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Over the last week, prime minister Boris Johnson has approved Huawei to help Britain set up and roll out a 5G network. 5G is an exciting new development which could have a fantastic impact on call centres. 5G is set to supplement current 4G networks and increase mobile data speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
However, Boris Johnson is potentially facing a backlash from the Tory government over the fears that using Huawei for parts of the network could impact national security. He has stressed that Huawei’s involvement will be non-core which should reduce the risk of breaches.
The culture secretary, Nicky Morgan has said that Huawei has been working on our 4G network for years and believe they don’t present the security risk that others are worried about.
Why Huawei should work on the 5G rollout
By working with Huawei it will result in a more advanced, secure and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure. It gives the UK access to world-class technology and to help build our digital future.
As Huawei has better resources and more advanced technology, they have the ability to help roll out 5G at a faster rate. This can help Britain one of the leading 5G providers in the world.
How can this impact call centres?
By letting Huawei be involved in the project should allow Britain to complete the 5G network at a much faster rate. The network is likely to be more stable and secure. This can allow call centres to take advantage of 5G to further develop their call centre.
What is 5G?
5G is the new mobile data network which will see upgrades to the current 4G network. It promises to vastly speed up the mobile network and can see large files such as 4k videos download in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. There are also significant improvements in latency as it uses higher frequency bands.
Benefits of 5G for businesses
Faster Speeds
Being able to download things such as large files at quicker speeds should allow us to work faster due to removing waiting times. Videos should also load quicker, this could possibly lead to greater retention times when marketing.
Lower Latency
4G currently has latency levels of 40-50 milliseconds, at 5G it will be less than 1 milliseconds so the user doesn’t notice it.
Live video and voice quality can be improved so that higher quality videos and multiple voice calls can take place.
Reliability
5G will also provide a more reliable network meaning fewer connectivity drops and making it more stable for ‘critical apps’ such as healthcare and the IoT.
With the use of 5G technology, bandwidth can be adjusted to better suit the traffic flow. Previously with 4G, the network provider set an amount of bandwidth assigned to each area regardless of the type of traffic being handled. This means on 5G if there is congestion on one route bandwidth can be used from another route.
Due to the speed and quality of the 5G connection, a new wave of applications can be developed which can rely on larger databases.
How can 5G benefit call centres?
Call Quality
A current problem with 4G is that it has low latency and is often affected during peak times leading to poor call quality. Not ideal when your business relies on making multiple calls at once. Whilst 1 or 2 simultaneous calls might be currently achievable without issue, when making several it currently can’t handle it.
5G would solve this and be able to handle large amounts of VoIP calls using software like a predictive dialler.
Work Remotely
Calls centres generally operate with large databases which are constantly updating. Previously under 4G and past internet mobile speeds, this has not been possible due to drops in connection and data constantly needing to be refreshed. A faster more reliable mobile internet can handle the evolving data and offer greater reliability.
This opens up possibilities for call centres to be able to operate with agents even if they are on the move or based at home, using their own 5G connections.
Call centre managers will also benefit greatly as they can have offsite meetings and keep an eye on real-time data, making sure the call centre is running as normal.
Disaster Recovery Plan
One of the biggest issues with call centres is if their internet goes down cutting off access to their dialler and CRM. Having a 5G connection as a back up would allow your call centre to continue to run smoothly as it has the speed and reliability to handle large bandwidth.
Advancements in Technology
As 5G is faster and more reliable we can start to think about ways in which call centre technology can evolve. We can, for example, use higher quality audio to communicate or look at developing video and group calls.
Artificial Intelligence
As we’re looking to introduce artificial intelligence to our dialler (which uses advanced calculations and analysis to work out when the best time is to call each individual number). Even more internet data will be needed when operating our software, this would require the speed and reliability of 5G to be able to operate without a fixed connection.
We’re excited about the launch of 5G as we hope it will open up new opportunities for our software. For example, It could allow us to develop an application to let users log in through a mobile app and handle calls using just their mobile phone. If you wish to stay in touch with us and track our latest developments follow us on our social accounts on Facebook, twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.