the cloud transformed IT for SMBs

Not so long ago, opening a call center meant buying or renting a building big enough to house it, hiring a slew of local agents, and purchasing expensive call center hardware and software. Many SMBs were priced out of the market simply due to the startup costs – tens or hundreds of thousands.

Enter the cloud, a novel idea to deliver software as a service, rather than a product. Software is delivered via the Internet, removing the need for on-site hardware and software installation. The cloud, though it took some time to catch on, emerged as a technology equalizer, making sophisticated software and applications available to smaller businesses, not just the big guys. It allowed smaller players to have a chance among big competitors.

Cloud technologies have grown popular with SMBs not just because of the cost, but because they provide flexibility and require little maintenance. The systems can be scaled up or down as needed, and they require minimal or no in-house IT support. Major corporations are moving this way too, as they look to trim IT costs and become more nimble. Some 84 percent of major enterprises who participated in a RightScale survey earlier this year said they were either actively working on cloud projects or already using cloud.

The future of call center operations in the cloud

Cloud-based call center software is available with the same features as on-premise software, including predictive dialers, auto attendants, call recording, call monitoring, CRM integration, web scripting and queue management. Your customers won’t be able to tell the difference. One differentiator, aside from cost and flexibility, is that while on-premise software won’t work when the phones are out, cloud-based software won’t work if the Internet is down.

One of the biggest motivators for moving to cloud-based call center software is that it enables a remote workforce. Customer service employees across multiple locations can work together as if they were in the same room (minus the water cooler talk). Companies can expand their workforce to other geographic locations – and a larger talent pool – because agents can work from home.

In theory, the cloud could eventually make traditional call centers a thing of the past. Major companies like Dell have already started closing call centers and instructing employees to work from home. For SMBs, the advantage is never having to open a traditional call center in the first place.

Does a remote call center workforce hurt productivity?

Not if it’s properly run. Studies have shown that at-home agents are actually more productive because they feel more empowered. And widening your geographic base opens up opportunities to find the best and most motivated workers. The hiring process can be more selective.

Even though managers won’t be standing in the same room as their call center agents, cloud software monitors an agent’s activities. If an agent skips out to the beach and stops answering calls, you’re going to know right away.

Kunnect sells 100% cloud-based call center software that includes a predictive dialer to businesses and political campaigns. Our software, hosted in the Amazon platform, seamlessly manages all inbound and outbound calling for a flat rate of $125 per agent per month with a flat deposit of $125 per user.

Running a call center is a major expense, so operations managers are constantly asked to cut costs. Do you trim staff, consolidate locations or put off the next big technology buy? More importantly, how do you cut costs without compromising customer service?

As it turns out,b some of the most common cost-cutting moves are shortsighted. Not only do they fail to save money, they waste money in the long run. On the flip side, some of the investments you make looking to improve call center performance are a waste of money. Think twice before turning to these go-tos. As companies realize the real impact they have on the bottom line, they’re starting to reassess.

1. Going offshore

Why does any company move its call center operations offshore? To save money, of course. The long-held belief has been that because the cost of operations and wages are so much lower in developing countries, moving a call center offshore or outsourcing it offshore brings considerable cost savings.

Not so fast, my friends. You’re almost guaranteed initial cost savings – otherwise, you wouldn’t make the move. In the long term, however, offshoring translates to higher call volume and longer call times. DMG Consulting estimates that call volume increases by 15 percent due to customers hanging up and calling back in search of a better answer, and that average talk time increases by 20 percent as callers struggle to overcome language barriers. Harder to measure, but perhaps more important, is the impact on customer satisfaction. Are some frustrated customers becoming ex-customers? You bet.

In recent years, major corporations like General Motors and AT&T have brought thousands of call center jobs back to the United States. According to a Detroit Free Press report published last month, about 180,000 call center jobs were created in the United States in 2012 and 2013 alone.

2. Updating legacy hardware/software

Rather than investing in new call center software, many operations managers choose to stave off expenses by updating the old software and/or replacing outdated or faulty hardware. Seems logical, right?

The problem is that updating legacy software and hardware still costs money – and lots of it. Often, the money is being thrown into a system that is close to outliving its usefulness and far behind in terms of technology. For many companies, that money would be better spent switching to cloud-based software and applications. Cloud-based call center software requires very little upfront investment, and it brings your call center in to the 21st century. Often, switching to the cloud is cheaper than simply updating a legacy system.

