Hosted software products are hot! Software industry analysts including the likes of IDC, Yankee Group and Forrester are forecasting that hosted software will become as much as a third of all software sales by 2009. One call center observer says that hosted software will be half of all new software installations in just a few years.
But what about call recording and quality monitoring? Companies like VoiceLog in the US and Magnetic North in the UK have been offering hosted recording for a number of years. Does hosted call recording or quality monitoring make sense for you and your organization? Here are a few ways you can tell:
- Is your capital limited? Like all hosted services, hosted recording and monitoring requires much less cash up front and less cost overall for at least the first two years;
- Is technology changing? Hosted vendors have to keep up with new technology, because it’s so easy for a customer to change vendors. With VOIP and other new technology, buying a traditional recording or monitoring system is setting your self up to buy a new one – perhaps in as little as a year or two.
- Does your CFO review your business case? Financial people like to use a measure called “return on investment” and they want that return to be as high as possible. With a hosted service, your investment is low, so the ROI calculation is higher – usually by as much as four to six times.
- Is your IT staff too busy? Often, the hosted provider offers many of the services your IT staff would have to provide with traditional software. Some companies have saved a full IT staff position using a hosted provider.
- Does your business go up? Or down? Or both? A traditional system means a fixed investment – regardless of how your business changes. So if you’re growing, you might feel pressured to buy too much capacity. Or if your business declines, you’re stuck with the investment. And if you have a seasonal business, you’re paying too much in the off-season. A hosted provider can scale capacity and cost up and down to match your business cycles.
- Is your need temporary? If you need to record for a six or twelve month project, the cost of a fixed system is just too high. A hosted offering gives you what you need for as long as you need it.
Of course, hosted recording and monitoring isn’t for everyone. If capital budgeting isn’t an issue and you can confidently amortize your investment for four to five years, a traditional recording system may be just the right fit – especially if you have all the IT staff you need and a very steady business.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you, but with hosted software offerings becoming more and more commonplace, it’s worth knowing that you have the option to choose hosted if your needs suggest it.