Today I’m taking the opportunity to tell you about a great opportunity to learn more about consumer preferences around communications – from several different perspectives at the same time…come and add your thoughts to the debate!
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Customers love the instant gratification of call-in service: the phone rings, they talk to an agent, they get an answer. What they don’t love is extended holding, automated prompts, unhelpful agents and getting lost in a sea of transfers. This irritation-coupled with technology for better, faster service through Web channels- have prompted a sea change in customer communication preference. In fact, a recent Avaya report showed 60 percent of consumers continually change how they contact a company. From live chat to social media, consumers now have myriad channels to choose from when reaching out for support. Will consumers one day skip the phone call altogether?
Some foresee the need for traditional phone support agents waning as customers opt for Web over call waiting, phone trees and unhelpful call center agents. So are we at the dawn of the slow death to the call center? Or will this just change the role of contact centers as we know it?
I will be discussing this topic with three other expert panelists during a live debate on Google+ Thursday this week. It’s called “Will Technology Kill the Call Center?” and it’s sure to be interesting! Research firm Software Advice is hosting the event on September 27th at 2 p.m. EST. Participants will answer a set of questions one by one, with opportunities for a rebuttal after each response.
I believe that new technologies actually make the contact center more important than ever. There are increasingly powerful new solutions that improve the voice response experience. For example, innovations such as website behavior tracking can instantly escalate a problem if the customer gets stuck in self service. Then, the responding agent has immediate context into the interaction based on what the caller was looking at on the website and their login information. Imagine that – instant gratification through different channels of communication that support one another and work together – it’s all about innovation and integration!
For details on how to watch the event, check out Software Advice Market Analyst Ashley Furness’ blog here.