Insightful analytics and comprehensive reports are crucial to running a successful business. The more accurate information a company can collect, the better that business’s decision-making skills become. Unfortunately, it’s easy to end up with gaps in your reporting strategy, particularly when the functionality of crucial pieces of technology begins to change.
The most recent edition of the Cisco BroadWorks platform (Release 24.0), for instance, doesn’t include the advanced reporting functionality of the Enhanced Call Centre Reporting (ECCR) service. Though many companies relied on this solution within the BroadWorks supervisor client, ECCR was declared ‘End of Sale’ during 2019.
While many organisations have continued to use the ECCR technology in previous versions of BroadWorks, upgrading to Release 24.0 means you won’t have access to reporting on KPIs such as call abandon rates, long on-hold times, and SLA metrics – therefore, losing that visibility of performance and customer experience metrics.
So, what can you do now?
We’ve put together the ultimate checklist for service providers, to ensure you don’t miss out on essential features when upgrading your solution.
Your Checklist for a New Real-Time Reporting Solution
Obviously, Cisco BroadWorks service providers will be required to upgrade to the latest version at some point, however, upgrading also means you’ll need to take some time to find an alternative, real-time reporting solution to fill the gap left by ECCR.
Let’s take a look at some of the points you should consider when finding your new solution.
ECCR Comparative Functionality
The closer your new solution is in terms of functionality and feature options to the ECCR offering, the easier the transition will be. At the very least, your new offering should have feature parity with your previous solution, so you’re not left with any gaps in what you can do.
Be sure to compare everything from the report types and customisations available, to the metrics you can track.
Additional Functionality: Real-Time Reporting
While feature parity is a minimum requirement for your new alternative to ECCR, why settle for ‘just as good’, when you could access something even better? Now you’re making the transition into a new technology, it’s the perfect time to look for a chance to upgrade.
Consider the features ECCR didn’t offer your customers previously, which could deliver more benefits to them and enable enhanced performance.
For instance, the reports in ECCR allowed customers to make broad assumptions about their company’s performance, looking at patterns and trends over set periods of time. However, real-time reporting solutions could take their strategy to the next level.
Effective dashboards offering insights in real time give businesses an overview into what’s happening in the moment. This means business leaders can make rapid decisions on how to respond to problems and protect your operations. Plus, real-time reporting can be a great way to engage and motivate customer teams, by helping them to see their performance, and reminding them of which benchmarks to aim for. With real-time metrics, your customers can stop problems from progressing, overcome issues as they happen, and defend the company’s reputation.
Additional Functionality: Extended Insights
Access to real-time metrics is just one of the ways you can consider upgrading your new reporting solution as you make the transition away from ECCR.
For instance, while ECCR was good for reporting on call centre queues and agents – an alternative reporting solution could extend your customers’ business insights beyond the call centre. What if they could examine their teams and their devices in a host of environments, including the remote landscape?
In the age of hybrid work, being able to track employee productivity and business communications in real time can be a huge benefit. For instance, businesses could track the percentage of inbound calls being abandoned, and how many employees are responding to calls immediately.
A comprehensive reporting solution can also provide your customers with historical and real-time metrics for a more diverse, omnichannel environment. While ECCR served a purpose for reporting on voice calls – the customer service landscape is growing more distributed. Today’s customers are connecting with companies across a range of channels, from live chat and email to video. Checking whether your new service can examine all of these platforms is crucial for maintaining a deeper knowledge of the contact centre.
Reliability, Accuracy, and Support
When you’re dealing with crucial assets like analytics and business metrics, the reliability and accuracy of the application and your data needs to be a central priority. These are the insights which could make or break your business. You need to be confident that statistics are accurate, and that reports are reliable, so you and your customers can make the right decisions.
At the same time, your new analytics software vendor should be able to work with you on any issues you might be having. A reliable level of support from your vendor, in terms of everything from SLA results to technical expertise, will give you essential peace of mind when dealing with crucial data.
Check factors such as the vendor’s SLAs, responsiveness, and platform downtime. Also, do they offer access to online self-service resources for guidance when you need them.
Take the time to get to know the kind of service and support your vendor can provide, so you can determine which companies you can forge a long-term relationship with.
Vendor Portfolio and Credibility
In today’s competitive business landscape, the start of any successful purchase often begins with the right research. Reviewing the portfolio of the reporting vendor you’re considering working with is crucial. You’ll need to check whether this company is a specialist in analytics, and whether it has the right connections in the cloud communications network.
Look at accreditation, strategic alliances, and professional memberships which can give you the assurance you’re working with a company you can trust. If the vendor offers a broader portfolio of solutions (aside from analytics and reporting), can you be sure the team has the right resources to manage multiple platforms?
It may even be worth verifying whether this vendor has the know-how required to deliver the quality of product and the level of support you need as your business evolves.
Pricing
While there’s more to choosing an excellent ECCR replacement than budget alone, pricing is always a significant factor in a business buying decision. It’s worth checking not just what the price is now, but how often the vendor’s price lists change.
Consider the licensing and billing model used by the vendor. Are there any annual, monthly, or one-off charges you need to think about? How does the pricing structure align with your business model?
What Next?
Making the migration away from ECCR and into a new age of reporting can seem like a daunting prospect. Fortunately, with a little planning, you can find the right partner to help guide you through the process. With Akixi, you’ll get the expertise, guidance, and exceptional reporting functionality you need to compete in a modern world.
Contact Akixi today to see how we can help you transform your reporting structure.
Get in touch with your Akixi Business Development Manager directly or email us at sales@akixi.com / call +44 (0)1293 853 060.
A member of our team will be happy to assist.
