Call center solutions with futuristic features are available in the market. The selection of call center software has been made easy with the abundant information available online. If you are still wondering, how to make sure that you have selected the best call center solution for your business or if you need help in the call center software selection, then here is our ultimate guide to select the right call center solution.
Once you select the best call center solution such as iCallify, intelligent call center software, you will need to handle one more confusing question: Whether to host the software on cloud or on-premises servers?
Worry not. In this article, we will share the comparison between both hosting models and you can choose the right one for you. You will learn about the pros and cons of on-premises and cloud call center solutions.
What is the difference between a cloud call center solution and an on-premises call center software solution?
On-premises solution
- When your intelligent call center software is hosted on in-house servers, it is called an on-premises solution.
- All infrastructure, hardware, etc. related to the software installation and maintenance will be on the premises of the company.
Cloud solution
- In this case, the intelligent call center solution gets hosted on the cloud space such as AWS (Amazon Web Servers), Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, etc.
- As the servers are virtual and hosted on the cloud, infrastructure or hardware will not be stored on the company premises.
Now, as you understand the difference between both types of solutions, let’s compare different aspects, so you can choose the right hosting model to host your intelligent call center software.
1. Installation and set up
- Your provider will install and set up the software for you and the installation process would take nearly the same time in both cases.
- However, what makes the difference here is the time to set up infrastructure, servers, etc. to install the solution.
- Cloud space will have everything ready and therefore, within a few hours, the intelligent call center software can be installed on the cloud.
- To set up the required infrastructure on-premises is a tough job and may take weeks or months. You need to find compatible servers, hardware, and other required infrastructure you need to set up servers and other infrastructure. Then only your call center solution can be installed.
- As you might have calculated, the cloud call center solution can set up faster than an on-premises solution.
2. Ease of access
- In both cases, the agents and other staff members can access the software via a web-based application. It means, whether you host your intelligent call center solution on cloud or on-premises servers, it won’t affect how your team accesses the solution.
- However, if you do not choose the right cloud hosting partner, then it may slow down the software. Therefore, be cautious of choosing the best cloud hosting platform.
3. Cost and expenses
- The next factor to consider is the cost of the system. The cost of intelligent call center software will be the same in both cases.
- Other than the license cost of the software, you will also need to think about other expenses and capital investment needed. Let’s compare the cost factor for both of these solutions.
- Installation: As mentioned earlier, you will need to buy servers and other infrastructure if you decide to use an on-premises call center solution. However, cloud call center software does not need you to invest in hardware or other infrastructure. Therefore, capital investment for the installation of the software will be lower with the cloud call center solution comparatively.
- Maintenance: The on-premises system will have the hardware, server, etc. Therefore, you will need to invest in maintenance and replacement. However, if you use intelligent call center software hosted on the cloud, then you will not need to worry about maintaining the hardware infrastructure. Therefore, the maintenance cost will also be less in the case of the cloud call center solution.
- Recurring cost: The recurring cost in the case of on-premises servers is quite low as there is nothing rented. Usually, you have the maintenance cost, which would not be on a monthly basis. The cloud call center solution will have cloud hosting. Therefore, the business using it will need to pay monthly hosting fees. Some popular cloud hosting platforms offer pay as you go model, which can reduce the overall cost of usage. Often, the usage cost in cloud hosting cases would be cheaper than maintenance expenses in the case of on-premises software.
4. Legislation
- It is one of the important factors to consider when you think about hosting a solution. In some countries, cloud hosting is not permitted by legislation.
- You must check if telecom or communication rules in your country allow cloud hosting or not. If not, then the only option left is an on-premises solution.
5. Scalability
- Intelligent call center software is highly scalable in both cases. However, how quickly you can scale up the software is necessary to check.
- In the case of the on-premises call center solution, you will need to buy additional servers and hardware to scale up the capacity. This would again take time for some weeks or months.
- The cloud call center solution can be scaled up within a few hours or days as you will always have as much space as you need on your request.
6. Reliability
- The reliability of the solution depends on the quality of servers and the cloud.
- As per the general observation, the cloud call center solution gives great stability and quality. Also, the cloud solution will offer 99.99% of uptime.
- On-premises servers can also provide 99.99% uptime and great quality, but often it gets affected by certain aspects.
7. Remote access
- Both solutions can be accessed remotely, but the question is which solution can be accessed remotely in a hassle-free manner.
- Cloud call center solutions can be accessed remotely without compromising on security as the cloud platform will offer the required security mechanisms.
- On-premises call center software needs to be accessed via VPN if it has to be operated remotely. Setting up a VPN can cause extra effort and money.
8. Ownership
- You will own intelligent call center software as you must have purchased its licensed version.
- If you use on-premises servers, then you own the servers and rights over them.
- If you use a cloud call center solution, then you will not have any ownership of the servers used in hosting the software.
Concluding notes
These are the major aspects of hosting an intelligent call center solution or any other software. This comparison must have given a clear picture to you about selecting the right hosting method. Still, if you have any doubts contact us, now.