There was a time when all a call center needed to handle was…well calls. But the advanced devices that many of us carry in our pockets have changed the landscape of customer service, allowing for a whole new way to interact with customers.  Smartphones are now a channel in and of themselves, and to remain competitive in the immediate future call centers will need to embrace this new technology and meet customers as the average intelligence of their phones continues to increase. At this year’s ITEXPO (News - Alert) East, many of the panels discussed how these technologies are reshaping the customer experience, and one session, “How Call Centers are Being Reshaped by Smartphones,” directly addressed the need for more smartphone support.

Tina Valdez of eLoyalty, a TeleTech (News - Alert) company said, “There are a lot of challenges interacting with the people who are trying to contact us on smartphones. Intelligent interaction on these phones is needed to take in the call center space, and they will go a long way in making the experience less frustrating. Right now people are for the most part just calling, like they would with any phone the space is ready to take advantage of the technology.”

The consensus among the panel was that, visually appealing and intuitive interfaces are the first step in supporting the growing smartphone channel for the call center. Applications that directly address customer concerns are likely to be the first point of entry for most call centers. It’s not hard to imagine in the very near future using an app to dial a customer service department directly, providing who ever picks up with a detailed profile for your order history. The newest generation of phones were designed to engage, customer want and will experiences designed to get the most out of those interactions.

 “We’ve got these amazing devices that it’s a shame when all that’s there is a phone number, there can be so much more. You might as well have a rotary dial phone. It’d be great if you had a visual indication of the queue, or sign on so the agent knows who you are right away. Bottom line there’s a lot of opportunity here. Say for something like authentication for example, which is a big cost in places like banking, with the smartphone it can be done by device, location or any other number of ways. This stuff is close, all the pieces are there we just need bring them together,” Shai Berger (News - Alert) of Fonolo said.

The smartphone connected customer is ready and waiting to be served, it’s just a matter of getting call centers to embrace this new channel of communication. Those concerned about the need to make over complicated apps that serve every need, should take the advice from Rick McFarland of Voice4Net. In the panel McFarland said, “Making sleek and interactive menus and usability is the key to the experience. If you can make an interface that a 12 year old can use than you have a good interface.”

Chris DiMarco is a Managing Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC (News - Alert) Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page. Follow him on Twitter (News - Alert) @cpdimarco.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca