The Total Economic Impact™ Of Talkdesk CX Cloud
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Talkdesk
A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned By Talkdesk, September 2024
Contact centers are regularly labeled as a cost center, but high-quality customer experience is an integral component of business operations. Businesses need to leverage technology that optimizes the efficiency and scalability of their contact center while providing exceptional customer service.
Talkdesk provides agentic AI-powered CX technology with the Talkdesk Ascend AI Platform that enables companies to provide exceptional customer experiences, boost workforce effectiveness, introduce operational efficiencies, and grow revenue, giving contact centers the opportunity to become a strategic function of the business.
Talkdesk commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Talkdesk’s CX Cloud.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Talkdesk on their organizations.
Return on investment (ROI)
208%
Net present value (NPV)
$6.4 million
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five representatives with experience using Talkdesk CX Cloud. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization.
Interviewees said that prior to using Talkdesk CX Cloud, their organizations struggled with legacy solutions, which lacked integration features, were unable to handle a large volume of contacts, were out of support, and provided poor customer experience.
After the investment in Talkdesk CX Cloud, the interviewees revamped their contact centers — integrating Talkdesk CX Cloud with their core business applications, improving the efficiency of agents, eliminating legacy spend, and improving customer and employee experience.
Key Findings
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
- Contained or deflected up to 60% of calls. The composite organization uses Talkdesk CX Cloud to provide customers with AI-powered self-service channels that quickly answer common questions without the need of live assistance. Containing or deflecting calls saves the composite organization $2 million over three years.
- Reduced talk time by up to 25%. Talkdesk AI helps the composite organization ensure that calls are routed to the correct agent. Furthermore, the composite organization integrates Talkdesk with its core business systems, empowering agents with AI and enabling agents to quickly access customer information and reduce time spent on authentication or navigating systems. Over three years, the composite organizations saves $336,000 by reducing handle time.
- Eliminated over a minute of post-call activity per call. Talkdesk Copilot Automatic Summary uses generative AI to automatically summarize customer interactions, eliminating the need for agents to manually document calls. Over three years, the composite saves $298,000 by eliminating post-call work.
- Eliminated legacy system spend. Upon deploying Talkdesk CX Cloud, the composite organization is able to retire legacy systems and the corresponding license and maintenance fees. Over three years, the composite organization saves $4.5 million in legacy system spend.
- Reduced abandonment by up to 75% and reclaimed lost sales. Deflecting calls and improving overall agent efficiency reduces hold times and abandonment rates. By reducing abandonment with capabilities like Talkdesk Navigator, the composite is able to convert sales calls that would otherwise be lost. Over three years, the composite organization recognizes $566,000 in increased sales.
- Reduced agent churn by 20%. Providing agents with more sophisticated tools and cutting down on rote tasks improves employee experience and reduces agent churn. Over three years, the composite saves $1.7 million in costs related to hiring new agents.
- Reduced downtime by 3 hours per month. Talkdesk provides the composite with a more trustworthy platform, with better availability and performance than its legacy system. Reducing downtime saves the composite $357,000 in lost agent time over three years.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
- Improving customer experience. Reducing hold times and more quickly and accurately solving issues improves overall customer experience, as well as related metrics such as CSAT and Net Promoter ScoreSM (NPS).2
- Generating higher-quality after-call notes. After-call notes are often an afterthought to agents who are crunched for time. Talkdesk’s automated generative AI not only saves agents time, but it also creates higher-quality summaries.
- Achieving nonmonetary objectives. Not all organizational goals are driven by the bottom line, such as expanding access to healthcare. By offering more accessibility options with Talkdesk, organizations are better equipped to meet these goals.
- Measuring return on ad spend (ROAS) for marketing campaigns. By using Talkdesk custom call groups, the composite can measure the effectiveness of different marketing campaigns.
- Partnering with Talkdesk to tailor the system to meet specific needs. Talkdesk provides Experience Clouds with unique capabilities to meet the specific needs of different verticals, including financial services, banking, and retail.
- Providing easy-to-use technology. Talkdesk provides an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, allowing agents to ramp quickly.
- Offering benefits outside the contact center. Employees conducting outbound engagement in sales, marketing, and other departments can benefit from Talkdesk’s proactive dialing features and CRM integration.
- Improving quality management. Talkdesk provides AI-enabled tools to quickly and effectively evaluate agents, provide feedback, and improve overall customer experience.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
- Licensing fees of $2.9 million. The composite organization pays a monthly licensing cost per user in addition to consumption-based fees.
- Ongoing labor costs of $211,000. The composite dedicates a limited number of internal resources to the ongoing usage and management of Talkdesk.
The representative interviews and financial analysis found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $9.52.million over three years versus costs of $3.09 million, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $6.43 million and an ROI of 208%.
Key Statistics
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Return on investment (ROI)
208%
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Benefits PV
$9.5 million
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Net present value (NPV)
$6.4 million
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Payback
<6 months
Benefits (Three-Year)
Call containment and deflection Talk time reduction Post-call activity reduction Legacy system savings Incremental sales from reduced abandonment Reduced churn Reduction in downtime
TEI Framework And Methodology
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment Talkdesk CX Cloud.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefits, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that Talkdesk CX Cloud can have on an organization.
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Due Diligence
Interviewed Talkdesk stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to CX Cloud.
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Interviews
Interviewed five representatives at organizations using Talkdesk CX Cloud to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
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Composite Organization
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations.
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Financial Model Framework
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
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Case Study
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Disclosures
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Talkdesk and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Talkdesk CX Cloud.
Talkdesk reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Talkdesk provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Consulting Team:
Drivers leading to the CX Cloud investment
Interviews
| Role | Industry | Region | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director of global operations | Communications | Global | $1 billion |
| CIO | Healthcare | United States | N/A |
| SVP of sales | Moving and storage | United States | $300 million |
| Client care manager Senior business engineer |
Financial services | United States | $700 million |
Key Challenges
Prior to investing in Talkdesk CX Cloud, interviewees noted that their organizations primarily used legacy premises-based contact center software, with some siloed usage of contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS) technology. This approach to customer care had limited capabilities and provided an overall poor experience to customers.
The interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
- Limited capabilities and lack of integrations. Interviewees noted that their older systems lacked capabilities, such as call transcription, analytics, and enabling remote agents, that they now consider table stakes in providing customer care. Furthermore, they highlighted that the old systems could not be integrated with core business applications like their CRM or electronic medical records (EMR). The CIO of a healthcare firm stated, “Our old system really limited our ability to use more advanced technologies, as well as limiting our ability to really take advantage of remote contact center agents.”
- Inability to handle large volume of contacts. Interviewees stated that their old solution would often be overwhelmed during high-volume periods. Without self-service options, customers either experienced long holds or abandoned calls altogether. The SVP of sales at a moving and storage company explained: “Calls got routed from the front desk to the sales queue. And I remember on my first day there, I said to someone, ‘Hey, you got a message, your red light’s flashing.’ And they said, ‘That’s not a message, that’s a customer on hold.’ There were so many calls on hold that it was just a solid red light.”
- Legacy system out of support. Interviewees detailed that their legacy deployments were no longer supported by vendors, limiting their ability to gain any new functionality and exposing them to downtime risk.
- No standardized tools or workflows across regions. Some organizations employed CCaaS solutions but did so on a product, team, or regional basis. This scattershot approach led to a disorganized collection of workflows, complicated licensing, and uneven customer experience. The director of global operations for a communications firm stated: “We wanted to put us all on the same solution. So we had standard operating tools that allowed for standard reporting/standard functionality. We could really streamline best practices across all organizations.”
Solution Requirements
The interviewees’ organizations searched for a solution that could:
- Integrate with core systems.
- Enable remote work.
- Streamline contact routing.
- Enable analytics, transcription, and call recording.
- Improve customer experience.
