September 29, 2016
There are many reasons why a contact/call center may wish to change platforms and migrate their system to a new solution. Perhaps the platform is “end of life” or “end of support,” and you can no longer acquire licenses for new agents. Perhaps there has been repeated frustrations and difficulties with the old system, or another platform has an array of features they find attractive. Whatever the reason, a contact/call center migration is no simple task.
Below, we’ve included a roundup of some tips and strategies to help with a contact/call center migration.
Contact/Call Center Migration Tips
Revisit Your Contact/Call Center Strategy
No matter how the migration is performed or which platforms are involved, this move is going to involve a complete rewrite of your scripts. Use this as an opportunity to revisit your strategy and find opportunities to streamline it. It will be easier to refine the call flow now than alter scripts after they have been in effect for some time.
Prepare Your Team for the Transition
There are two facets to this tip. The first is training. Make sure your team has ample opportunity to train on the new system and a firm understanding of the ins-and-outs before launch day. While fundamentally every contact/call center platform operates on similar principles, there will be differences between them. Terminology, acronyms, and names of metrics may differ and may be found in entirely different areas of the platform.
The second facet involves agent buy-in. You may find that your agents are extremely resistant to the change. If your team is not on board, the transition between platforms is sure to be sloppy, abrasive, and difficult. Some agents need to be eased into this kind of change. So, give your team some exposure to the new dashboard before it comes time to use it. Try to highlight its strengths and drum up some excitement around the change. When the agents do finally get their hands on the new platform, it won’t be as foreign, and they won’t be as resistant.
Cisco UCCX Migrates Well into UCCE
On both a technical and agent level, the transition between Cisco contact/call center platforms is very easy. Cisco Unified Contact Center Express, Unified Contact Center Enterprise, and Packaged Contact Center Enterprise all use the same Finesse Agent Desktop interface, so there’s nothing new for agents to learn.
Don’t Take Features for Granted
This tip goes both ways. Don’t assume that your new platform will have all the same features as your old one, and don’t assume that you’ll still be forced to depend on a third-party tool to fill in gaps. Research your new platform to determine what will and will not be necessary moving forward.
Reporting Capabilities
Once the migration is complete, you will no longer be able to run reports on data gathered before day one. This could mean losing years of valuable insight if the proper steps aren’t taken. Before the migration, pull and archive all the legacy data you can. Alternatively, you could consider keeping your old platform alive and operating in a limited capacity. That would leave the door open to future reporting opportunities.
A Fresh Start
While new capabilities and continued support of your new contact/call center platform are certainly helpful, the most valuable part of a contact/call center migration is the ability to reassess and restructure how your contact/call center operates on a fundamental level. Overtime, a contact/call center becomes more and more unwieldy. Maybe at one point it was sleek and streamlined, but minor alterations, quick fixes, and pivoting strategies can make the system more complex than it needs to be.
This is an opportunity for a fresh start.
Like what you read?
About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We have one of the largest expert-level engineering teams delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from cloud to infrastructure, collaboration to contact center. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for an emerging business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.
Contact us at GoMindsight.com.
