Key Elements in a Modern Contact Center

Enterprises embarking on a digital transformation plan often have many competing voices when it comes to determining which technology upgrades to prioritize. Developing a modern contact center is often a step that every line of business manager can buy into, because it affects every area of business and may be the element that most critically enhances the customer experience.

There are many features and tools that can be included in a strategy to create a modern call center. There are solutions available that include all of them, and it may be possible to implement them incrementally or do a transition based on call center divisions or locations. Consider the following key elements in your future call center:

Omnichannel communications: This set of features enhances customer experiences with your company. Customers can not only call into your contact center, but also text, email, chat or video chat, and the various formats are integrated. This means that when a customer calls about an error on their invoice, you are able to see that the error also happened in the two previous months and it may be time to offer the customer some kind of discount for their trouble and to prevent losing their business.

Analytics: The modern contact center not only records conversations for training purposes, but also for analytical purposes. You’ll be able to look for recurring themes in customer complaints, find out if a desired feature is coming up in conversations and gain key insights into customer preferences.

Automation: This can take a variety of forms, from better routing of customers to the right contact to pre-screening of callers to gain information before offering self-help options.

Staff management: New communications technologies not only serve the customer better, but also help you improve your business processes and reduce costs. Forecast analytics from a digital solution can help you refine your agent scheduling based on customer demand.

Older private branch exchange (PBX) systems work fine for basic office communications. When it comes to the modern contact center, specialized features make a difference and offer a healthy return on investment. Before beginning to choose a specific solution, there are three questions that the contact center must consider:

• What problems should the solution solve for the contact center?
• Are we equipped to manage and maintain a solution in-house?
• What metrics will we use to determine whether the transition has been successful?

Keeping the answers to these three questions in mind will assist you as you evaluate various solutions, and prevent you from being taken in by all the bells and whistles that a solution may offer, but that don’t solve the specific challenges that made you consider a new technology.

If you’re looking to build a modern contact center, it’s time to consider a cloud solution. Contact us at City Communications to begin evaluating your priorities and to leverage the right technology for your company.

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