Composite Organization
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the five interviewees, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The composite organization is based in the US, with revenue in the $500 million to $1 billion range. The organization has 800 Talkdesk users, 200 of whom work in the contact center. The organization handles 900,000 inbound calls per year, with 65% of that volume being in the contact center. Prior to using Talkdesk, the organization had a legacy PBX system for contact center agents and maintained a limited number of UCaaS licenses for other employees.
Deployment characteristics. The composite organization uses Talkdesk CX Cloud, with Copilot and Autopilot for its vertical. It also leverages Talkdesk’s core systems integrations.
Quantified benefit data as applied to the composite
Total Benefits
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Call containment and deflection | $680,794 | $823,755 | $988,523 | $2,493,072 | $2,042,385 |
| Btr | Talk time reduction | $106,992 | $134,802 | $169,455 | $411,249 | $335,986 |
| Ctr | Post-call activity reduction | $121,575 | $120,358 | $117,685 | $359,619 | $298,411 |
| Dtr | Legacy system savings | $1,710,000 | $1,710,000 | $1,710,000 | $5,130,000 | $4,252,517 |
| Etr | Incremental sales from reduced abandonment | $192,573 | $228,124 | $268,858 | $689,554 | $565,595 |
| Ftr | Reduced churn | $672,235 | $672,235 | $672,235 | $2,016,706 | $1,671,749 |
| Gtr | Reduction in downtime | $143,640 | $143,640 | $143,640 | $430,920 | $357,211 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $3,627,809 | $3,832,915 | $4,070,396 | $11,531,119 | $9,523,854 | |
Call Containment And Deflection
Evidence and data. Talkdesk provides organizations with generative AI self-service features to answer common customer queries. Talkdesk offers many out-of-the-box Autopilot workflows tailored for industry, but organizations can easily create custom workflows to deflect calls from customers that cannot be serviced or offer recontact options during high-volume periods. Providing self-service options reduces hold times, frees agents to work on critical high-touch contacts, and improves overall customer experience. Interviewees noted that these capabilities were almost nonexistent in their legacy deployments, and what functionality existed was rudimentary and did not offer the ability to tailor workflows to align with an ideal customer experience.
- The director of global operations at a communications firm explained: “We launched a Talkdesk voicebot for certain transaction types a couple of years ago. It now handles or contains something like 65% of the offered calls. We're slowly shifting to more self-service. That includes everything from web portals to bots to a knowledge base.”
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The CIO of a healthcare firm stated: “We are now using the virtual agents to a greater degree than we did when we first went live with it. [It allows] many of our callers to complete their call or their request using a virtual agent and not have to talk to a live agent. The last numbers I saw, we’re currently at about 45% of all of our inbound calls being handled by a virtual agent [and] not requiring any live agent participation.”
The CIO continued: “We’re using the virtual agent upfront. We ask the patient what they’re calling to do, and we use AI to determine whether it’s going to go to a routine to validate who they are or whether it’s going to go to an agent because they are a new patient and don’t exist in the system. Whether it’s English or Spanish, we do both languages, and then we use AI to further truncate or divert the calls to the appropriate virtual agent to help that patient. We then use AI for the functions that are talking to [our electronic health record (EHR)]. So when a patient calls in, we validate who they are, and they say they want to cancel an appointment. Then, the system reaches out into [the EHR] and finds the patient’s appointments, reads those appointments back to the patient, and asks them, ‘Which one do you want to cancel?’” - The SVP of sales at a moving and storage company explained: “Before the virtual agent, we would have had to answer all the calls, even if we could not help them. Now, I ask for three things: date, state, and weight [with the virtual agent], and that will determine whether they can be serviced. If they can, we route them to the right person based on the info, and if not, we route them out to a mailbox and will recontact them with an apology that we cannot service them.”
- The client care manager at a financial services organization stated, “We have fewer agents taking calls by deflecting lower-priority calls and having the AI assistant help them with things like checking balances.”
