The value of cloud queuing during times of disruption

Since the pandemic, consumers have become less forgiving of poor customer experiences (CX). Customers’ loyalty is fickle, with one in three people being more willing to switch brands in pursuit of better CX (Fresh Relevance, 2022). Complete disruptions to operations are unacceptable to the modern customer – unfortunately, these occurrences are on the rise.  

From heat waves and hurricanes to ice storms and floods, extreme weather events continue to intensify and increase in frequency, threatening to cause lasting business disruptions (EPA, 2022). Moreover, cyberattacks keep escalating. In 2021, data breaches grew by 15.1% from the previous year (Forbes, 2022).

In light of these worsening scenarios and consumers’ fading patience, it is paramount that brands deploy cloud queuing to maintain customer communications and ensure CX during times of disruptions.     

What is the difference between cloud and call queuing?

Call queuing is not particularly special or novel. When customers call a contact center, and all agents are busy assisting other people, the on-premises queuing solution lines up callers to wait for the next available agent.

Cloud queuing is a simple yet elastic solution that layers over the top (OTT) of existing on-premises, cloud, or hybrid contact center infrastructure, allowing the network to absorb mass call events prompted by disruptions in a meaningful way. Cloud queuing allows organizations to hold calls in a queue, routing them to the next available agent or to additional departments or locations as needed. Callers can be prioritized based on pre-determined criteria and live updates can be shared in the virtual cloud queuing waiting room. Cloud queuing helps customers stay in touch with businesses, upholding high levels of CX even during the unexpected.

Likewise, it creates hybrid redundancy and turbocharges cloud contact center solutions. Because cloud queuing takes place in the cloud instead of an on-premises system of subnetworks, it simplifies networking, permitting easy, low-cost upgrades without costly or invasive transformations to communication infrastructure. Additionally, cloud queuing improves a company’s overall agility and efficiency.  

The value of cloud queuing during a disruption 

Perhaps the greatest benefit of cloud queuing is that it can help businesses maintain communications during disruptions. Here is how it works:

Calls pass through a cloud workflow before reaching a company’s contact center. If their contact center isn’t available because of an outage or abnormally high traffic, the incoming calls will be directed automatically. The calls can be redirected based on pre-determined routing or adjusted on the fly. Again, since the queuing is in the cloud and not on-premises, calls aren’t impacted by local disruptions as they will automatically failover to a non-impacted location.

A good provider allows for automation and customized call experience by offering IVR integration, an option to get a call-back, VIP routing, post-call survey and more. The purpose of these services is to give a high level of customer experience.

Cloud queuing manages calls against a set inbound call volume threshold – meaning, if no other contact center is available, the callers will remain in the virtual waiting room. However, they can still receive messages and status updates from the business.   

The key to cloud queuing is automation. Rather than manually rerouting calls to other contact centers during a disruption, companies have the peace of mind that their cloud queuing solution will automatically send customers to the best destination to get their call answered.   

IntelePeer’s cloud queuing solution 

As part of our robust and scalable workflow automation platform, IntelePeer’s cloud queuing solution can empower brands for better customer experience and to push redundancy as close to the end user as possible, allowing enterprises to prepare for tomorrow’s inevitable uncertainties.

Check out our customer success story to learn how IntelePeer helped a large public sector utility enhance its reliability and deliver a consistent customer experience with cloud queuing. To learn more about cloud queuing and how it can ensure your communications during a disruption, contact us now.