TMCnews Featured Article

Something happens after Labor Day that somehow gets everyone thinking of change. Even if you live in a region that doesn’t really experience the four seasons, there is some trigger that evokes renewed focus on new trends. It could be all the new gear kids need to go back to school because last year’s stuff is outdated or just doesn’t fit, or maybe it’s  the turnover in the flower beds or the fashion trends that bombard the airwaves, or perhaps its the new faces of sports teams, but the feeling of change is inescapable. So what happens when you walk into your call center? Does the same feeling prevail?

If you’re stuck within the confines of a physical call center that hasn’t’ kept pace with the trends, you’re probably just feeling frustrated. There’s something you can do about that, though, the first of which is to see what it is that is trending in the make up of call centers. Here’s a clue: One of those trends is the virtual call center and the other is the method of communication through with contact centers are interacting with their customers.

Contactual (News - Alert), a company that stays on top of these trends and whose sole business focus is on the virtual call center, has been helpful in outlining these trends for people whose profession lies in the contact center arena so they can have the opportunity to make the changes that could potentially revitalize their businesses.

One of the pieces of information Contactual shared in a blog post is statistics from a Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) study that compared how customers chose to contact businesses in 2009 and in 2010. The report showed that customers are trending away from using the telephone to contact business and instead are relying on electronic communications channels. In particular, the study revealed a huge jump in the use of text/SMS for inbound communications, from 13 percent in 2009 to 38 percent in 2010, and in the use of video, from five percent in 2009 to 20 percent in 2010. Similarly e-mail and web-based communication including chat, click-to-talk, web self-service and co-browsing saw a jump from the first year of the study period to the next.

Another trend identified by Contactual is the integration of call center solutions with enterprise solutions such as knowledge management and CRM. In addition, the virtual call center platform provider sees a very notable move to the virtual contact center model. It said that virtual call center solutions are having a tremendous impact on SMBs in particular because they allow them to keep pace with the benefits afforded by larger centers.

Moreover, taking advantage of the many benefits that come with a virtual workforce better enables contact centers to ensure a positive customer experience, which itself is a major trend among contact centers today.

Finally, Contactual discussed the fact that the trend toward  virtual contact centers coupled with the increased ability to more proactively upsell and cross-sell due to the integration with enterprise CRM and knowledge base management solutions is moving them from being viewed as a cost center or a necessary evil to being one that contributes to the company’s vitality.

So there you have it. Now that it’s out in the open, it’s time to decide whether to muddle through with an outdated call center model or move ahead with the call center trends that are proving to be on point when it comes to profitability and providing a positive customer experience.