Omnichannel is a word thrown around a lot these days, but the repetition really doesn't distract from the sheer importance of the idea, and the kind of value that it represents. Those looking to take the advice of so many out there and become more available to customers across different segments of possible contact—what “omnichannel” is really about—will find a new ally in 3CLogic (News - Alert) and HelpSocial, who partnered on a new breed of social customer service contact center operation.
Basically, the arrangement calls for each of the two companies to throw a particular specialty into the pot to produce a new and exciting whole. 3CLogic is well-known in the field for its cloud call center systems, while HelpSocial is renowned for its social customer service systems. Take a new tool an increasingly larger number of firms are looking to bring in and add it in with a tool that's considered an upgrade from the old way of doing things on some fronts and the complete package becomes fairly well appealing.
The combined package, meanwhile, will reportedly bring in some nifty extras to give extra reason to consider working with the duo. Social mentions will get intelligent routing, allowing the right people to know whenever a company gets mentioned somewhere in social media. There are also provisions for giving agents access to customer-relevant data, training and guidance specifically related to social customer service, and reports suggest that those who put these systems to work experience better customer experience and even retention.
3CLogic actually recently released a new software update for its own operations that had a new focus on social media, so this comes at a good time for the company. 3CLogic's chief operations officer, Raj Sharma (News - Alert), offered up some commentary about the new connection, saying “Consumers are increasingly diversifying their use of different channels to communicate with businesses. And yet consumer expectations remain the same regardless of the chosen channel which highlights the importance of being able to intelligently route, evaluate, and respond to each inquiry across all channels in a uniform and consistent manner.”
For all the buzzwords that surround this field, there's really only one thing that needs to be remembered: customers want to be able to get in touch with a business by more than just the phone. Customers are eager to use text messaging, social media, even live chat, facilitated by things like Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) to just open up a quick window on a website and proceed to tell someone the problems experienced with a product or service. Accommodating these desires is just a smart idea—who wants to possibly lose customers over something so little as the use of Facebook (News - Alert) to get in touch with the company—and with an increasing number of tools on hand to get that job done, it's important to have some system on hand that allows this to happen.
In the end, it's all a matter of being where the customer wants the business to be. If that's a text message or a Twitter (News - Alert) post or even on the end of a phone call, it's a smart idea to be there. 3CLogic and HelpSocial, meanwhile, are looking to make that just a little easier.
Edited by Maurice Nagle