Text Messaging Featured Article

While the call center has been the backbone of customer service communication, it’s been joined by text-based channels, notably SMS and Web chat in recent years, with the concept of “omni-channel” customer service.

An article in CIO Today claims that more enterprise businesses are warming up to text-based communications channels.

The article cited a Harris Interactive (News - Alert) poll from 2014 that said that 64 percent of people preferred text messaging over phone calls.

Customer service departments are increasingly willing to support the changing needs of their customers. Nearly any corporate website these days will have the option to start a Web chat with an agent. The article cited a Forrester (News - Alert) survey that said 86 percent of enterprises planned to use SMS in some customer service capacity.

One advantage to using omni-channel customer service methods is that it lets enterprises triage their queries. People with simpler queries don’t have to wait on hold for a quick fix. Agents can direct customers over the Web to FAQs or do simple things like change account information if necessary.

Text messaging is useful for the busy lives of customers, as they can send a message, go off and do other things and pick up a response when they’re ready. It’s also possible to have agents call them back when they need to talk to a live person instead of waiting on hold.

They can also escalate to phone calls if the customer has a more serious problem that requires greater attention from an agent.

Younger people in particular prefer using text messaging on their phones over typing. That’s why companies such as OpenMarket (News - Alert) allow enterprises to keep their old land lines while letting users send SMS messages to these numbers.

OpenMarket claims over 400 enterprise clients using its technology.

As communication methods give way from phone calls to text messaging, omni-channel customer service is a solution that can keep every customer happy.