Johannesburg, 01 Mar 2012
An increasing number of business owners are seeking more effective contact centre solutions in the cloud environment. At a recent contact centre trends and priorities Webinar, hosted by unified IP business communications solutions provider, Interactive Intelligence, 44% of the 660 attendees indicated that they would be looking to migrate their call centre operations to the cloud in the near future, with an additional 13% having already completed the move.
Art Schoeller, the principal analyst at Forrester Research, and Joe Staples, Interactive Intelligence's Chief Marketing Officer, named cloud migration the most prominent of 2012's seven key contact centre trends at the quarterly Web event, citing increased flexibility and faster deployment times as crucial influencing factors.
While Staples noted that businesses had been hesitant to expand into the virtual space in the past, as a result of concerns regarding security and control, he assured attendees that, despite reduced requirements in terms of staff and IT infrastructure, the functionality offered by cloud-based systems is in no way compromised as a result of its off-premise locale.
In fact, according to Schoeller, the adaptability of cloud-based solutions can help businesses to significantly improve the customer experience, while at the same time cutting costs.
The customer experience was another pressing trend discussed at the Webinar, with both Staples and Schoeller calling on businesses to run their operations with the convenience of the customer, rather than their enterprise, in mind.
According to research conducted by Forrester, there has been a 360% increase in the number of job titles containing the term 'customer experience' since 2008 - the result of increasingly empowered customers demanding higher levels of service.
Schoeller cited location independence and device flexibility as key demands of the newly empowered consumer, and believes that contact centres can significantly improve their service by offering today's generation more Web and self-service offerings, as well as full mobile integration.
The move to mobile was also a trend discussed at length, with both speakers emphasising the importance of catering to the needs of today's on-the-go generation. While many companies do currently offer a form of Web-based self-service offerings for mobile devices, true integration with the contact centre environment has yet to take place. According to Staples, companies would do well to make the leap from self-service to truly holistic consumer help by utilising the technology present in today's smartphones.
Staples asserted that mobile applications could be better linked to contact centre operations, thereby improving the mobile customer experience significantly: customers can be provided with relevant information first, and when they are ready, can contact an agent for further questions. Thus, self-service and discovery and agent-assisted mode are linked more seamlessly.
Both Staples and Schoeller also felt that companies could serve to better integrate their contact centre operations with social media, which continues to have a significant impact on companies' reputations. While social media and contact centre operations currently operate in very separate silos, both speakers identified a pressing need to close the loop, as call centre agents will find themselves in a better position to deal with consumers and be more aware of real-time public sentiment.
Some of the other significant contact centre trends to look out for in 2012 are the increasing move towards remote, home-based agents, and a simplification of telephone end-points in favour of computer-driven systems.
To access the recorded, on-demand Interactive Intelligence Webcast: “2012 Key Contact Centre Trends and Priorities: How You Can be Ready”, visit www.inin.com/webevent.
Interactive Intelligence hosts a quarterly, educational Web event featuring industry experts who cover topics ranging from contact centre automation to unified communications. To be notified of future Web events, e-mail info@inin.com.
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