3. Training

Training, training and more training – you hear it all the time. When customer satisfaction suffers, bring in the experts. When talk time increases, schedule a training course. We’re not here to say that training is a bad thing, but there is a such thing as too much training – and the wrong kind of training.

Many companies rush to hire outside trainers or consultants to improve their call center performance. But consultants are expensive, and their messages don’t always resonate with employees. In some cases, their inspirational talk is too theoretical, failing to offer practical tips. In other cases, they’re simply telling employees what they already know but are not motivated to carry out.

Sometimes all your employees need is a little motivation, whether that comes in the form of an interactive team meeting or an incentive program. If you make your employees feel like they’re part of the improvement process, not just sounding boards, they’re more likely to respond favorably. Consultants are great in some instances, but not all.

For small and medium-sized businesses, there has traditionally been that not-so-sweet spot between needing a call center and being able to afford one. For very small businesses or startups, the issue was even more complicated: How do I seem like I have a call center when I don’t have the employees to staff one?

The cloud has solved these problems by making call center software with advanced features available to even the smallest of businesses. SMBs can buy hosted call center software that includes features such as interactive voice response (IVR), a predictive dialer, call monitoring/recording and more for a flat monthly fee with little, if any, upfront investment.

The software is also affordable for very small businesses and startups, which can use only the tools they need in the beginning stages to appear more professional.

Why the cloud slashes call center costs

If you’re not familiar with the cloud, it’s simply a different way of delivering software. Rather than investing tens of thousands on hardware and software that is installed and managed on site, you’re paying a third-party vendor to provide the software over the Internet.

Cloud-based software is far less expensive than traditional on-premise software due to this lack of onsite hardware and software. The product is cheaper for the vendor to deliver, and it requires very little or no in-house IT expertise. Most cloud-based call center software offers all the same features at traditional software, but the method of delivery makes it a fraction of the price.

Traditional on-site software is not – and never was – practical for most small businesses because of the cost. But cloud software is accessible even to companies that don’t have an actual call center. It can be used to give the appearance of a larger and more professional operation, and to streamline inbound and outbound calling. You don’t need a dedicated call center with live agents. Calls can be routed to whomever you choose. Maybe product inquires go to the owner/founder and customer service inquires go the marketing assistant. Calls can be also routed off-site for companies with remote workers.

For SMBs that are in rapid periods of growth, the appeal of cloud-based software, aside from cost, is scalability. With on-premise software, you have to anticipate future growth and build those capabilities in to the system. With cloud versions, buy only the number of licenses you need now and then add additional licenses as you need them with one call to the vendor.

How Much Does Cloud-Based Call Center Software Cost? 

The pricing structure differs from one cloud-based call center provider to another, but monthly fees generally range anywhere from $50 to $300 for each agent (or, in the case of very small businesses, for each person who will use the system at once). Some vendors charge a flat monthly fee that includes the calling plan and all the features you need, while others charge extra for each call and/or certain features. Some charge solely based on the number of minutes you use, offering tiered plans that include all the features you need.

Don’t be fooled by plans that advertise a low monthly fee but tack on hidden fees. Be sure to ask the vendor upfront exactly what is included in the price. Telecom that is billed by the minute can get expensive very quickly unless your call volume is very low. That structure also makes it difficult to predict monthly costs.

For a long time, IT was pretty straightforward. Your IT staffers sat together in their own department – probably in the corner of the building somewhere or the basement. Technology buying decisions fell squarely in the hands of this department, as did tasks such as data security and system maintenance.

The cloud has transformed all that. Most companies still consider IT departments crucial to everyday operations – they’re certainly not obsolete – but their roles have shifted. In the cloud era, IT departments have been forced to become more collaborative and innovative, and relinquish some control.

Less internal control

With companies increasingly turning to third-party cloud vendors for software and applications, tasks like data management, system updates and system maintenance are often in the hands of third-party vendors. Beyond coordinating these activities with the vendor, notifying employees and addressing any employee issues or questions, IT isn’t heavily involved.

The fear in that has long been that the cloud would make IT departments obsolete, but as we’ll discuss in a bit, that doesn’t have to be the case. Cloud leads some companies to shrink the IT department, but very few eliminate it.

Less control over technology purchase and use

Gone are the days when the IT department had the ultimate say in technology buying. In modern organizations, departments from marketing to human resources are often in charge of which technology they purchase and use. This stems from the long-overdue realization that there’s no one-fits-all solution across company departments, and the realization that individual departments know best what tools and technologies work for them. If the marketing department needs a new lead nurturing tool, for example, it’s probably the CMO, not the CTO, who is giving the final OK on the purchase.