- The director of global operations at a communications firm said, “For our voicebot in one of the regions, we developed an API to a customer web portal so customers can self-service through our bot.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester makes the following assumptions:
- The composite has an overall volume of 900,000 inbound calls in Year 1, which grows at an annual rate of 10%, with 65% of inbound call volume going to the contact center.
- The average call time is 7 minutes.
- The average hourly rate for a contact center agent is $21.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- Overall call volume.
- Types of contacts, average duration, and ability to automate responses.
- Prevailing wages.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.0 million.
Call Containment And Deflection
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Total inbound volume | Composite | 900,000 | 990,000 | 1,089,000 |
| A2 | Percentage of inbound volume to contact center | Composite | 65% | 65% | 65% |
| A3 | Inbound contact center calls | A1*A2 | 585,000 | 643,500 | 707,850 |
| A4 | Percentage of calls resolved with self-service | Interviews | 50% | 55% | 60% |
| A5 | Average call time (minutes) | Composite | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| A6 | Total hours of deflected calls | (A3*A4*A5)/60 | 34,125 | 41,291 | 49,550 |
| A7 | Average contact center agent hourly rate | Composite | $21 | $21 | $21 |
| At | Call containment and deflection | A6*A7 | $716,625 | $867,111 | $1,040,550 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Atr | Call containment and deflection (risk-adjusted) | $680,794 | $823,755 | $988,523 | |
| Three-year total: $2,493,072 | Three-year present value: $2,042,385 | ||||
Talk Time Reduction
Evidence and data. Even though organizations were able to resolve a significant portion of customer issues with AI self-service, some high-touch calls still required live assistance. Interviewees noted that Talkdesk uses AI to help reduce the time spent by agents on authentication, talk time, and in-call holds. Talkdesk offered integrations not achievable with legacy deployment, enabling screen pop to quickly provide agents with customer information from CRM, EHR, or ERP systems. Additionally, organizations used Talkdesk to ensure that calls were routed to the correct department or agent, reducing time spent on transfers. Organizations that require authentication, such as the financial services firm of two interviewees, used Talkdesk’s voice authentication capabilities to reduce time spent by customers.
- The director of global operations for the communications firm explained: “We have Talkdesk integrated with [our CRM]. We integrate contacts from our registration portal and use that information on top of our account records. For agents, it saves them 45 seconds on every call: having that contact pop, knowing information, and saving clicks.”
- The CIO in healthcare stated: “The agents don’t have to ask some of the questions because in some cases, it’s popping on the screen with the caller. For our established patients, the screen pop gets them started quicker, and they don’t have to ask some of the questions they might have asked previously.”
- The CIO added, “The integration puts patient information in front of agents faster, allowing them to help callers faster and more effectively.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The average call time is 7 minutes.
- The average hourly rate for a contact center agent is $21.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- The level of contact record hygiene.
- The volume and duration of contacts.
- Prevailing wages.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $336,000.
Talk Time Reduction
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Inbound contact center calls | A3*(1-A4) | 292,500 | 289,575 | 283,140 |
| B2 | Average talk time (minutes) | A5 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| B3 | Reduction in talk time | Interviews | 15% | 20% | 25% |
| B4 | Minutes saved per call | B2*B3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| B5 | Total time saved annually (hours) | (B1*B4)/60 | 5,363 | 6,757 | 8,494 |
| B6 | Average contact center agent hourly rate | A7 | $21 | $21 | $21 |
| Bt | Talk time reduction | B5*B6 | $112,623 | $141,897 | $178,374 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Btr | Talk time reduction (risk-adjusted) | $106,992 | $134,802 | $169,455 | |
| Three-year total: $411,249 | Three-year present value: $335,986 | ||||
Post-Call Activity Reduction
Evidence and data. Talkdesk Copilot uses generative AI to aid agents in completing post-call activities. The automatic summary provides a detailed write-up documenting the call, categorizing the outcome, escalating issues, and updating customer information with the click of a button. Interviewees noted that they had previously afforded agents a limited amount of time to complete these tasks, sometimes resulting in rushed and incomplete work that prevented them from answering more calls. Not only did Talkdesk Copilot save agents time and allow them to focus on servicing customers, but it also ensured better-quality post-call write-ups.
