IP Adoption among Small- and Medium-sized Contact Centers Drives Uptake of Automatic Call Distributor Systems

Frost: Internet protocol (IP)-based automatic call distributor (ACD) systems, with their ability to build virtualized contact centers, are fast establishing themselves among small- and medium-sized contact centers in North America. This rapid uptake of IP by smaller customers is likely to open up an unexplored market for ACD vendors.

North American ACD market earned revenues of $975 million in 2005 and estimates this to reach $1.29 billion in 2012.

The maturity of the large contact center market has led to declining revenues and remains a major cause of concern for ACD vendors. However, increased sales of IP-based ACDs to smaller customers are counterbalancing this decline.

Small- and medium-sized contact centers, which were initially reluctant to adopt IP-based systems due to concerns of poor voice quality, reliability, and security as well as high costs, have begun to understand the importance of these systems and have started implementing them.

This technological shift toward IP infrastructure is a result of vendor education programs and network readiness assessment services that ensure quality of service within converged networks and enable easy migration. They also help customers look beyond the high costs of migration and realize the benefits of IP.

IP offers clear-cut cost savings for contact centers wishing to operate in a virtual environment in which several geographically distributed sites operate as a single, centrally-administered center, explains Jacobs. It enables enterprises to link remote or home-based agents easily and cost effectively, thus helping these centers overcome the scarcity of qualified and willing onshore contact center agents.

The growing demand for all-in-one contact center suites is also likely to encourage vendors to consider mergers and acquisitions as a means to expand product sets.

Additionally, the increasing willingness of verticals such as healthcare and public sector/education to adopt IP-based ACDs, and the growing trend of bringing outsourced contact centers back to North America, are likely to enhance the market for ACD systems.

North American Automatic Call Distributor Systems Publ 20060612