Newest Partner Increases Options, Decreases Costs for Contact Centers that are Migrating to the Cloud

Today's businesses are exploring new ways for remote and hybrid employees to deliver outstanding customer experiences. They also want solutions that are flexible, scalable, secure, and cost efficient. Many have found the answers in cloud-based, "XaaS" solutions.

For contact centers, the integration of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platforms is critical for migrating to the cloud. Now, Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) has expanded customers' CCaaS options by adding another industry-leading partner –Talkdesk – to its portfolio of CCaaS solutions.

With Lumen Solutions for Contact Center – Talkdesk, Lumen customers now have access to the full suite of Talkdesk cloud contact center solutions. This includes the company's flagship solution – Talkdesk CX Cloud™ – and Talkdesk Industry Experience Clouds™, an automation-first customer experience solution that optimizes organizations' most critical customer service processes.

"When UCaaS, CCaaS, and networking solutions are offered through a single provider, businesses can improve usability, efficiency, and flexibility, and they can consolidate billing and lower costs," said Craig Richter, Lumen's senior director of CCaaS product management. "Every customer has unique needs. We lean on our 30+ years of experience in the contact center business to guide them through the planning, implementation, and management of the solutions that ensure the best possible experience for their customers."

According to Metrigy's Customer Experience Transformation 2022-23 global study, those who use a service provider such as Lumen for their UCaaS/CCaaS integration see compelling improvements in business metrics. For example, customer satisfaction increases 3x more with a carrier integration than with a  platform provider. Similarly, revenue increases 17.4% more and employee efficiency increases 51.1% more.

"Our research participants see network performance, professional services, costs, and security as the top benefits of using a carrier for their UCaaS/CCaaS integration," says Robin Gareiss, Metrigy CEO and principal analyst. "They like the option to select their UCaaS and CCaaS platform, but then have a single point of contact for all service management."

Richter continued, "By combining our complementary network, infrastructure, applications, and hosting capabilities with Talkdesk's innovative CCaaS, Lumen is in a unique position to be a single source for businesses looking to modernize their contact center technologies and reduce costs. Talkdesk's capabilities, coupled with our skilled implementation and integration, comprehensive onboarding, 24/7 security support, and managed services make Lumen the go-to, trusted partner for contact centers throughout North America."

About Lumen Solutions for Contact Center - Talkdesk

• Lumen Solutions for Contact Center – Talkdesk helps businesses improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs via an intelligent, all-in-one contact center solution. This unifies customer and agent experiences across phone, email, chat, text, and social channels.
• Lumen customers have access to an industry leading CCaaS offering that is part of Lumen's extensive network, network geography and scale, backbone resiliency and redundancy, and additional security capabilities including real-time authentication and fraud prevention.
• By selecting the Talkdesk solution, Lumen customers will have access to native artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities embedded into the Talkdesk platform, which can also support integrations with third party AI solutions such as Amazon Lex and ChatGPT.
• Lumen customers can meet shifting customer demands with development tools that accelerate customization and rapid deployment of cutting-edge contact center solutions.
• As a cloud-native platform, Talkdesk allows Lumen customers to manage, develop, and engage their agents throughout the employee lifecycle, regardless of their location. This makes it easy for customers to quickly find answers to their questions at any time of day.
• Through Talkdesk, Lumen customers will have access to modern contact center technology with Talkdesk AI and a full set of enterprise-level, integrated, CX applications for customer self-service, omnichannel engagement, workforce engagement, employee collaboration, and customer experience analytics to align and drive CX winning behaviors across every organization.
• The Talkdesk solution enables more than 60 out-of-the-box integrations with leading CX systems.

"We're looking forward to building on the strong relationship between Talkdesk and Lumen," says Chad Haydar, Talkdesk's vice president of channel and alliances. "As a tier 1 network provider partner in North America, Lumen brings tremendous value through its network capabilities and extensive reach in the marketplace. Our combined strengths make us well positioned to meet the increasing demand for customer experience technology solutions and drive continued business growth."

Source: Lumen Technologies Media announcement