- The director of global operations at a communications firm stated: “The agents are using the generative AI product, and that really helps us with our after-call notes. At the end of the call, you just click a button, the AI builds your notes, you click another button, and then you drop it into the Talkdesk after-call wrap screen — or you can copy and paste it if you need to create a case. That prevents you from having to manually type everything out at the end of the call in order to move forward for your next step. That’s also a huge time-saver, particularly on really lengthy calls. Sometimes getting that that call summary drafted accurately and thoroughly can take a long time.”
- The SVP of sales at a moving and storage company said: “Our after-call wrap time has gone from minutes to seconds. The genAI auto-summarizes the call, and you can just put it in the record.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The composite organization affords agents 1.25 minutes for post-call activities.
- The hourly contact center agent rate is $21.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- Contact volume.
- Internal procedures for post-call activity.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $298,000.
Post-call Activity Reduction
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Inbound contact center calls | A3*(1-A4) | 292,500 | 289,575 | 283,140 |
| C2 | Eliminated post-call activity per call (minutes) | Composite | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| C3 | Total time saved annually (hours) | (C1*C2)/60 | 6,094 | 6,033 | 5,899 |
| C4 | Average contact center agent hourly rate | A7 | $21 | $21 | $21 |
| Ct | Post-call activity reduction | C3*C4 | $127,974 | $126,693 | $123,879 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Ctr | Post-call activity reduction (risk-adjusted) | $121,575 | $120,358 | $117,685 | |
| Three-year total: $359,619 | Three-year present value: $298,411 | ||||
Legacy System Savings
Evidence and data. Interviewees’ organizations retired their legacy systems upon adoption of Talkdesk CX Cloud. Interviewees noted that while Talkdesk supplanted their primary contact center solutions, the broader organization also adopted it, allowing it to retire existing UCaaS systems. One organization with global operations had maintained multiple CCaaS and UCaaS solutions prior to its adoption of Talkdesk and used its investment as a catalyst to consolidate all systems onto a single platform.
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The composite organization has 800 total users across the organization.
- Prior solutions cost $150 per month per user.
- The organization pays 25% of its licensing cost as support and maintenance.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- The size of deployment.
- Legacy solution and licensing structure.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $4.3 million.
Legacy System Savings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Total users | Composite | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| D2 | Annual license savings | D1*$150*12 | $1,440,000 | $1,440,000 | $1,440,000 |
| D3 | Maintenance cost | Composite | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Dt | Legacy system savings | D2*(1+D3) | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Dtr | Legacy system savings (risk-adjusted) | $1,710,000 | $1,710,000 | $1,710,000 | |
| Three-year total: $5,130,000 | Three-year present value: $4,252,517 | ||||
Incremental Sales From Reduced Abandonment
Evidence and data. Organizations with inbound sales agents explained that in their prior environment, the sheer volume of calls prevented their agents from servicing all calls. Customers and prospects had limited tolerance for waiting on hold, leading to high abandonment rates and the loss of potential sales. With Talkdesk, organizations reduced the overall volume of calls with AI self-service options, reduced talk time with integrations and authentication, and reduced overall hold times — leading to a reduction in overall abandonment rates. Additionally, Talkdesk provides organizations with inbound call information, allowing them to prioritize and route calls to the correct teams, such as sales. With fewer abandoned calls and AI-powered intelligent routing, organizations could recapture revenue that would have otherwise been lost. Talkdesk also provides AI-enabled quality management tools to continually improve agent performance and further reduce time to answer, hold times, and overall abandonment rates.
- The SVP of sales at a moving and storage company said: “It’s not just the IVRs but also having the integration with [our CRM] that allows the record to pop and route the call to the appropriate team. So we’ve got less calls coming in that are non-sales that would have gone to the sales team, which by default means they can handle more calls.”
