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What Becomes of Call Center Outsourcing in the Digital Age?

3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

September 06, 2016

What Becomes of Call Center Outsourcing in the Digital Age?

By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

The practice of outsourcing call center work to third-party companies is hardly a new one: it’s nearly as old as the call center itself. In recent decades, nations such as India and the Philippines have bolstered their economies by becoming “the world’s call centers.” Some companies outsource because they want to focus on tasks that speak only to their core competencies. Others do it to save money.


The “call center” has undergone a number of dramatic changes in recent years. No longer the repository for telephone calls only, they now handle a dozen or more communications media such as email, Web chat, social media, mobile apps and even exchanges with customers using in-store kiosks. The contact center has become a clearing house for all manner of customer communications from direct phone calls to annoyed Tweets. There are also far more regulations when it comes to customer support nowadays (privacy, disclosure, call recording, etc.). So how will this affect the contact center outsourcing industry?

The Customer Experience (CX) Network recently published a white paper entitled, “The Ultimate Guide to Contact Centre Outsourcing: Current Trends and Future Outlook.” To look at evolving trends, the network spoke with various experts and thought leaders in the customer service industry. Many companies are coping with the increased complexity of customer support today by adopting hybrid models of customer support. They may, for example, use a third party only when call volume becomes high, for example.

“Outsourced contact center often provide flexibility aligned with contact volumes at any given time, without you having to hire additional personnel, or trying to reassign agents when the contact volume decreases,” according to Zarina de Ruiter, editor of CX Network. “Another option is to look at a hybrid of the two and get the best of both worlds: the expertise and resources of an outsourcer with an in-house customer service team that is closest to your brand and values. You may also choose to temporarily outsource some elements of the customer service function during very busy periods, or at the early stages of launching into a new market.”

Many companies choose to outsource not because they lack skilled people in-house to answer questions or find solutions, but because they’re after more technology than they can afford (or want to spend). Complex analytic solutions, a robust self-service network, foreign language skills, call monitoring or technical expertise are all things organizations may want, but lack the budgets or consistency needed to cultivate them in-house.

The biggest challenge will be ensuring that you’re presenting your customers with a single “omnichannel” face across all communications channels. No customer wants to make a phone call only to be told that he needs to start all over again if he wants to make queries in a digital channel. Organizers and their third-party customer support partners must be working from the same knowledge bases and desktops at all times. They also need to be prepared to make rapid changes as needed.

“This pace of change within the industry can, be hard to keep up with and provides a huge challenge for all contact center, whether in-house or outsourced,” wrote de Ruiter. “It’s therefore imperative you don’t simply assume your outsourced contact center will stay on top of these, but actively question how they’re incorporating digital into the contact center and educate yourself on the latest developments as well.”

Today, it literally takes several villages to keep customers happy and engaged. While those villages need not be in geographic proximity to one another, they DO need to work together closely as a team. 




Edited by Alicia Young
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