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Call Center Customer Service: Got an App for That?

Call Center Customer Service: Got an App for That?

October 14, 2013
By Michelle Nicolson, TMCnet Contributing Writer

The exponential growth of mobile technology is affecting the call center industry, as more companies are launching into mobile applications for customer care. And as mobile technology becomes more common, the industry is learning to harness the advantages and work through new challenges.


It is common, for example, for a company’s mobile app to connect directly to a customer service representative, enabling the customer to ask questions. With 56 percent of all American adults now smartphone users, the number of potential customers and customer interactions via mobile is exploding.

Cultural Shift

"Mobile is a way of life," said Eric Camulli, vice president of marketing at Virtual Hold Technology (News - Alert) (VHT), an Akron, Ohio-based technology vendor. "Mobile represents a cultural shift in our society, and contact centers need to engage their customers in a way that recognizes this shift."

For example, if a customer is traveling, sometimes the contact center agent may request information that won't be available. "If I'm walking along, talking on my cell phone, it would be foolish for the contact center representative to ask me for account information. Reps need to be aware of what's happening," Camulli said.

Geolocation and Identification Data

However, because a customer typically has already signed into the app, call center employees have access to other information about its customers, which can reduce call times and call volume, and improve customer satisfaction.

"With mobile devices, you can identify on a granular level who is contacting you," explained Keith Dawson, principal analyst of customer experience and interaction at Ovum (News - Alert), a London-based consultancy and research firm. "You can tailor your response to a specific age, gender or whether they are the head of a household, among other indicators."

Mobile apps have the potential to improve contact center responses by integrating various types of mobile technology, including voice, Web, SMS text, social media or video. Companies can gather transactional data gathered via the mobile app to add contextual value, like account numbers, sales history, demographic information, geolocation and other details.

Collaboration Challenges

Developing such mobile applications has its challenges though. Many companies find it difficult to develop an app that provides a cross channel experience that fulfills the needs of their IT, marketing and customer services teams.

"We found the integration of care features within mobile apps still to be very rudimentary," Dawson said. "And a lot of that has to do with squabbles between departments over ownership of mobile."




Edited by Rory J. Thompson



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