The software as a service (SaaS) trend is revolutionizing the call center industry, as companies of all sizes are now discovering the advantages of going with hosted versus on-premise solutions. With SaaS for the call center, applications such as integrated voice recognition, automatic call dialing, predictive dialing, workforce management and CRM are hosted on a shared platform in a data center and delivered to the agents via the internet or dedicated network.
Because they are completely Web-based, these solutions are quick and easy to deploy--and furthermore require very little up-front investment, as there is usually no additional equipment needed. Because the software is delivered over the internet "as a service," the traditional software licensing model is replaced with a "subscription" model, or "leasing" model where the software is "rented" based on the amount of time it is used, multiplied by the number of seats. This "pay-as-you-go" model makes today's SaaS solutions analogous to a utility: You pay for only the amount you use.
Source: CRM Buyer, http://crmbuyer.com