ChannelVision Magazine

W ith nearly 96 percent of the world’s consumers living outside of the U.S., businesses are feeling pressure to not only compete locally but expand to create global customer experience (CX) strategies. Competi - tion is fierce and requires businesses to invest in technologies that enable international customers to seamlessly communicate with the company. Further, as more businesses de - velop international strategies, they will need to partner with channel commu - nication service providers (CSPs) that can support their growth, secure ROI on IT investments and help them com - pete in the global market. One service CSPs should offer through VoIP and cloud-based PBX is international direct inward dialing (DID). DIDs are virtual numbers that allow calls to be routed directly to an existing phone number. International DIDs strengthen global communication strategies by allowing businesses to leverage local numbers regardless of their location. Channel partners offering robust tools such as these international and local toll- free numbers will not only help companies compete in the global economy, but they will also give end users more control and flexibility over the ways in which they inter - act with a business. Below are three ways the integration of international DIDs can maximize busi - nesses’ ROI on cloud IT investments. Improved customer service and call center operations Businesses must ensure their con - tact centers are equipped to handle in - quiries and communicate via a reliable and secure network, no matter the time or location. In turn, CSPs should en - sure call centers are fully functional on a global level so their enterprise part - ners retain customers, connect remote employees and grow market share. Further, as more businesses em - INTERNATIONAL AGENTS By Sascha Mehlhase Thinking Global, Acting Local International DIDs improve enterprise communications and customer experience brace contact center as a service (CCaaS) models, the opportuni - ties for innovation and im- proving customer experience are supported by the integration of international toll free (ITFS) and international local numbers (ITL). DIDs, for example, allow customers to avoid sitting in a queue or navigating a complicated calling tree and instead gain quick and direct access to custom - er support representatives. CCaaS at its core is a cloud-based customer experience solution that allows companies to scale as operational needs change. So, as more companies go global, they need the support of a flexible CCaaS solution to increase communica - tions capabilities for better international customer service. International equipped CCaaS offerings also can help companies deliver omnichannel and harmonious communications across platforms and al - leviate common call center pain points. Increased agility, scalability for growth and localization Since DIDs are not bound by geo - graphical location and can be imple - mented without incurring network expan - sion costs, they can strengthen channel providers’ ability to offer a solution for companies operating in the global busi - ness economy. In turn, businesses that leverage international DIDs can benefit 38 CHANNEL VISION | March - April, 2020