Access to mobile communications has changed the way in which we communicate. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablet computers, it has also changed the way we work and conduct transactions. For those organizations tasked with creating the optimal customer experience, a transformation in the contact center must take place to accommodate today’s mobile user.

As highlighted in this West Interactive (News - Alert) blog, there are three changes that appear to be dominating the contact center transformation. First, call types being routed to the center are more complex. Second, real-time monitoring and management of customer satisfaction results is in high demand. Third, recruitment and hiring processes are changing to fit the needs of a new customer.

IVR Has Complicated the Call

In examining the first point, the complexities of the calls routed to the contact center have less to do with a changing customer and more to do with the technologies available in the center. For instance, standard questions and issues tend to be handled in the self-service channel through Interactive Voice Response. As a result, the customers clicking through to a live agent tend to have issues that cannot be solved through voice prompts and need more focused attention. This often equates to more time on the phone and a higher cost per live call.

Social Media Gives the Customer an Opportunity to Shout

The monitoring and management of customer satisfaction in real-time is essential in an age where social media dominates the customer conversation and influence. The standard assumption that an unhappy customer will tell 10 to 20 friends about a poor experience is no longer in tune with reality. Today, a customer can post a comment about their experience on the same device they used to interact with the contact center – telling thousands of friends about it in the process.

Time to Adjust Recruitment

One clear contact center transformation focus is in the recruiting and hiring of individuals capable of properly managing interactions. It’s no longer enough for an agent simply to complete a transaction. He or she must be able to manage the customer experience throughout the interaction, doing what is right for the customer and the business. It’s a delicate balance that requires the right personality and plenty of training.

New Channels are Emerging

The contact center transformation is also taking a closer look at the emerging channels needed to accommodate the changing customer environment. As highlighted in this TMCnet article, customer interactions are no longer limited to a phone call. In fact, many a customer is accessing the website or interacting via a smartphone app. The elimination of the live interaction contributes to an improved experience, as long as the customer achieves the desired resolution through these channels.

Contact Center Transformation Includes the Cloud

It can be nothing short of challenging for today’s organization to keep pace with the rapidly changing environment in the contact center space. Legacy deployments are often not designed for scalability or to easily add new communications channels. As a result, much of the transformation in the contact center space includes migration to the cloud.

Providers in this space offer organizations access to the tools they need to integrate the necessary channels with the customer experience to drive greater satisfaction without significant capital investments. Those companies able to anticipate these trends and build out their strategies to accommodate the necessary changes in the contact center are more likely to enjoy greater customer loyalty for the long term.

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