Call Recording Featured Article

Consumers have more choice than ever when it comes to the products and services they use thanks to the Internet. Through social media, consumers also are shaping the buying decisions of their peers more than ever. Both these trends place increasing importance on businesses delivering a good customer experience.

Since customer experience is largely the result of the interactions customers have with a firm, it is no surprise that a recent Aberdeen (News - Alert) study shows that the number one reason companies are investing in workforce optimization software is to improve the customer experience. Contact center agents often are the first contact between consumers and a business, so having efficient and well-trained staff make a huge difference in terms of keeping the customer satisfied.

Roughly 59 percent of respondents in the Aberdeen study, “Contact Center Workforce Optimization: Secrets to Unlock Agent Productivity & Performance," cite improved customer interactions as their reason for investing in workforce optimization solutions. Other reasons include improving agent productivity (44 percent), and improving call volume forecasting (19 percent).

The role that workforce optimization can play in improving the customer experience was also measured by the Aberdeen study. Workforce optimization software boosted customer satisfaction by 18 percent on average, the study found, upped first call resolution by 6 percent, reduced average handle times by 5 percent.

Customer complains also were down 10.9 percent with the use of workforce optimization solutions, and first contact resolution rates were improved on average by 5.9 percent. That’s substantive.

Solutions such as CSI’s (News - Alert) Virtual Observer workforce optimization software help with the customer experience chiefly by making sure calls are handled faster via better scheduling and by improving agent training through tools such as call recording and e-learning.

Call recording is particularly important, and 63 percent of those surveyed in the Aberdeen study said screen recording was a part of why they used workforce optimizations software.

Recording agent interactions enables contact center managers to better identify problems and agent challenges. This can point to where managers need to boost training, and which agents need the most help.

Call recording also enabled better training in that it is easier to show than to tell. Good customer interactions can be used as models, and when an agent fails it can be better highlighted through the use of an actual recording of the interaction. This way an agent can actually hear or see the mistake, and see how it can be improved.

While time and attendance management obviously is a big reason for workforce optimization solutions, the role that such software can play in improving the customer experience is arguably even more important. Cost containment is good. But cultivating happy customers is now even more important thanks to the Internet and social media. Without a happy customer, businesses won’t succeed for long.