Contact Center Services

Contact center technology company Avaya (News - Alert) recently released the results of its China Contact Center Consumer Index, part of its monthly Contact Center Consumer Index. Surprisingly, the study reveals that roughly 36 percent of consumers in China prefer to carry out their transactions with contact centers via email or Web chat, as opposed to over the telephone.

However, the survey of 316 Chinese consumers also revealed that 56 percent still like interacting with contact center agents. That means there is a fairly large percentage of consumers who might make use all three methods of contact – email, Web chat, or phone – depending on the type of transaction they wish to carry out. It also shows that, when it comes to customer service, people still prefer to talk to live agents. In fact, Avaya’s research also shows that a high percentage of Chinese consumers (about 60 percent) like to carry out their interactions with contact center agents via live video link.

Such information has tremendous value to the industry, as it can help organizations with contact centers (in this case, in China) to decide which channels to place greater emphasis on, in terms of improving customer service.

On the flip side of that, however is the question as to why a live agent is preferred and what changes could be made to self-service options to make them more appealing to the consumer base. Although many Chinese consumers like the idea of chatting with a live agent, they also like the idea of carrying out interactions on their own, using speech-enabled, self-serve solutions.

As per the most recent study, roughly 22 percent of the Chinese surveyed expressed their opinion that interacting with contact centers was always problematic. It would be interesting to learn how many of this 22 percent also said they prefer talking to a live agent, and how many said they prefer using other channels, such as email and chat, or even speech enabled self-serve solutions.

The study also reveals gaps in Chinese consumer expectations with regard to call center quality of service. These gaps include wait time on hold; the company really having the customer’s best interests at heart; providing the correct information; easy and accurate identification of the customer’s details; and having the query resolved on the first call (first call resolution). Different consumers rate each of these categories in different orders of importance. Some for example, may view hold time as being a more important factor than, say, first call resolution.

The good news revealed by the study is that, overall, Chinese consumers view contact centers in China favorably and have an appreciation for the services contact centers provide.

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