On top of that, the shift toward remote or work-from-home employees has made it difficult for IT departments to control which technologies and tools employees are using. The IT department once acted as a gatekeeper, blocking websites, apps and devices that were not approved. But when an employee is away from the office and/or using his or her own devices, this is difficult or impossible to control. That’s where setting policies and procedures for the use of technology becomes crucial – and that’s something IT can do.

Frees time for big picture improvements 

This is the reason IT departments – particularly those that adapt and grow to changes brought on buy the cloud – won’t become obsolete. The changes above free up IT departments to think more strategically.

Rather than spending all their time managing hardware and software – installing, configuring, testing, securing, monitoring and updating – IT departments can become tech strategists for the company. They can spend more time on IT planning and analyzing how tech solutions are performing. They can also research and assess new technologies, guide other departments through technology purchases, develop policies and procedures for appropriate technology use and help reduce IT spending.

Greater attention to security

Outsourcing technology to third-party vendors does not mean IT departments can turn their attention away from security. The opposite is true, particularly in light of recent major data breaches.

Most third-party cloud providers are highly secure, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to compete in the market. However, IT departments are charged with making sure by finding out exactly how the vendor uses, stores and encrypts sensitive customer data. Add that to the task of controlling internal security problems – many of which the cloud has brought to light – and IT departments are spending more time than other on security issues.

The shift to the cloud is happening at a dizzying pace. Business from small to large, government organizations and nonprofits are realizing the financial benefits, the flexibility and the ease of use that cloud provides.

• A new study by Emergent Research shows that 78 percent of small businesses (50 or fewer employees) will be fully adapted to the cloud by 2020. In 2014, that number is just 37 percent.

• A survey by RightScale earlier this year showed that only 16 percent of major enterprises (1,000-plus employees) who responded were still in the “watch” state of cloud adoption, while the remaining 84 percent were either actively working on cloud projects or already using cloud.

• In the call center industry alone, more than 70 percent of those responding to the 2014 Evolve IP Survey said they’re planning to move to the cloud within 18 months. That’s 70 percent of the 77.5 percent who currently have on-premise systems – the overwhelming majority.

We all know why these businesses are making the switch, so for this blog we’re going to focus on those that haven’t. If the cloud is cheaper and more convenient, what’s the hold up? We’ve identified three of the biggest reasons companies either delay the move to the cloud or reject it entirely.

1. The cost of legacy systems 

Some companies – particularly larger ones – find it hard to let go of their traditional on-premise systems. They don’t want to abandon a system in which they’ve invested tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rather than making the switch, they prefer to update the system or replace hardware.

These companies are not always wrong to be cautious. Deciding whether an expensive legacy system has satisfied its ROI and/or outlived its usefulness can be complex. For most companies who are considering a switch the cloud, the tipping point comes when an expensive update is due or when the system is so old that compatible replacement hardware is hard to find.

However, the mentality that companies must wait for the tipping point is flawed. The cloud offers agility and tools that will improve the way your business runs, in addition to all the same features as those legacy systems. Cloud systems also reduce the strain on IT staffers, freeing them to think big picture. Failing to take advantage of business, workflow and technological improvements because you spent too much on a legacy system 10 years ago is shortsighted.

2. Fear of the unknown

Businesses tend to fall into patterns, and sometimes what’s familiar and comfortable seems more appealing than something new. Employees are used to the system interface, and it works OK for them. IT leaders who are strapped for time don’t want to take on additional projects. So why switch?

Moving to a cloud system does require employee training and a learning curve. It requires getting used to a new interface. But it’s not an unsurmountable task. Cloud interfaces are not harder to use than on-premise systems; they’re just different. The same learning curve has always applied to companies switching from one legacy system to another.

Once the learning period is over, most companies are more than happy with their decision. They find cloud systems more intuitive, more user friendly and more convenient. Customer service improves, as does internal employee communication, particularly with off-site employees.

3. Fears about security

Would you feel safer with your wallet in your own pocket or in the pocket of a trusted friend? Your own, most likely. Along the same lines, some companies simply feel safer storing their data in-house rather than somewhere else, even if the third-party vendor is established, reputable and trustworthy. In fact, security fears are often cited as the leading reason companies don’t move to the cloud.

Much has been written about cloud security, and it’s a complex issue that we can’t do justice to here. Bottom line: Complete security is never a guarantee, whether your data is stored in-house or in the cloud.

What’s important when you’re moving to the cloud is to understand how the vendor protects data. This can’t be emphasized enough. Is your data encrypted and/or fragmented? What policies and procedures are in place to make sure hackers or unauthorized employees don’t have access to data? In many cases, the cloud actually gets rid of a company’s worst security threats – but that involves choosing the right vendor.

If ever there were a loaded question, this is it.

The alleged iCloud breach that leaked personal celebrity photos, including nude shots, has created a larger debate about the security of the cloud altogether. Is anything in the cloud safe, from business data to personal pics? If hackers can outsmart the world’s most valuable company, who can’t they outsmart?

Long talked about as the next generation for everything from personal storage to business software, cloud technology and applications are widely in use for all sorts of consumer and business functions. For consumers, they offer a storage solution and a way to back up data and photos. For businesses, the benefits are far-reaching, including cost savings, flexibility and ease of use. New cloud tools continue to emerge and grow in popularity at a rapid pace.

Many businesses already had security fears about the cloud, and this latest hack only stands to intensify those fears. But in truth, this celebrity photo debacle doesn’t mean much – if anything – for your business. Here’s why.

Is cloud technology to blame for the celebrity photo leak?

It’s still not clear how hackers got their hands on private celebrity photos. Media outlets initially reported that the leaks could be the result of an iCloud storage service bug, but Apple is denying those reports. The company says its systems have not been breached, and that the accounts were hacked “by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions.”

If Apple is being truthful, that suggests the cloud in itself is not to blame. There could be several other factors at work. If hackers accessed the photos by repeatedly guessing passwords and/or security questions, Apple is to blame for not setting proper limits on the number of guesses. And the celebrities involved may have failed to put in place stronger security measures, such as strong passwords and two-step user authentication, which involves some second form of verification, such as a passcode sent via text. (Of course, celebrities are far from the only ones who fail to use these stronger security measures.)

The mistake in blaming the cloud – at least at this point – is that the term “cloud security” is far too vague. There’s no universal level of security that applies to all cloud-based tools. Much of the responsibility for security lies with the measures put in place by the vendor – Apple, in this case – and the rest lies with the person who is using the cloud service. The cloud, in and of itself, is not the culprit, but it can be a vehicle when other security measures fail.

Is cloud-based business software safe?

If your company uses cloud-based business software, there’s no reason to panic. Reputable vendors have security measures that go far beyond what it took to access iCloud information, if Apple is correct. Otherwise, they couldn’t compete in this security-conscious market. Keep in mind, too, that internal servers can be hacked. Data was being stolen long before the cloud was prevalent.

However, this is a great time to make sure your security is as tight as it can be:

• If you haven’t already, talk to your cloud-based vendors about the security measures they have in place. Is data encrypted and/or fragmented when it is stored in the cloud? What kind of limits are there on who can access it, both externally and internally? Is any data shared with third parties?

• Find out if the vendor follows recognized security standards. Are they compliant with PCI guidelines? What about CSA STAR, an international cloud security certification program? ISO 27001?

• Take a look at your internal data security policies, and revise them. Breaches don’t always come from the outside, and they sometimes happen by accident when an employee inadvertently sends data to the wrong person. Who is allowed to access what, and when? Can employees access sensitive data from home or through mobile devices? Are your emails encrypted?

• Develop strong password protection. Does your system allow employees to use their first names or 1234 as a password? Start requiring stronger passwords. Consider moving from the outdated method of one-time password authentication to two-step user authentication.

Kunnect sells 100% cloud-based call center software to businesses of all sizes and political campaigns. We adhere to PCI compliance guidelines and use cryptography that would cost billions of dollars over one year to crack one password.

At Kunnect, we love infographics. We’ve compiled some of the best call center infographics from the past couple years to fill you in on the state of call centers today and where they’re going in the future. You might be surprised by some of these numbers – we know we were.

There’s so much going on here, but perhaps the most interesting point is that the human touch is always going to be important in contact centers. Technology is changing the way call centers operate, but it won’t change everything.

Other interesting takeaways:

• Video chat is coming to the contact center. Imagine if the customer could show the agent the problem with the cable box.

• The customer is boss, and that trend shows no signs of slowing. Customers want personalized service – and they want it across all channels. Contact centers have to deliver the information when and where the customers want it.

There are a million and one ways for a customer to reach a company these days – email, chat, text, social media, web self-service and more. But how do they want to reach us? Yes, some 80 percent still prefer to pick up the phone.

