Case Study: iQor

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Global business process outsourcer (BPO) iQor has enjoyed a long period of growth and success. As demands for BPO services evolve, iQor wanted to move past providing full-stack bespoke solutions including telephony infrastructure and software architecture to clients. Working with NICE, iQor has migrated to Contact Center-as-a-Service architecture on CXone. This creates more opportunities to lead the BPO industry in omnichannel relationship management without building and maintaining custom software.

01 THE BEFORE

Beyond the “build-mode” BPO model

iQor rose to prominence following a build-mode mentality: building integrations and implementing systems specifically tailored for each client in its own on-premises data centers. This approach grew the business, but at costs which also grew over time, including the need for regular software updates and extensive infrastructure management. Not only did this model tie up extensive development and project management resources, but it proved inflexible to the growing need to interact with end customers over emerging digital channels.

02 DESIRE TO CHANGE

Meeting the changing expectations of the BPO marketplace

Recognizing the limitations of the build-mode approach and seeing a decline in the number of clients asking for full-stack solutions including telephony infrastructure and custom software, iQor evaluated the true costs and trade-offs of its previous operating model. The company decided to pivot away from further investments in ongoing software maintenance and the relationship risks inherent in every upgrade cycle. “At smaller scale it made sense for us to build, but at the scale we are at today, we want a dedicated focus on our customers, and move away from perpetual licensing or developing our own platform,” said Tarn Shant, iQor’s Senior Vice President of Transformation.

iQor wanted a new solution capable of large-scale and high-volume operations, with comprehensive and advanced digital channel capabilities. The ideal tech partner would include iQor in strategic decision-making about the future of the platform. And iQor wanted to hit the ground running with new digital channel capabilities. “From an omnichannel standpoint, we had chat, email, and social media, but they were all different, complex products,” Shant said. “It was challenging to make them all work together seamlessly for our customers.”

03 THE SOLUTION

A new, flexible, digital-first approach to BPO

Moving to NICE CXone reflected a shift for iQor, away from a completely vertically integrated model to one focused on value-added services and superior execution of customer care strategies. “We were a large provider in this space, partnered with many key solution providers, but we saw that we should pivot from trying to maintain all these technologies to focusing on solving issues for our customers and helping them with their digital journeys,” Shant said. “It made sense to partner with NICE, which offers a complete suite for Contact Center-as-a-Service.”

iQor’s implementation of CXone covers several key clients and balances the business advantages against the strong desire for a flawless transition that would not adversely affect the clients’ end customers or the integrity of operational delivery. A pilot implementation preceded full rollout, and heavily engaged workforce managers and trainers to build understanding and acceptance of the new work modes. To ensure a seamless transition to the CXone platform for each client, iQor invested significantly in the preparation and training of its business users. Comprehensive User Acceptance Testing (UAT) was conducted to validate the system’s performance and functionality before the actual cutover, thereby ensuring a high degree of reliability and user satisfaction.

Furthermore, iQor’s workforce management (WFM) and technology teams collaborated closely to drive user adoption. The successful partnership with NICE through the WFM platform allowed iQor to expand their partnership with NICE as they expanded to CXone. This collaboration involved organizing targeted training sessions and creating an extensive repository of resources, such as wikis, which served as valuable tools for the operational teams. These resources were designed to facilitate a smooth adoption process, enabling users to leverage the full capabilities of the CXone platform effectively.

04 THE RESULTS

A successful operational transition to CCaaS

iQor’s carefully orchestrated rollout of CXone hit internal financial and timing targets and opened new avenues for client innovation and collaboration. From seamless integration of NICE IEX WFM and telephony to a much faster customer onboarding process, the transition has created new sales and marketing opportunities while also strengthening iQor’s digital capabilities. “The streamlined client onboarding process has been a game-changer, enabling us to expand our client base more effectively,” Shant said. “And the variable license model helps us a lot. Our business team as well as our financial team appreciates the flexibility CXone gives us.”

Tangible results include a reduction in tech infrastructure costs. With NICE CXone, iQor has minimized outlay on in-house system maintenance and upgrades, retiring a data center with 300 virtual servers and overall moving the company to a leaner, more cost-efficient operational model. “The savings achieved through this efficiency were then reinvested into further innovations and service quality improvements,” Shant said. With a reduced need for infrastructure, architecture, and maintenance teams, iQor’s technical recruiting process is simpler and targets a more modern talent pool.

CXone’s interface has reduced the training and onboarding time for iQor agents and has also reduced response times through easier interaction management. “The accelerated learning curve greatly exceeded our expectations and contributed to a smoother transition for our workforce,” Shant said. With CXone’s real-time monitoring and analytics capabilities, iQor’s oversight capabilities are significantly improved. This enhances both real-time productivity tactics and compliance with client service levels and regulatory standards.

05 THE FUTURE

An ongoing CCaaS transition with room to grow

Operationally, iQor plans to expand the use of universal queueing to share agents between both inbound and outbound queues, improving productivity during periods of slower inbound contact volume. On the business side, the organization will continue to pursue opportunities for quick customer wins, knowing that on CXone a new project with hundreds of seats can be launched in a single day. The company will also look at opportunities to improve digital services with generative AI, helping agents perform at a higher level, further compressing training times, and moving from concept to client delivery faster than ever.

“This is a massive pivot for us and it’s made possible by NICE CXone,” Shant said. “We can focus purely on the customer journey, instead of trying to build solutions internally that wouldn’t be on par with CXone.”