Answer; Technology cost has been a major inhibitor for many organisations considering automation - especially advanced speech recognition.  That no longer need be the case.  Hosted service solutions offer a low cost, risk free route to advanced automated solutions that can handle even the largest call volumes.

The promise of automation is uninterrupted and immediate access to services for callers.  That means the technology platform on which your service runs must be robust enough - and the number of phone lines linked to it big enough - to accommodate the maximum number of calls you're ever likely to receive at a single time.  Where call volumes are volatile, such as in the utilities or travel industry, where service disruptions can cause calls peaks of 200% and more, or in retail, where seasonal peaks can be equally dramatic, the cost of buying and maintaining such an infrastructure is, quite simply, cost prohibitive.  

Low cost

In a hosted environment the telephony and technology infrastructure is centrally owned and managed by the vendor, which means not only that there's no big upfront investment in technology, but that the cost of maintaining it is met by the vendor too. 

Our own technology and telephony infrastructure is the largest in Europe; able to handle up to 8,000 simultaneous calls and 650,000 calls per hour. 

Risk free

It's worth bearing in mind, too, that speech automation is still a nascent technology and that today's technology vendor environment is characterised by high levels of consolidation and still-to-be-agreed standards.  That means the investment decision for any company looking to adopt speech recognition in its contact centres can be risky.  Hosting presents an attractive low-risk route out of these vexing conundrums, since responsibility for maintaining the platform and keeping ahead of technology trends lies firmly with the service provider.

Our own platform is secure because it uses best-of-breed technologies that have been proven in practice; we never introduce you to the risk of new functionality until we're confident it's robust.

"Because our future - and that of our clients - depends on our platform we're committed to maintaining it on a best-of-breed basis using proven technologies from leading providers".
Jim Hennigan, Managing Director, Eckoh.