Its Time to Change
Lots of changes are happening in contact centers globally. One evident change is the drop in call volumes. Shift in customer preferences, increased focus on better customer service and rising pressures to bring down costs are factors leading to the change. Self service is being preferred more than ever. More people are moving to the Web to find answers to their queries. Subramanya.C, Chief Technology Officer, Hinduja Global Services, says, “Voice contact centers are seeing a drip in volumes. Alternate forms of interaction like Web chats, emails etc are picking up. IVR has been there for a while and is now being slowly replaced by ASR.” So new technologies are finding place.

What is driving the change? Business are looking at all possible ways of improving productivity. And the challenge remains that this has to be done at no additional costs or in fact lesser costs. This search for productivity improvements is leading to an increase in automation. Better operational efficiency and cost optimization are being targeted more than ever. In the current scenario, the word 'Customer' means a lot for enterprises and improved customer service poses another big challenge to be dealt with. Businesses can't afford to lose their customers at any cost. Also when there are few other differentiators to fight competition, good customer service can make organizations stand out.

Customers today are smarter and want the best of service, free of cost. If they don't find it at one place, they are likely to shift preferences soon. This makes it very important for organizations to see that they retain their customers. There is a growing population of young customers who prefer self service to human intervention. More people are turning to websites in search of information or to resolve their queries. Web engagement is thus becoming a very critical area in customer service. Customers are doing a lot of talking and they want interactions to be simple. Social media sites and online forums are being used as mediums to quickly resolve queries. The downside for organizations is that if customers are not served in time, they might let the world know about it. The only option is thus to be a part of the conversations and make use of the opportunity. It thus makes sense for organizations to invest in innovative mediums of interaction.

Can automation be the weapon to fight rising costs and productivity issues in contact centers. What benefits does it bring along? Though it may not be the sole weapon to fight tough times, but it can result in favorable changes in the long run. Automation is expected to bring about process improvements. It can offer customers a standardized customer experience across global delivery centers. Another factor is improved speed of resolution. Customers no longer need to wait for long queues to resolve their queries. They can find their answers in faster and simpler ways. Deepak Gupta, Business Unit Head, Contact Center, WNS, says, Automation offers better compliance and better customer service on account of consistency.” Cost optimization will continue to be one of the important drivers.

Experts are of the opinion that it is a win-win situation for all the three parties-customers, organizations and contact center service providers. Will have to dig in deeper to see if that holds true.

Watch out this space for more on technology automation and contact centers.