- The financial services firm used Talkdesk to implement a callback feature, where customers on hold could opt into being called back when an agent was available. The client care manager noted that this had drastically reduced abandonment, adding: “Abandoned calls are really low. It is significantly less because of the callback.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The abandonment rate in the legacy environment is 35%.
- Of total inbound calls, 30% are related to sales.
- The average conversion rate on inbound sales calls is 30%, with an average sale value of $100 and average margin of 11%.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- Inbound sales volume.
- Industry-specific average sales metrics.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $566,000.
Incremental Sales From Reduced Abandonment
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Inbound calls | A1 | 900,000 | 990,000 | 1,089,000 |
| E2 | Abandonment rate before Talkdesk | Composite | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| E3 | Reduction in abandonment with Talkdesk | Interviews | 65% | 70% | 75% |
| E4 | Total abandoned calls avoided | (E1*E2)*E3 | 204,750 | 242,550 | 285,863 |
| E5 | Percentage of inbound calls related to sales | Composite | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| E6 | Inbound sales calls missed | E4*E5 | 61,425 | 72,765 | 85,759 |
| E7 | Conversion rate on inbound calls | Composite | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| E8 | Lost conversions | E6*E7 | 18,428 | 21,830 | 25,728 |
| E9 | Average sale value | Composite | $100 | $100 | $100 |
| E10 | Average margin | Composite | 11% | 11% | 11% |
| Et | Incremental sales from reduced abandonment | E8*E9*E10 | $202,708 | $240,130 | $283,008 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Etr | Incremental sales from reduced abandonment (risk-adjusted) | $192,573 | $228,124 | $268,858 | |
| Three-year total: $689,554 | Three-year present value: $565,595 | ||||
Reduced Churn
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted that Talkdesk had a positive impact on agent experience, resulting in lower turnover. Previous solutions had been clunky, prone to downtime, and did not always support flexible remote work, which agents desired.
- The CIO at a healthcare organization explained: “Agents find the system easier to use and a little more intuitive than the old system. It also affords them the ability to work from home and the office.”
- The director of global operations for a communications firm stated, “Our attrition rate is much lower than most benchmarks.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The composite organization has 200 agents.
- The historical churn rate is 30%.
- The cost to backfill a role is 135% of that for an existing agent.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- Size of contact center.
- Historical churn rates.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.6 million.
Reduced Churn
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Total agents | Composite | 200 | 200 | 200 | |
| F2 | Churn rate in legacy environment | Composite | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
| F3 | Annual backfills in legacy environment | F1*F2 | 60 | 60 | 60 | |
| F4 | Reduction in churn with Talkdesk | Interviews | 20% | 20% | 20% | |
| F5 | Reduced backfills with Talkdesk | F3*F4 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |
| F6 | Cost to backfill role | A7*2,080*1.35 | $58,968 | $58,968 | $58,968 | |
| Ft | Reduced churn | F5*F6 | $707,616 | $707,616 | $707,616 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | |||||
| Ftr | Reduced churn (risk-adjusted) | $672,235 | $672,235 | $672,235 | ||
| Three-year total: $2,016,706 | Three-year present value: $1,671,749 | |||||
Reduction In Downtime
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted that Talkdesk provided a more stable, reliable enterprise-grade platform than did their legacy system. In the past, organizations grappled with downtime, leading to agent frustration and lost labor.
- The CIO for a healthcare organization stated, “With the old system, we used to have all sorts of problems where we have agents down for a half day or a day trying to get them functional, and we don’t have that problem now.”
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this benefit, Forrester assumes:
- The composite experienced 36 hours of downtime annually in its prior environment.
- The organization employs 200 agents at an hourly rate of $21.
Risks. Organizations may experience results that differ from those presented in the financial model due to:
- Stability and availability of the legacy system.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $357,000.
