How many businesses have a presence on the Web? How many are already doing business or are poised to begin? Whatever the source, the numbers are staggering. These enterprises are looking at capabilities that go beyond just browsing through corporate home pages. They are investigating both the usefulness of the Internet as a medium for electronic commerce and communication, as well as a model for building internal Intranets that leverage existing Web technology.
How does this activity mesh with the traditional concepts of call centres and Automated Call Distributors (ACDs), and how can corporations who depend on customer interaction meet the new ways in which customers will interact?
According to Sean Owen-Jones, regional manager at Lucent Business Communications Systems (BCS), ACDs have allowed organisations to differentiate themselves by providing world class service and support to their customers. "Historically, they have effectively handled, routed and managed phone calls from customers and prospects through centralised call centres.
"The model of the "all-in-one-room" ACD has evolved to include distributed capabilities, including work at home, networking and effective Computer Telephony Integration (CTI). CTI began as a response to the need for more productive agents within the ACDs. As the PC became the personal and workgroup productivity tool for business, ACDs grew with the technology. For example, the concept of the distributed call centre, where the facilities and agents could be located anywhere, without geographical or equipment constraints, allowed organisations to introduce higher levels of service with more flexible call centre configurations. In essence, we have moved into the era of the virtual call centre," notes Owen-Jones.
According to INPUT, a global intelligence firm, Internet usage is expected to grow from its present level of about 35 million users to more than 200 million by the year 2000. Already, Web sites have become an important vehicle for client contact. This indicates a critical shift from the traditional "single point of contact" represented by conventional telephone calls. When you include other methods of contact such as IVR, video and multimedia, you can understand why organisations are talking about an ever widening zone of contact.
ACDs will be challenged to respond to inquiries and requests coming in various formats from customers and prospects. In essence, the paradigm for customer interaction is changing, evolving into the "zone of contact" concept. While the preferred method of contact today is still by phone (99 percent of call centre contact), new methods of contact will need to be identified and integrated as the Internet continues to proliferate. Given current trends, companies will be missing a tremendous opportunity if they do not begin to incorporate the Internet and Intranets into their call centre strategy. The call centre of the future must be ready to incorporate Internet technologies in at least three ways:
- by using an Intranet as a cost-effective transport mechanism
- by linking Web sites to live agents
- by routing and controlling Internet calls
"The need for agents in remote locations - whether at remote or home offices - has never been greater," says Owen-Jones. "By using an Intranet as the transport for agent connections, call centres will be better equipped to match the appropriate agent skills with the customer needs without being limited by agent location. Initial applications will have data communication being transported via Intranet with the voice transported using plain old telephone sets (POTS) service. However, with the future anticipated growth of Internet phone technologies e.g. Voice over IP, customers should look for architectures that will allow voice to be transported over the same Intranet link."
Linking the Web Site and Live Agents
By linking the call centre with the Web, corporations are opening a new source of potential revenue as well as a channel for new marketing venues at reduced costs. Such connections will provide the customer with new choices and ways to interact with companies. Yet, without the ability to establish a personal/live connection with an agent, companies can close the loop and maintain a relationship with personal contact.
"Even the most fanatic Web advocates will admit that for Web-based electronic commerce to become a reality, these has to be an efficient way for the customer to close the loop and establish personal contact. Surfing and browsing may be the ideal way to gain information and review potential products, but in many cases sales and service opportunities require a human touch," he says.
One way call centres are approaching the Web customer connection is referred to as Web call back. In this approach, a customer browsing a Web site clicks on an icon requesting personal attention. The customer is eventually called back by an agent qualified to handle the particular request. The call centre typically uses a predictive dialer tie-in. While this approach establishes a connection, it has some drawbacks.
The first is economic in nature. With the call back scheme, the call centre has no option to pay for the returned call. This is counter to the trend in many centres where increasingly customers are expected to pay for the telephone or "freight" cost. Second, call backs are hard to synchronise. Users with a single line, as in most customer to business applications, can become "stuck" waiting for a call and will be unable to continue browsing the site or surfing the Web. For anyone who uses the Web regularly, the possibility of hanging while waiting for a call back seems counterproductive to the very nature of the Web. Finally, simultaneously handling call backs and inbound calls (which are already overflowing) has proven to be a major management challenge.
There are, however, other approaches with some distinct advantages. These include customer contact which is provided via the same Internet connection which significantly reduces the transport costs for the call centre. In the future, call centres will also need technology that can route IP calls and deliver real-time voice, video and data in multimedia presentations to the desktop - with access to live agents readily and automatically available.
Share
Editorial contacts