Technology Trends That Can Future-Proof Contact Centers

We find ourselves in the middle of 2023. The first half of the year has passed by with exploration, learning new technologies, and unlearning old ways of doing work. We’ve gained a sharper awareness of the needs of both business and society than ever before due to the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As business leaders, our aim is to build digital infrastructure with easy availability, reliability, affordability, and sustainability for both the short and long term. Technological possibilities are rapidly expanding at the speed of light, pushing to advance the divide between physical and digital realities.

These possibilities include innovative digital platforms, cloud and edge computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). They all are driving the fourth industrial revolution and will reshape the business models of the entire industrial ecosystem.

Of course, these technologies all impact the operations of the contact center. Let’s dive deeper to explore how contact centers are improving upon the customer experience through today’s technological advancements.

Expanded Self-Service Options for Customers

In customer service, providing many options to reach out to the brand is valued by customers. These include one-to-one channels such as voice, email, chat, and text, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. We call it omnichannel communication support, and it’s a must in today’s multifaceted business landscape. Contact canters are applying an omnichannel approach to their brand strategies and 79% of customers now expect a response within 24 hours on social media when using these platforms.[1] Extra measures are being taken by contact centres by putting in place a trained, dedicated team to handle communications on these platforms.

As an example, here are some advantages of omnichannel communication in the retail sector:

· Same-day order delivery

· The ability to purchase online and pick up goods at a store location.

· Purchases made in-store with a home delivery option.

· Real-time inventory overview and tracking

Similarly, omnichannel in banking provides services to customers through several options, whether online or offline, including:

· Branchless banking where customers utilize web and mobile channels to do everything from opening an account and applying for a loan to transferring money and paying bills

· Allowing new customers to get started without needing to visit a bank branch.

· Applying for loans through many channels including branches, contact centres, and digital platforms.

A well-designed self-service model–electronic or automated support — is key to accomplish these tasks with reduced friction. Self-service — i.e., service without human assistance — increases customer satisfaction and reduces call volume, thereby reducing operating costs. A study by Harvard Business Review shows that over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, call hold times increased by 34%, and customer-led escalations also increased by a massive 64%.[2] Most customers complain that long hours are one of the most frustrating aspects of calling toll free lines. Building a self-service model is certainly the need of the hour.

Collaborative Systems

Collaborative systems in the form of customer relationship management platforms (CRM) can also help companies to facilitate a better experience for customers. According to Harvard Business Review, contact centers that foster a sense of collaboration and knowledge sharing among advisors perform 50% better than the average contact center.[3]

In contact centers we face a high attrition rate leading to the loss of agents and knowledge, and with the use of CRM systems we can overcome this challenge. And CRM has turned out to be incredibly effective when agents work from home, making collaboration easy across multiple locations.

Advanced Training Programs for Agents

Today all contact centers focus on two important goals: providing learning and development opportunities to agents and improving the customer experience. To achieve these goals, companies need to standardize communication, retain agents, and optimize workflow. Modern day document management software (DMS) platforms allow us to build a standardized, updated knowledge base that can be accessed by all. DMS platforms offer agents quick access to relevant, updated documents needed to perform their jobs with greater efficiency.

Personalized Communication

Adding personalized communication to the contact center workflow is the way ahead within the customer service industry. This means that agents must now leverage their knowledge of customers while answering queries to make the customer feel extra special and connected to the brand itself. More and more advisor console applications are now tightly coupling CRM pop-ups and omnichannel transaction records to aid such personalized messaging.[4]

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the contact center can potentially replace some functions performed by contact center agents such as answering and routing large volumes of calls, but it is impossible for machines to replace agents entirely. Nevertheless, areas where AI can contribute include:

· Completing tasks when customer interactions end by automatically summarizing and classifying customer conversations.

· Tracking transcripts of customer conversations by auto-generating knowledge articles so that agents can review and post them in the CRM’s knowledge base

· Viewing trend overviews so that the contact center can keep tabs on emerging issues.

· Alerting managers when customer satisfaction is low in real-time so that they can track complaints

AI technology is being quickly adopted, but only major brands in the market can currently bear the infrastructure and integration cost.[5] Costs should decrease over time, however, due to innovation, allowing for companies of all sizes to adopt this game-changing technology.

Conclusion

In the fifth generation of computers, customer service is emerging as one of the most focused areas for brands. Companies are using software platforms that offer practical tools and rich features to keep up with the evolving demands of customers and the market.

All industries should stay up to date on market trends and the evolving needs of customers. As part of the technology workforce at Concentrix, we serve organizations by watching out for competitors, monitoring industry news and events, conducting market research to understand the current CX landscape, and identifying potential opportunities to implement the latest developments in contact centers. Contact us today to learn how we can transform your contact center with cutting-edge technology.

[1] “Social Media Trends for 2022 & Beyond,” Sprout Social.

[2] “Supporting Customer Service Through the Coronavirus Crisis,” Matthew Dixon, Ted McKenna, and Gerardo de la O, Harvard Business Review, April 8, 2020.

[3] “Customer Service Reps Work Best When They Work Together, But Only 12% of Companies Let Them,” Lara Ponomareff, Lauren Pragoff, and Matthew Dixon, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2017.

[4] “The 15 Best Customer Service Software Platforms for 2023,” Jesse Short, HelpScout, July 24, 2023.

[5] “Contact Center Trends For 2023,” Call Center Studio, March 10, 2023.