Reduction In Downtime
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Annual downtime in prior environment (hours) | Composite | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| G2 | Total agents | F1 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| G3 | Average contact center agent hourly rate | A7 | $21 | $21 | $21 |
| Gt | Reduction in downtime | G1*G2*G3 | $151,200 | $151,200 | $151,200 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Gtr | Reduction in downtime (risk-adjusted) | $143,640 | $143,640 | $143,640 | |
| Three-year total: $430,920 | Three-year present value: $357,211 | ||||
Unquantified Benefits
Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
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Improving customer experience. Interviewees noted that their customer experience metrics had improved since they adopted Talkdesk, leading to improved customer satisfaction scores. Moreover, they said that Talkdesk had also enabled them to capture better data by featuring surveys within contacts. The director of global operations at a communications firm explained: “We measure CSAT scores year-over-year every month, and one of the benefits has been standardizing that in Talkdesk. We used to send surveys different ways for different call times [and] for different regions. Some of them sent marketing emails with surveys. Some of them sent sales surveys. Some of them sent them daily. Some of them sent them weekly. It wasn’t consistent. So we implemented the in-IVR CSAT surveys and created scripts for our agents so customers were alerted to it. Our CSAT scores have improved by at least 4% across the board, and in some regions, they’ve improved by double digits.”
The CIO at a healthcare organization detailed: “The NPS scores have gone up. We are seeing better scores from patients calling in for information.”
- Generating higher-quality after-call notes. Interviewees noted that their agents were only afforded a few minutes per call to complete post-call tasks, often leading to rushed work. With Talkdesk’s AI-powered after-call summarization tools, organizations could ensure that contacts were properly documented.
- Achieving nonmonetary objectives. The healthcare CIO noted that his organization’s mission was to expand access to healthcare in its community. He felt that Talkdesk was instrumental in lowering the barrier to communication with features like a bilingual bot. By reducing hold times and abandonment rates, the organization was able to service more patients who may have otherwise given up and not scheduled appointments.
- Measuring ROAS for marketing campaigns. The SVP of sales for the moving and storage company explained that with Talkdesk custom call groups, they could measure the results of different ad campaigns. In the future, they plan to measure the ROAS of campaigns using this data to make strategic marketing decisions.
- Partnering with Talkdesk to tailor the system to meet specific needs. Interviewees noted that Talkdesk was enthusiastic to partner with them and tailor their deployment to meet their unique requirements. Talkdesk has dedicated product and go-to-market teams with deep expertise in specific verticals like healthcare, retail, and financial services. Talkdesk offers vertical-specific features and integrations that can be tailored to an individual organization’s needs.
- Providing easy-to-use technology. Interviewees noted that it was easy to train agents on Talkdesk. The senior business engineer at the financial services company stated, “The training is simple, and Talkdesk’s training materials are very helpful.”
- Offering benefits outside the contact center. Interviewees noted that teams outside the contact center leveraged Talkdesk’s features and integrations to improve everyday tasks. The director of global operations stated, “Our marketing team has benefited from our [CRM] integration, which allows them to call directly from a lead record.”
- Improving quality management. Talkdesk AI enables effective and automated quality management processes to quickly evaluate and provide feedback to agents. Talkdesk accelerates quality managers’ ability to identify areas of improvement and effect change to drive better customer experience.
Quantified cost data as applied to the composite
Total Costs
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Htr | Talkdesk licensing | $0 | $1,159,200 | $1,159,200 | $1,159,200 | $3,477,600 | $2,882,759 |
| Itr | Ongoing labor | $79,879 | $52,553 | $52,553 | $52,553 | $237,536 | $210,569 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $79,879 | $1,211,753 | $1,211,753 | $1,211,753 | $3,715,136 | $3,093,328 | |
Talkdesk Licensing
Evidence and data. Talkdesk offers multiple licensing options to meet the unique needs of organizations of varying sizes and use cases. Talkdesk also offers vertical-specific experiences, purposely designed for core vertical-specific integrations and use cases. Organizations paid a per user per month licensing fee based on the CX Cloud tier they used. They also incurred additional costs for industry-specific integrations and AI usage.
