While most companies today spend a lot of time securing their networks – the lion’s share of security efforts are directed here – many of them are missing one of the biggest security gaps in the organization: the contact center.

Call centers are the gatekeepers of personal customer information. It’s exchanged daily across telephone calls, e-mails, Web forms, text messages, instant messages and even social networking communications. Many of the most recent breaches of personal data have begun in the call center.

Securing this information is critical, not only to keep personal information out of the hands of fraudsters, but to maintain the confidence of customers. A recent study in the UK found that 64 percent of consumers blame the call center for security breaches. Six million consumers in the UK reported that they have stopped doing business with an organization because of fraud.

A newly published research report, commissioned jointly by customer service technology solutions provider Sabio and Avaya (News - Alert), uncovered the challenges faced by companies as consumers demand better security while at the same time demanding both convenience and quick service.

This has presented companies with a bit of a Catch-22 situation: they are tasked with keeping customer data secure, yet if their procedures are too onerous, it’s a turn-off for customers, who dislike having to remember passwords and PIN numbers, particularly when they have to repeat them to multiple individuals or departments. A majority of customers surveyed for the report also expressed discomfort with sharing personal information with call center workers.

“It’s increasingly clear that there’s real friction within organizations between those responsible for policing compliance and the customer service teams charged with delivering improved levels of customer experience,” said Sabio Founding Director Kenneth Hitchen. “At Sabio we recommend a number of potential technology innovations that can help organizations to make life easier for customers, including solutions that help you ensure the right security levels while easing the customer password load; that remove potential barriers to telephony commerce; and that allow you to identify and act on customer frustrations much earlier.”

Some of the most valuable data uncovered in the report includes:

·         Consumers show a definite preference for brands that make it easier for them to go through identification and verification when making payments;

·         Customers regularly jeopardize their own personal data security in order to make their lives easier;

·         Most consumers try hard to take care of their personal data (though they don’t always succeed);

·         Consumers often try to hide their true identities when dealing with businesses; and

·         Many consumers are worried about sharing their personal and payments data verbally over the phone.

It seems clear from the data that the company that implements fast and convenient ways to keep customer data safe is going to draw the lion’s share of business. Going forward, companies that offer more hassle-free authentication – think voice print technology – are going to succeed where their competitors, who are still making customers recite long account numbers and complex passwords, will fail.