The digital consultancy “Marketing Resultant” reports on 5 leading technologies in customer service that will change customer service. We are pleased that virtualQ is represented among them with itsintelligent queue management.
The evolution of call centers
Nowadays, in a world dominated by the Internet, it is hard to imagine how call centers looked like at the beginning of the 1990s. Calls distributed by means of an ACD system constituted the core. The impact of other systems and technologies such as CRM, email management on call centers and customer service was almost non-existent. Over time, new systems were integrated into the existing IT landscape. In the last 2-3 years, this has resulted in fundamental changes for communication with customers and organization of call centers.
Communication habits are changing. It is true that the telephone still dominates with a share of around 80% of the total communication volume. However, the number of channels preferred by customers has expanded considerably. Chat, instant messaging, video chat and apps increase complexity in the call center.
Service is confronted with high customer expectations. In recent years, the tolerance for response times has steadily decreased. Customers demand fast and competent solutions to their queries. Comparison portals (e.g. verivox for comparing electricity prices) promote market transparency and have become an effective means of exerting pressure on customer service. The willingness of customers to churn in the face of poor service has never been higher than it is today.
Technologies for an effective call center
Technologies that effectively improve customers’ experience while also noticeably increasing call center efficiency are proving very popular with customer service leaders.
1. Unified Desktop Systems
Call center employees need information to provide customers with information on products and contracts. They enter data, calculate prices, process complaints and send documents. The data required for this is usually distributed across different systems. In many call centers, up to seven systems are required to handle customer inquiries, record data and trigger process steps. Copy and paste steps between applications often add to the difficulty. Switching between applications is a time consuming task and causes incorrect entries. Unified desktop systems that map all the necessary input and information fields for the agent on a single user interface provide a major productivity boost while reducing the error rate. Leading vendors include: KANA, Adobe, jacada and CCT-Solutions with a special solution for AVAYA systems.
2. Scanning documents
Entire markets and industries are feeling the effects of entirely changed market conditions made possible by digitization. Data exchange, data analysis and networking are creating a dynamic that is shaking up customer service processes. Digitization is streamlining many tasks that were previously handled by customer service. Documents & forms can be scanned via smartphones. The data contained therein is extracted and automatically assigned to specific data fields in enterprise systems. The system then triggers an automated process that informs the customer of the status and next steps. Classic clerk tasks in customer service are being digitized. Over the next few years, immense potential for productivity and time gains in customer service will be leveraged.
3. In-App Support
Hardly any technological development has changed communication, shopping and service behavior as dramatically and rapidly as the smartphone. Many customers are constantly online. The smartphone has become a lifelong companion. Smartphones provide access to the internet at all times, support the selection of products and services, show alternatives and support all communication channels. The ability to communicate with customer service directly from a company app is supported by WebRTC technology, among others. Google’s open source project will become much more important in the next few years. The first in-app support integration systems are being offered by Salesforce, Helpshift and Hipmob, among others.
4. Intelligent queue management
Everyday life in German call centers: customers want to report an internet malfunction, obtain information from their health insurer about a remedy subsidy, send a meter reading to their electricity supplier or complain about an invoice from an online store. All too often, callers are first put on hold. Infuriating and annoying for the customer. Nor is it a good basis for contemporary customer service.
The solution: virtual waiting line assistants, which ensure that every caller automatically receives a callback or a message on their smartphone when an employee is available. Waiting line assistants or callback services are offered in the U.S. by several providers. In Germany- virtualQ is currently taking over the call center market
4. WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication)
WebRTC is a collection of communication protocols and application programming interfaces (API) for implementation in web browsers that enable real-time communication over computer-to-computer connections. This means that browsers can no longer just retrieve data resources from backend servers, but also real-time information from other users’ browsers. WebRTC enables applications such as video conferencing, file transfer, chat and desktop sharing. The evolution from purely voice-based communication to chat, video chat, co-browsing, video conferencing is relentless. WebRTC will establish itself as the industry standard. An increasing number of chat and video chat solution providers are adopting WebRTC as their platform, ensuring a broad market offering at affordable prices.
