Google is integrating its Chrome OS Enterprise with cloud-first contact center players such as 8x8, RingCentral, Five9, Vonage, Genesys and Edify.

With the move, Google is rolling out Chrome Enterprise Recommended Contact Center stacks that will be sold by partner vendors as well as CDW. 

In the big picture, Google's Chrome OS Enterprise reflects the reality that contact center stacks are a hot market. Zoom is buying Five9 to play in the contact center space. Cisco's WebEx is also a key contact center player. These cloud contact center efforts became critical as service agents moved to remote work.

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Chrome OS Enterprise is targeting the space because it can woo IT admins with easy deployment, updates and management tools. As far as end points go, Chrome OS Enterprise can simplify management for dispersed contact centers.

Thomas Riedl, Director of Product Management for Chrome OS, said Chrome OS is looking to replicate its success in education and the enterprise to target more industries with tailor-made efforts. "We are validating the end-to-end experience," said Riedl. "Contact centers pivoted and two-thirds of agents are now working from home. We see the challenges of working from home and that's in the wheelhouse for Chrome OS."

The Chrome Enterprise Recommended Contact Center stacks have ticketing, CRM and AI embedded as well as tie-ins with everything from cloud offerings and headsets. Google is using its Chrome OS to simplify on-premises as well as legacy apps.

Google said the Chrome OS contact center solutions include:

• Validated and optimized software for Chrome OS.
• Chrome OS is Citrix Ready and verified for contact center deployments. Citrix Workspace on Chrome OS is validated for contact centers. Google and Citrix will validate more apps, endpoints and peripherals on Chrome OS.
• Devices certified to work with Chromebooks and Chrome OS. The program also includes more than 15 certified headsets for contact centers ranging from EPOS, Jabra and Poly.  
  

As far as returns on investment, Riedel said Chrome OS' primary arguments are less downtime and easier deployment and management when Chromebooks are shipped to agents already provisioned.

Cameron Weeks, co-founder and CEO of Edify, said laptops have become the new desk phones for customer service agents and verified cloud tools can have call quality improvements. "Edify has spent more than a decade deep in the weeds of contact centers and it's a complicated mess," said Weeks, who added that one integrated stack can simplify things for agents.

Vivek Sharma, VP of Business Development at Vonage, added that the security argument for Chrome OS is strong given remote work as well as cybersecurity attacks focused on customer data. "Security has become a big issue with agents going remote," said Sharma.