Customers are interacting with organizations in many different ways -from voice to email, chat and social media -using a variety of devices including smartphones and tablets. Many organizations are still figuring out how to deal with the evolving customer who is using any channel, any device and at any time. You need collaboration tools to share information faster and make more informed decisions. Legacy metrics are no longer adequate to measure customer engagement. The terms of engagement are changing rapidly and you need a flexible platform that will adapt to their requirements and growth.

Developing a system that meets all these requirements -yet is simple to deploy and use - requires an ecosystem approach. It's no longer enough just deploy a contact center and expect to meet the needs of a new generation of customers.

Cisco combines the power of Cisco Collaboration Cloud with the versatile toolbox of Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (Unified CCX) to create a solution that scales to meet organizational requirements and is yet simple to deploy.

Deployed by more than 16,000 organizations worldwide, Unified CCX provides multiple channels for customer engagement. Customers can call in, email, Web chat or connect via social media. Agents use the Cisco Finesse desktop for integrated access to voice, email, and, web chat. Finesse, which  is extensible with open APIs, can be integrated with other business applications to create gadgets which put all the information an agent needs on their desktop.

Bringing in the Cloud

With on-premises solutions you're often constrained by the time and infrastructure required to deploy new features. With Cisco Collaboration Cloud, you can add to on-prem solutions through the cloud.

An example is Cisco Context Service, which lets you to track a customer's journey across channels. If a customer sends a request via email, then calls the next day, Context Service gives the agent the full context of the interactions. (Context Service is fully integrated with Contact Center Express at no additional charge.)

Context Service keeps you in step with customers rather than forcing them to retrace their journey every time they switch channels. (For more, read Zack Taylor's post about Elton John and the benefits of Context Service.)

Agents need to be able to collaborate effectively with each other and experts elsewhere in your organization. Cisco Spark, also delivered via Cisco Collaboration Cloud, simplifies team communications, providing increased productivity with teams feeling more connected. Combined, Context Service and Cisco Spark can increase the ease of doing business for both agents and customers.

The open APIs of these solutions allow you to customize the customer experience you provide. The transformational power of these tools can provide you with a sustainable competitive advantage.

The combination of the powerful on-premises capabilities of Contact Center Express, combined with the Cisco Collaboration Cloud services, can help you better engage with the always-on customer. And an engaged customer is one who will promote your enterprise.

This is a revolutionary change in the contact center. We can't wait to hear what your experience is with these services.