7 Essential Tools for a FedRAMP Compliant Contact Center

January 7, 2020

Citizens contact government agencies for a large variety of services on a very regular basis, and just like in the private sector, these agencies are challenged to keep up with changing customer expectations. There are new mandates within the government to use technology to improve the customer experience, while maintaining proper levels of safety and security with their data.

Agencies that operate contact centers are turning to the FedRAMP program for help implementing these tools. FedRAMP enables agencies to rapidly adapt from old, unsecure legacy IT to mission-enabling, secure, and cost-effective cloud-based IT. The FedRAMP Program Management Office does this by granting cloud service providers the Authorization to Operate (ATO) in a FedRAMP environment, providing those companies pass a rigorous technology audit ensuring both performance, security and authentication.

Agencies that deploy a FedRAMP-Certified Contact Center can take advantage of the latest routing, management and security tools as their private sector counterparts, allowing them to even the playing field and drive a better citizen experience.

Here we look at seven essential tools for a FedRAMP Authorized Contact Center:

The Agent Dashboard – In order to deliver great customer service, government contact center agents need a flexible web-based interface equipped with intuitive features and navigation. Having all their conversation channels and caller information in one place allows them to personalize interactions, reducing average handle times and increasing citizen satisfaction.
Omnichannel Routing – Agencies don’t operate call centers anymore, they’re contact centers. That’s because citizens expect to reach their agencies by more than just calling – chat, social media, email, text and more. A blended contact routing suite connects citizen journeys across any channel allowing agencies to deliver a personalized experience.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Studio – Everyone is familiar with using IVR, but have you considered how it’s built? Contact center administrators need a powerful, easy to use tool to define and streamline the design and maintenance of routing flows for all channels, including voice self-service, in one visual, user-friendly interface. Look for a tool that is drag-and-drop to simplify things even further.
Performance Management Software – This tool helps contact center admins monitor agent performance and maximize supervisor time by delivering transparent, actionable data, and easy goal setting. By using cloud-based software, admins can always access the latest versions and features of this tool.
Call Recording – Calls often need to be stored for future use, and call recording software not only provides the storage for this data, but also security features that protect information exchanged during the conversation. Look for a call recording tool that offers encryption for both audio and screen recordings and provides masking, which adds additional security any time a citizen is sharing sensitive information like a social security number.
Analytics Tools – Government contact center managers need data in order to make strategic decisions and process improvements. A baked-in analytics tool is essential to any FedRAMP compliant contact center – specifically an analytics tool that provides real-time and historical insights on key agency metrics and trends and offers instant access to information on performance as it relates to agency goals.
Workforce Optimization Software – Think of “WFO” as a Swiss Army Knife containing multiple tools to help administrators operate their government agency contact centers better.
1. Workforce Management helps with planning and scheduling to reduce labor waste.
2. Quality Management helps improve the agent interaction with the citizen through screen and call recording, self-evaluations, and automated feedback.
3. Performance Management gives agents the power to self-improve using gamification, collaboration and learning to meet agency KPIs.

All these tools need to exist in a toolbox, and although it’s not a product you can search for, the FedRAMP Compliant Contact Center’s IT environment may be the most important factor to consider. Any FedRAMP cloud provider must have an environment that is maintained in a secure and restricted-access, data center and deployed on a FedRAMP compliant cloud.

There are also FedRAMP standards around authentication – cloud providers with the FedRAMP ATO deploy rigorous physical and logical controls over access to their platforms and tools by using robust security controls and 24x7 monitoring.

Currently, there is only ONE cloud contact center platform listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace – NICE CXone. This leading customer experience platform has met the comprehensive federal requirements for security, reliability, availability, and performance, providing government agencies a complete suite of tools they need to optimize their digital first, omnichannel contact center operations.

To see how FedRAMP-Certified CXone is transforming government contact centers, watch the FedRAMP Compliant Contact Center video here.

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