Enterprise Communications Featured Article

It’s not uncommon to talk about the customer experience when examining the operations of the typical contact center. After all, customer satisfaction is often the key differentiator that can make or break a business in an industry where offerings have been commoditized. The challenge then is selecting the right approach to allow enterprise communications to support the ideal customer interaction and still keep the goals of the enterprise in mind.

To that end, customer service organizations are increasingly turning to hosted solutions available through the cloud. Simply offering a cloud-based approach to the contact center is not enough, however. Hosted solutions providers must be able to present value to the company. This value delivered through the cloud can impact the bottom line, but it has to relate to the business and its operations or it’s really just an empty sales pitch.

Consider a recent release from Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert). The research firm has determined that while hosted solutions for enterprise communications are appealing, companies are really looking for ways to engage with clients on multiple channels of interaction and improve the customer experience through the application of cross channel analytics. Companies can then glean data from all touch points to gain a better understanding of the customer journey.

Take the last time you contacted your wireless service provider. Imagine you first checked out the website to see if you could complete the request on your own. Running into an issue while logged into your account, you decided to make a call to the contact center. You provided requested information through the IVR and then had the opportunity to engage with a live agent. What happens next really sets the tone for whether or not you will be completely satisfied with the interaction – does the agent immediately address your issue or do you have to again provide the information requested by the IVR?

This is the perfect example of where companies continue to fall short on creating the seamless customer experience. The information you provided to the IVR should seamlessly make its way to the live agent or there was really no point in providing the information in the first place. Likewise, if you launch a live chat via the website, any information provided to launch the chat should not have to be restated later in the conversation. If you have to make a call after the chat, the agent should know the chat took place and the outcome of that interaction.

The seamless experience across all touch points is the core value in the omni-channel experience. It’s also what consumers are increasingly expecting from companies with which they do business. A failure to deliver such an experience damages the brand and gives the impression that a company is unorganized and unable to sufficiently meet the needs of the client base.

From the contact center’s perspective, the omni-channel experience streamlines the customer service process, reducing the cost associated with each contact and minimizing the strain on resources. At the same time, the enterprise also needs to be able to scale to match demand from increased campaigns, new product lines or even a reduction in customer care needs.

The ability to meet demand for omni-channel support and scalability is really what’s driving the demand for hosted solutions in enterprise communications. It’s also the reason why the hosted contact center market in North America reached $1.76 billion in 2012. Customer service organizations want access to the tools that help them stand out from the competition, tools that are easily accessible in the cloud. It is this demand that’s driving the trend toward the cloud-based contact center.