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Outsourcing is More Effective via Many Channels

Many contact centers today claim to be “multichannel,” but as with any complex business definition, the term means different things to different companies. Allowing customers to e-mail their questions and concerns to a general inbox in addition to taking calls doesn’t make a multichannel contact center. Offering a variety of channels that are handled by different personnel who don’t communicate with one another also doesn’t make a multichannel contact center.

Integration is the name of the game, according to a recent article on Business2Community by Judy Philbin.

“Multichannel centers can create a seamless, highly streamlined customer service process by gathering information via all channels and placing it, literally, at the agent’s fingertips,” she writes.

In other words, the channels need to feed one another. If a customer starts one transaction in one channel, he or she expects to be able to make contact via another channel with no loss of information. If one agent sold something to a customer via a co-browsing session yesterday, another agent needs to be entirely aware of this transaction when he or she picks up a call from the customer today.

It’s not all about offering convenience and high-quality service to customers. A properly integrated multichannel contact center is more cost-effective, as the paradigm eliminates duplicated work efforts and cuts down on errors. Agent productivity is improved, since agents have all the information they need at hand, which makes for shorter calls and other contacts. Customers – and agents – remain more engaged, because they’re not constantly tripping over mistakes and inefficiencies.

The challenges in running a well-integrated multichannel contact center come in staffing. Do you keep dedicated agents in each channel? Or do you cross-train agents across multiple channels? It all depends on your agents, according to Philbin.

“Some agents are more skilled on the phone and others more adept at handling email and Web chats,” she writes. “Some may become stressed or less efficient if placed where they’re not comfortable. Knowing this, a manager may decide to have agents focus on one channel or the other.”

Conversely, some agents may get bored working in only one channel, and bored agents are not effective agents.

“Agents may also be hired and cross-trained to handle both voice and email, depending on day-to-day volume,” writes Philbin. “Some studies show that allowing agents to move from one channel to another can help reduce fatigue and increase retention by increasing their skill level and providing more variety in the workplace.”

In the long run, it will be about the type of agents you hire – younger agents may feel happier working in a multimedia environment – and training. In the long run, the more integrated and multichannel you can make the contact center, the happier your customers, your agents and bottom line will be. 


Edited by Rory J. Thompson