Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Data Analytics is Key to Making the Most of Contact Center Resources
While most companies today are struggling under an inundation of data, some industries – the telecom and wireless industry most notably – have more than its usual share. Customers are purchasing, buying plans for, and operating, more than one wireless device (as well as buying connectivity for traditional phones as well as Internet service for desktop computers). They may have a question about any one of these devices at any time .They may (or may not) use the device to contact their services provider. They might choose any number of channels – or more than one or two – to reach out. This has raised the stakes considerably for companies trying to keep a firm grip on the customer experience. It will become even more complex as the machine-to-machine business model “the Internet of Things” advances.
“The explosive growth of smart phones is driving a huge expansion in the volume, frequency and complexity of data travelling across telecom networks,” blogged Milan Goldas for VanillaPlus recently. “While CSPs [communication service providers] have always collected voice data, today’s data is much more complex and includes photos, streaming video and music, location data, social media, text and email messages, web browsing, and more. Combine this with the data proliferation generated by a myriad of devices to support the Internet of Things, it becomes very clear that CSPs would benefit from game-changing technology to quickly manage and analyze big data.”
Data analytics is the technology today that determines whether big data is a burden or a benefit. How companies organize, track and interpret the mountains of information they receive about customers will determine how they manage customer relationships going forward. For companies that wish to provide solid, personalized, real-time customer support that meets customer expectations, getting a grip on data analytics is critical. The goal is to enable valuable insight into customer behavior, and help contact centers understand how best to use their resources to avoid delays, long hold times and the risk of not having people with the skills required available when customers call.
“Traditional storage and analytics solutions cannot adequately manage the expanding, diverse volume of data generated today,” noted Goldas. “Firstly, the data needs to be stored and managed appropriately so that applications can yield real insights.”
The important point here is that the information needs to be accessible. While of course it will be stored in a large, centralized data pool initially, it’s no good to anyone if it stays there, or if it’s delivered in a format incomprehensible to anyone but an IT expert.
“By implementing such a big data platform, a CSP (News - Alert) can make better use of the vast quantity of data it is processing in real time on a daily basis,” wrote Goldas.
Many of today’s contact center scheduling and other workforce management solutions can tap into this pool of data and deliver actionable results that help managers understand who to put on the phones (and digital channels) when, and what skills they need to have available. Using historical data and current information (new product or service launches, sales, marketing campaigns, etc.), these solutions can ensure that customers – when they pick up the phone or log on – are anticipated, and welcomed.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi