By Kimberly Koerth

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8×8 has partnered with Zendesk to develop a bundled cloud solution that the companies say tightly weaves the functionality of both applications to improve the responsiveness, efficiency and management of contact centers.

8×8 Virtual Contact Center and Zendesk function as a single SaaS solution with reporting and run-time data integrations, enabling contact centers to increase first-call resolution rates, shorten call handle times and extract the right metrics needed to maximize the efficiencies of the contact center, the companies said. Zendesk provides the software for agents to track customer issues, tie inquiries to a single customer record and drive agents to a solution. 8×8 manages customer interactions across voice, chat and other channels to ensure customers are connected with the agent who is best prepared to help them.

In contrast to existing integrations between contact-center services and customer-service applications, the 8×8/Zendesk integration is said to provide significant value out-of-the-box with no customization required. This minimizes the cost and delays contact centers generally face when implementing new software integrations. Additionally, the tight integration between the two solutions leads to greater efficiencies within the contact center for both agents and supervisors, the companies said.

Customers are increasingly drawn to Web customer service, making it vital for enterprises to link their Web support tools with voice, case management and agent desktop solutions,” Ovum senior analyst Aphrodite Brinsmead said. The 8×8 and Zendesk integration makes it possible for enterprises to combine these capabilities in the cloud. It will allow agents to gain better visibility into customer needs while managers can more easily track behavior across channels and staff their contact centers accordingly.”