3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

How often do you use video when interacting with your favorite company? While we may be accustomed to using video in personal interactions and even in collaborative environments at the office, getting on a video chat with a stranger is something a little more intimidating, at least for those who don’t fall into the millennial generation.

For those who do, there may be promise with this channel in the contact center. In an environment where 3^rd party remote call monitoring is the norm, does this mean video interactions need to be recorded as well? Given that Cisco (News - Alert) reports growth in this channel in the customer service space, supported by Dimension Data’s 2016 global contact center benchmarking report, it’s a question worth asking.

As highlighted in a recent Cisco blog, video as a channel grew close to 50 percent from 2015 to 2016, a significant jump. Use cases include NationwideNow, which enables the close of mortgage sales through video by providing access to loan advisors through this channel, and SBI Intouch offers virtual advisors to enhance the customer interaction experience. Companies that are simply piloting projects to enable video are now looking for the best methods to launch full adoption.

In the not too distant past, contact center leaders considered video as only a niche offering, something that would only be used in the most unique of circumstances. There were concerns about inherent constraints, such as agent clothing, office backdrops, necessary training and more. There were also technical considerations that came into play, and often kept video out of the contact center. As technological trends continue to gain steam, video is playing a much bigger role.

For instance, there is a much broader adoption of WebRTC that will enable the instant video connection without software downloads or plugins, next-generation video endpoints are becoming more available, 4G is now the standard, quality improvements continue to emerge in video technology and video-adaptive techniques continue to advance. Even 3^rd party remote call monitoring is embracing other channels, recognizing the demand in the contact center space.

Technology isn’t the only driver, however. There are business reasons to consider video as a viable option in the contact center. Businesses need to continue to consider differentiation; tracking new KPIs helps improve performance; budget control is shifting; and digital interactions are becoming more of the norm, requiring a better connection with an agent than a call with hunt and peck instructions.

With this growth in video in the contact center, does this mean a demand for 3^rd party remote call monitoring to capture this channel? For those who rely on the practice to demonstrate compliance and quality control, the answer is a strong yes.