Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

Delivering amazing customer service has always been a business theme. Treat your customers well, they not only come back - but tell some friends as well. While the idea of providing this type of exceptional experience for customers is as old as business itself, the way customer service delivery takes place today is far different than just a few years ago. Today it’s omni-channel or bust, and firms are loading up on innovative technology to arm the contact center with the tools necessary to meet the customer demand in an efficient and speedy manner.

To that end, Aspect (News - Alert) Software recently announced the arrival of its intelligent assistant, Mila. The workforce chatbot works in tandem with customer service agents, offering automated, actionable insight to aid in the delivery of omni-channel customer service. Mila is integrated into Aspect natural language understanding (NLU) and the Aspect CXP, and when paired with the Aspect EQ Workforce Optimization suite transforms staffing and scheduling processes. By allowing direct access to the WFO desktop applications via mobile devices, scheduling is no longer a possible pain point.

Mike Bourke, SVP and general manager, workforce optimization at Aspect Software explained, “The key objectives of Aspect’s WFO solutions have always been to align support with customer demand, while incorporating the needs of employees, and managing costs. Mila represents the next level of agent empowerment and convenience, which will lead to greater agent engagement, happier agents, and ultimately happier customers.”

Mila provides improved administrative efficiency by offering anytime mobile access, honing staffing accuracy and reduces cost. By adding the mobile component, agents can gain greater work/life balance and in doing decreases agent attrition. In addition, productivity gains a boost as a result of omni-channel self-service capabilities, which allow agents to complete workforce tasks at a time of their choosing.

“First it was Siri, Alexa and Cortana as our personal assistants, and now chatbots are dramatically redefining how we interact in our daily lives. Consumers are quick to take advantage of the time-saving convenience bots offer and Aspect Mila is putting these same technologies and efficiencies to work in the contact center,” Bourke noted.

The technology of today is proving transformative, and over time with the addition of burgeoning areas of development like artificial intelligence and big data customer service could end up looking nothing like the processes of today.

There’s no question omni-channel is future forward; how are you engaging customers?