As the number of communication portals utilized by the average consumer today grows, so too must the contact centre solution a company has in place. A call centre that only incorporates telephone functionality is no longer sufficient since the proliferation of technologies like email, video and instant messaging give customers far more communication options than ever before. As a result, modern corporations need to incorporate unified communication and collaboration functionality into their contact centre solution.

For example, comScore reported in March that there are more than 22 million wireless subscribers in Canada, and 62 percent of the country’s residents now own a smartphone. Partly as a result of these trends, Canadians now have far more pathways for expressing their thoughts. According to 1to1 Media, more than half of all consumers now utilize three or four different communication channels.

“From social to mobile, these emerging channels offer vast insight into how the average customer perceives any given brand, allowing companies to better align their goals with the wants and needs of the consumer,” 1to1 Media reported earlier this month.

How to solve today’s core contact centre solution challenges
While these trends present enterprises with more opportunities to connect with clients and customers, 1to1 Media noted that it also presents businesses with many new challenges that most are not yet prepared to meet. Customers have more communication pathways to use, but many companies are ill equipped to track and account for these emerging channels.

For example, one of the core functionalities of a good contact centre solution has long been its ability to collect and analyze data. By looking at the main reasons behind why people reach out to a call centre, companies can better determine what issues are primarily affecting clients and customers and work to quickly resolve them. This was easy enough to do when the only equipment inside a contact centre was a telephone. However, 1to1 Media noted that the increase in available channels means that companies are now collecting far more customer data than ever before, and at a quicker rate. As a result, many organizations today are not equipped with the infrastructure and workflows necessary to more effectively monetize their contact centre solution.

Even if a company has the best contact centre solution in place that is capable of handling all available customer communication pathways, often organizations are limited by internal mental blocks, according to 1to1 Media. The technology may be state of the art, but those tasked with running the customer service department could be stuck in a prior age. These professionals will want to prioritize voice communications over all else, but that may not make sense if the company’s clients and customers most frequently leverage alternatives such as email or instant messaging. A contact centre solution may be primed for success, but outdated mindsets will still ensure that it yields a poor return on investment and that consumers receive a less than satisfactory experience.

To optimize their contact centre solution and best utilize unified communication and collaboration to reach consumers, corporations should leverage the expertise and experience of an IT consulting services firm like FlexITy. By combining an in-depth knowledge of the newest and best communications technology available with the core needs companies operating in many industry verticals face, FlexITy guarantees that the unified communication and contact centre solution implemented is best suited for meeting the customer service challenges of today and tomorrow.

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