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this cost, Forrester assumes:
- The composite organization incurs a per user per month licensing fee and additional costs for industry-specific integrations, voice, digital consumption, and AI usage.
Risks. Licensing costs will vary based on:
- Tier of the CX Cloud license.
- The number of users.
- The volume of digital, voice, and AI usage.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.8 million.
Talkdesk Licensing
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Talkdesk licensing | Composite | $0 | $1,104,000 | $1,104,000 | $1,104,000 |
| Ht | Talkdesk licensing | F1 | $0 | $1,104,000 | $1,104,000 | $1,104,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | |||||
| Htr | Talkdesk licensing (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $1,159,200 | $1,159,200 | $1,159,200 | |
| Three-year total: $3,477,600 | Three-year present value: $2,882,759 | |||||
Ongoing Labor
Evidence and data. Interviewees dedicated limited internal labor to the ongoing management of their Talkdesk deployment. These employees were typically tasked with the ongoing rollout of new features, consistently improving workflows, customer experiences, and workforce management.
Modeling and assumptions. In modeling this cost, Forrester assumes:
- The composite organization employs a contact center manager with an annual salary of $95,000 who dedicates 25% of their time to Talkdesk during the initial deployment.
- The composite employs one workforce analyst, earning $84,500 annually, who dedicates up to 50% of their time to Talkdesk.
- The composite employs a developer, earning $156,000 each year, who dedicates 20% of their time to Talkdesk during deployment and 5% of their time on a regular basis.
Risks. Ongoing labor costs will vary based on:
- The size, scope, and complexity of deployment.
- The roadmap for usage and adoption of new features and capabilities.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $211,000.
Ongoing Labor
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1 | Contact center managers | Composite | 1 | |||
| I2 | Percentage of contact center manager’s time dedicated to Talkdesk | Interviews | 25% | |||
| I3 | Contact center manager annual salary | Composite | $95,000 | |||
| I4 | Workforce analysts | Composite | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I5 | Percentage of workforce analyst’s time dedicated to Talkdesk | Interviews | 25% | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| I6 | Workforce analyst annual salary | Composite | $84,500 | $84,500 | $84,500 | $84,500 |
| I7 | Developers | Composite | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I8 | Percentage of developer’s time dedicated to Talkdesk | Interviews | 20% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| I9 | Developer annual salary | Composite | $156,000 | $156,000 | $156,000 | $156,000 |
| It | Ongoing labor | (I1*I2*I3)+(I4*I5*I6)+(I7*I8*I9) | $76,075 | $50,050 | $50,050 | $50,050 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | |||||
| Itr | Ongoing labor (risk-adjusted) | $79,879 | $52,553 | $52,553 | $52,553 | |
| Three-year total: $237,536 | Three-year present value: $210,569 | |||||
Consolidated Three-Year Risk-Adjusted Metrics
Cash Flow Chart (Risk-Adjusted)
Total costs Total benefits Cumulative net benefits Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3-
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted)
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($79,879) | ($1,211,753) | ($1,211,753) | ($1,211,753) | ($3,715,136) | ($3,093,328) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $3,627,809 | $3,832,915 | $4,070,396 | $11,531,119 | $9,523,854 |
| Net benefits | ($79,879) | $2,416,056 | $2,621,162 | $2,858,643 | $7,815,983 | $6,430,526 |
| ROI | 208% | |||||
| Payback | <6 months | |||||
Appendix A: Total Economic Impact
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
Total Economic Impact Approach
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Benefits represent the value delivered to the business by the product. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and the measure of costs, allowing for a full examination of the effect of the technology on the entire organization.
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Costs consider all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the product. The cost category within TEI captures incremental costs over the existing environment for ongoing costs associated with the solution.
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Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. Having the ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
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Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
Appendix B: Endnotes
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
2 Net Promoter, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered U.S. trademarks, and Net Promoter Score and Net Promoter System are service marks, of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.
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