Call centers continue to change how they do business as new technology and software develops. Companies are working to improve call center optimization to better serve customers and reach new prospects. Trends for 2013 include the use of social media, mobile apps, and outbound calls to improve efficiency and reach more people effectively.
Inbound Calls
Call centers have always focused on taking inbound customer calls, providing solutions, and moving on to the next call. The newest trend in customer service and call centers for inbound calls is speech analytics technology. Implementing call recording with speech analytics technology provides enormous value to the business overall. Every department that fields incoming calls can provide a wealth of valuable business information. When a business adopts a speech analytics solution, they have access to:
- Call recordings of every conversation.
- Searchable call transcripts.
- Call categorization, based on search definitions.
- Top-line search statistics such as number of calls found, and the number of calls that contain a specific search phrase.
- The ability to schedule and share daily delivered reports of search results to closely track trends.
Social Media
Traditionally, call centers were concerned only with incoming phone calls. Today many call centers also monitor emails and now some are starting to monitor social media as well. Interacting with customers and prospects on social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, allows companies to communicate with a wider customer base. Asking call center employees to monitor social media helps ensure the company doesn’t miss any opportunities to answer questions or provide customer service in the medium preferred by that specific customer.
Mobile Apps
Another trend in 2013 is the use of mobile apps. Many companies have started to provide mobile apps to customers for anything from insurance quotes to finding ATMs. Call centers are starting to take advantage of this trend by providing mobile apps for customers to contact the call center directly. This trend creates another channel for call center employees to monitor and manage but allows customers to use their preferred method of communication.
A recent survey by Bearing Point has found that about 44 percent of companies are planning to implement a mobile app in their call center. The availability of mobile apps improves customer satisfaction and as the number of smartphones grows in use it will become an industry standard.
Experts working in the field of speech technology predict the speech analytics market will continue to expand over the next several years, growing by 25% in 2013, and 20% in 2014, with improved awareness, education, and adoption by companies behind the growth.
Companies and contact centers use speech analytics to react to business trends. With real-time speech analytics, organizations assess business trends and address customer needs immediately, and no longer have to wait several days to process and analyze the conversations.
This capability provides a healthier, more successful business environment – one that focuses even more strongly on the customers’ needs, which is important in today’s openly social and collaborative business environment.
Call center optimization trends will continue to focus on new ways to improve the efficiency of employees and increase the reach of customer service. For more information on call center optimization contact us. Or schedule a demo today!