This data is a couple years old, but the stats haven’t changed. Contact centers need to make all channels available, as we saw in the graphic above, but the old telephone doesn’t appear to be going anywhere fast.

This is a fascinating look at a customer’s view on wait times. Nearly one-third of people say they shouldn’t have to wait at all. What’s really interesting: the income breakdown. Every person surveyed with an income of more than $150,000 per year said they shouldn’t have to wait all. For those making less than $150,000, only about one-third of people answered the same way.

Customers aren’t afraid to ditch you for the competitor if they’re unsatisfied with your customer service. In fact, nearly 90 percent have done so. However, they are willing to give a fair amount of time to respond. Half of people will allow a whole week before they stop doing business with the company, which we think is pretty surprising. That’s a long time in today’s world.

Note: Check out the stat on the number of hours wasted per year on hold with call centers. Whoa. Imagine what people could have done with all that time.

This one offers a ton of interesting data about customer expectations and the cost of letting them down. Did you know that the cost of attracting a new customer is six to seven times higher than the cost of keeping an existing one? We can’t think of a better stat to illustrate the importance of good customer service.

Other interesting takeaways:

• Bad customer service costs companies across the world $388 billion each year.

• More than a quarter of customers take to social media to complain about a bad customer service experience. Nearly 80 percent of them get ignored.

This graphic further illustrates how far we have to go when it comes to social media customer service. Only 20 percent of the big guys – Fortune 500 companies – are engaging with customers on Facebook.

High-quality agents are crucial to the success of our brands, but only 31 percent of companies are taking a close look at quality in call centers. Also, we all know that rewards are powerful incentives, but only 31 percent of companies are rewarding their call center employees for measured improvement. What gives?

NPG VAN has made a lot of noise in the political community over the last few years. The company is best known for its most notable client, Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, and it also counts as customers most Democratic members of Congress.

VAN, as it’s called for short, sells all sorts of integrated technology products to Democratic political campaigns, including fundraising tools, voter contact management systems, volunteer management platforms and more.

The company is also known for its predictive dialers (described less eloquently in some cases as robocalls). As you know, these are the tools that are widely used for political campaigns to make recorded calls, although they can also be used to speed up live calling by automatically dialing numbers and then routing only the calls that are answered to campaign staff members or volunteers.

VAN has an impressive suite of products – no doubt – but there are a few things the salesperson won’t tell you when you’re considering their predictive dialers. The product also has drawbacks related to pricing and, of course, partisan politics.

Advantages of VAN’s Predictive Dialers

To be fair, we’ll start with a few of the pluses:

• Convenience – Everything you need to make automated calls, store contact lists and update contact histories can be stored in a single system. Busy campaigns can manage everything in one place, saving time and preventing headaches.

• Ease of use – VAN offers several ways to record calls, including uploading prerecorded files that have been edited or calling a phone number to do a live recording. The instructions on how to record a call are clear and helpful.

• Competitive pricing – VAN’s pricing is competitive with that of other companies offering predictive dialers.

Disadvantages of VAN’s Predictive Dialers

And now for the cons:

• Results tracking – The results of automated calls are tracked in a separate area from each voter’s general contact history. The predictive dialer doesn’t cross-reference the results with other interactions. So a campaign won’t know – without doing some digging – if the person who picked up an automated phone call also emailed the campaign the week before or attended a rally.

• Bad phone numbers – VAN’s predictive dialer doesn’t remove bad phone numbers from the system. It simply marks them in the campaign as “other.” When the next campaign comes around, those numbers will be dialed again, which wastes time. Other products purge all of those bad numbers.

• Partisan affiliation – VAN only caters to the Democratic party, while many other vendors do not have party restrictions.

• Per-second pricing – VAN charges by the second, so it’s impossible to budget for your monthly calling in advance. Other vendors offer flat monthly fees that make pricing predictable. VAN’s rate is 1 cent for the first 15 seconds and three-tenths of a cent for every additional 15 seconds. Thus, a one-minute call costs 1.9 cents.

• Trouble with online phone numbers – Campaigns that use online phone numbers will have to take some extra steps to use VAN. The predictive dialer has a built-in mechanism to prevent outgoing calls from fake numbers – which is great for consumers – but it requires additional setup steps and fees for campaigns with online numbers through Google Voice, Skype or the like. Campaigns have to work separately with their phone vendor to solve this one.

Kunnect sells cloud-based call center software that includes a predictive dialer for a flat rate of $125 per user per month with a flat deposit of $125 per user. Our customers include businesses across the world and political campaigns.