10 Jan
Top 4 Trends Changing the Future of Call Centers
According to recent reports, 91% of customers experienced poor customer service in 2021. Consumers want fast service, and call centers should leverage technology to meet this demand. Investing in technology pays as customer satisfaction increases, agent workload reduces, and your processes become more efficient. A tech first approach will also help you get an edge over the competition.
You need to sift through the variety of technological options available to determine which ones meet your needs. Here are 4 trends that will help call centers be future-ready.
Recall tech ensures filtered communications reach customers
On Second Thoughts (OST) or recall technology filters unwanted or inaccurate communications, using AI. When an agent inadvertently makes a mistake during a call with a client, it’s captured and retrieved. Also, if an email or a message that has been sent to customers has an error, like a spelling mistake, agents can use recall technology to edit or delete it rapidly.
Recall technology can even pause for some seconds before it sends a message to customers, so that agents can double check the message before it goes out. Although recall technology increases transmission time by a few minutes, it makes conversations more accurate, so it is better to use it.
Digital transformation streamlines communication
Organizations need to integrate digital infrastructure internally with their existing processes for optimal efficiency. Technological innovations like unified communication and collaboration (UCC), display a conversation thread to agents no matter where it occurs. This facilitates inter departmental collaboration in call centers. Team collaboration solutions are making it convenient for employees across a company to tap into each other’s knowledge, enabling them to provide superior customer service.
Another key aspect of digital transformation is deep neural network based voice biometrics that enables you to identify customers on only on the phone, but also apps, IoT devices and chatbots. This helps safeguard call centers from synthetic voice hacking attempts too. Another benefit of voice biometrics is it enables customers to authenticate themselves while their hands are occupied and they are unable to enter a password, for instance.
Social media is the youth’s preferred customer service channel
Many consumers are using social media to log issues, believing they will get resolved faster. According to a recent survey, 42% of customers expect that companies will handle the complaints they make on social media within 60 minutes. So, call centers need to monitor social media channels and set up processes for quick resolution of complaints coming in from there.
Social media is the customer service channel of choice for under 25 year olds, so call centers should be proactive and define their support strategy for this medium well in advance. It’s also a good place for listening to user feedback about your products. This in turn, can inform your research for new product development.
Advanced self-service options speed up issue resolution
Customers prefer to first try to solve issues themselves, using FAQs, knowledge base articles, etc. If they still struggle, they’d rather use live chat or video chat than speak with an agent. Chatbots which provide pre-programmed responses to common customer questions help consumers solve issues on their own.
Since chatbots are available 24X7, they lead to faster resolution of complaints. By enabling simple actions like downloading statements via bots, you can reduce your call volumes. In fact, more complaints are predicted to come in via messages rather than calls in the future. For solutions to more complex problems, community forums are a great way of getting answers from others who have experienced the same issue. However, self-service options complement agents, not replace them, as some problems do require human intervention.
Summing up
Proactively investigating available technologies and deciding which ones are right for you will help you stay ahead of change. Streamline your internal processes with recall technology, digital transformation, social media and advanced self-service options to be future ready. Then your call center can help you know more about your customers, which in turn will help you sell your products to them better.
Flatworld Philippines has 24X7 call center services with new age technologies that you can use for best-in-class customer support. Contact us today with your call center requirements.
Survey Data source: https://www.timedoctor.com/blog/call-center-stats/
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