The past few years have changed the way service centers and customer service departments operate to say the least. The pandemic reminded all of us just how important it is to stay connected; but also more importantly, connected in a way that is relevant, efficient and yes human.
With an increasing number of people reaching out for assistance and grievances via various communication touchpoints, call centers have been busier than ever. Studies show that voice interactions continue to be popular for more complicated issues, there is a definite need for an AI-based, omnichannel strategy.
Reports suggest that 51% of people expressed that they would be inclined to become a repeat customer after a company replies to a question on social media. *
Gone are the days where a running call center— the most critical touch points in a customer’s journey with your business—was as basic as managing calls over analog phone lines. A digital and technological transformation has changed the way we communicate forever. It is now about a holistic experience that today’s contact centers provide.
The Integrated Contact Center
80% of customers today will switch after one poor experience**. In fact, brands could lose up to 96%*** of customers by not giving them what they want.
Smart businesses now invest in smarter communication solutions and service providers as well. Creating seamless and frictionless customer experiences is key, while meeting your customers on a platform they are most comfortable with. A contemporary contact center is an integrated one providing homogeneous and harmonious experiences across interactions and communication platforms.
Traditional Call Center Vs. Integrated Contact Center
Traditional
- ‘Call’ Center
- Cost center
- On-premise
- Availability routing
- Limited customer insights
- Reactive communication
- Singular or Multi-channel
Integrated
- ‘Contact’ Center
- Revenue center
- Cloud-based
- Skill based routing
- Enhanced metrics & analytics
- Proactive communication
- Omnichannel
Signature of an Integrated Contact Center Solution
- Omnichannel – Truly omnichannel experiences that allow customers to switch between communication channels with ease. Agents are informed, with access to the proper customer data and details for speedy and seamless resolutions.
- Automated – Intuitive technology and automation that allow for a natural blend of self service, live agent assistance and virtual assistance. And the knowledge to know which interactions should be automated in the first place.
- Singular Customer View – Access to a platform providing a unified customer view with all relevant data at hand, enabling agents to have proactive conversations and quicker resolutions,
- Collaborative – Inherent back-end features and tools empower agents and team managers to better manage escalations, information sharing and remote working challenges.
- Cloud-based – Easier transition to remote and hybrid working conditions, with lower overheads and system costs. Scalability that allows for changes in resources and business needs.
- AI Powered – AI backed abilities like NLP (natural language processing) that allow for smarter, personalized and more natural interactions with customers, thereby allowing agents to focus on more specialized work.
Outcome of investing in Integrated solutions:
- Increased productivity – Innovative technological features and tools such as IVR, chatbots, power dialers, automatic call distribution etc. help with call rates, hold times and resource allocation.
- Enhanced resilience – Unlike traditional call center set-ups, integrated contact center solutions allow for flexibility, customizations and adaptations to various business needs and challenges. Furthermore, processes become more adaptive for employees due to intelligent tools and enhanced support.
- Analytics – Enhanced ability to not only access the real-time analytics to better serve agents, but also gather data to better fine-tune marketing, sales and customer support strategies.
- Better CX –
- Omnichannel capabilities and collective relevant data, helps create more meaningful and efficient customer journeys.
- Tools such as CRM and VoC help harmonize customer experiences.
- Better prediction of consumer behavior aids proactive engagement and optimization of CX.
- Unified customer view helps with identification of areas for improvement and also with additional opportunities.
A few frequent use cases for integrated calling systems, across industries
- General inquiries about products and services
- Account information
- Order tracking
- Complaints and compliance
- Self service activities
- Data collection and entry
- Lead generation
- Quality analysis
- High volume outbound and inbound campaigns
- Management for sales and CRM teams
Conclusion
With CX being one of the major driving factors in business growth, how does one build a legion of not just loyalists but customer advocates? Integrated contact center solutions empower businesses to create moments that matter, with seamless and easier customer journeys that come with a healthy mix of digital and human touches. Optimizing all possible communication touch-points like calls, SMS, email, chat and more, backed with the right tools and technology at the back end – is what the contact center of today should strive for.
Ozonetel’s feature rich cloud contact center solution with easy integrations, empowers you to create personalized and intuitive journeys for your customers and employees alike. Omnichannel experiences are here to stay and the defining factor in future-proof CX as well as employee experience. As they say, out with the old (and one dimensional)!