Top Tips for Call Recording in Tough Times

As the credit crunch makes itself felt across all sectors of commerce and industry the Monitor looks at how you can either reduce your call recording budget or make it pay you bigger dividends.

In summary, there are just two simple scenarios and the odd permutation to deal with, and here they are:-

A) You already have a call recording system and you want to sweat that asset for as long as you can – in which case, can BSL (Business Systems UK Ltd) help you do that at a lower cost?

B) You intend to implement a new call recording system and your goal is to get the best ROI possible.

Here are real money saving tips for these two main categories.

Sweating the asset – keeping what you’ve got
Is your maintenance contract with BSL? – If it isn’t you could well be paying more than you need. BSL arguably provides some of the best call recording maintenance in the industry. For those larger organisations with distributed or overseas offices it is often the case that many different contracts exist with different suppliers for both technology and maintenance. Costs can be more effectively streamlined and economies of scale achieved by consolidating these into one contract with BSL. This should also have a positive effect on service levels as just one supplier takes full accountability. Get a quote it won’t cost you a penny!

Do you pay for out-of-hours (OOH) support? – Some OOH support contracts are very expensive. BSL provide both OOH set charges and additional ‘timebundles’ which can greatly reduce cost but give great coverage.

Does an ‘end-of-life’ (EOL) system mean it needs to be replaced? – Not necessarily, EOL just means the manufacturer has withdrawn their software support but in most instances this has no affect on day-to-day maintenance, as long as spares are available. BSL has one of the largest spares holdings in Europe and we regularly maintain systems 6 years beyond normal EOL. Call our specialist maintenance team for an accurate assessment.

Can an older system be expanded with new functionality? – In many instances yes! Again this needs careful attention, but as a rule most systems are designed with physical expansion in mind and although software is a different matter the ability to enhance and upgrade is not fully utilised. Ask a BSL account manager to see if they can save you some money.

Implementing new technology – getting the best ROI
By contrast to the above, others will take the view that in an economic downturn their primary task is to make their organisations fitter, leaner and more effective. This change can’t take place with obsolete IT systems and so replacement technology becomes essential to the success of the process.

The old chestnut of, ‘cash is king’ is always trotted out in difficult times but it is done so for good reason – why tie up good capital when an operating expense makes better financial sense?

Consider switching to a hosted or ‘hybrid’ solution – Software as a Service (SaaS) has been on the increase in recent years because it represents the perfect business model; i.e. operating expense that can be directly apportioned to the revenue it produces but with no capital outlay. With call recording solutions now available as a SaaS model this is an excellent solution for the current cash crisis. Today’s savvy customer is taking advantage of SaaS to augment their ‘on-premise’ systems for overflow capacity. Check out the OPEX hosted options.

Consider a managed service, rental or lease model – Managed services can provide solutions like call recording and quality monitoring on a company’s premises with reduced in-house responsibilities which presents the company with a quarterly services bill. Commercially this is ideal for managing cash flow because it is off balance sheet so it rates for 100% tax allowance. Leasing options should also be considered for set terms of 3 to 6 years.

Contact – [email protected] or call 0800 458 2988 to find out more about any of the tips highlighted above.