For large and enterprise businesses, the ability to see into the future of technology is critical for continued success, especially when it comes to customer satisfaction (CSat). Contact centers have gone through a major transformation in the past 10 years, and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will soon be commonplace and part of customer service expectations. The call center software you implement and the customer data you collect and store will help improve the omnichannel experience and keep you ahead of the curve.
What Is Omnichannel Call Center Software and Why Should Your Company Use It?
Omnichannel call center software integrates inbound voice, outbound voice, seamless omnichannel interactions and self-service solutions for a robust contact center system that delivers consistent, cohesive customer service across multiple channels. It enables real-time data sharing between channels, databases and agents.
In the traditional multichannel call center, information was kept in data silos, frustrating customers who had to keep repeating themselves as they were transferred between agents or changed communication channels. An omnichannel solution provides cross-channel integration, creating a more consistent brand experience and greater CSat.
Customer satisfaction is of critical concern for enterprise organizations. Studies have shown that for users who engage with two or more channels for a single inquiry, CSat is 39 percent greater (67 percent) with a seamless omnichannel experience than with a non-seamless multichannel experience (28 percent). A positive experience enhances their perception of the business and builds customer loyalty.
What Will the Omnichannel Experience Look Like in 2020?
According to a government report on emerging technologies in contact centers, less than one-third of customers use the phone to contact a call center. It is predicted that by 2022, cloud-based technologies such as chatbots, mobile messaging and machine learning will power up to 70 percent of customer interactions, and that AI will be handling 20 percent of customer service interactions.
This rapid adoption of emerging technologies by contact centers is driven by the expectations of savvy customers who are accustomed to short, productive communications with smartphone and home AI systems like Siri and Alexa. They will expect seamless integration between voice, text, live chat and other channels with lightning-fast interactions and issue resolution. The modular design of today’s omnichannel call center software lets companies add what they need when they need it, and it adapts well to a rapidly changing communications environment.
What Data Should Businesses Be Collecting and Storing to Improve the User Experience?
With call center software, various data can be collected from customer interactions through different sources. This data can be correlated, analyzed and used to enhance the customer omnichannel experience, identify consumer trends and provide insight for future product and service development. This goldmine of information is used by sales, marketing and customer service teams to improve business operations and boost ROI.
Businesses should be capturing:
- Personal and account information
- History of communications with company agents and past transactions
- Issue details and concerns
- Most recent company website pages that the user visited
- Communications via organization’s social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook
- Most recent mobile app transactions
- Web-based sales and/or abandoned carts; order history and preferences; product questions
Where to capture data:
- Voice and SMS messaging
- Social media conversations
- Live chat sessions
- Email correspondence
- Posts on community forums
- Inquiries on company website
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software data
- ePOS and POS systems
Plan for the Future of Customer Interactions
Customers want multiple communication platforms, knowledgeable answers to their questions and fast-issue resolution. To meet customer expectations, your call center software must be robust. It should provide an omnichannel system that lets companies seamlessly integrate all communication channels to improve the customer experience; a modular omnichannel system for your contact center can nimbly adapt as new technology arrives; and it should start collecting valuable customer data so that your company can continually improve the omnichannel customer experience for maximum CSat and strong, lucrative customer connections.
