Changes coming for customer service

Contact centers have changed rapidly since the turn of the century and, like all other tech, have had to evolve to accommodate an increasingly tech-wise population that would in other words click hyperlinks than talk to a human when they need customer service. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and SIP technologies have all nevertheless taken over the industry, and the decline of TDM technologies is imminent.

In spite of all that progress, most organizations have struggled to in effect connect with their customers after a fashion that really showcases the capabilities of the available innovation. We can do so much more than what we're doing right now in contact centers.

IVR lady: Thank you for calling Big National Bank, where we love you. No, as a matter of fact. Please select from the following options. For account management, press 1. For loans, press 2. For credit cards, press 3. To repeat this menu, press 8 and don't ask us why we picked a non-sequential number for that option.

IVR lady: You seem to be having trouble. Should I give you a moment to familiarize yourself with your telephone keypad? If yes, press 1. If no, and to return to whatever menu we were talking about, press 2.

The sad thing is

The sad thing is, there as a matter of fact are IVR applications like this being used in customer service organizations everywhere today. Even sadder, the limitations are more about creativity than the technical capabilities of the available innovation.

Let's talk about a seemingly unrelated topic for a second. Personal assistant research is beginning to show up on Apple and Android devices everywhere. The two big players right now are Apple's Siri and Speaktoit for Android. These are both actually in their infancy. They both get the job done, nevertheless "the job" is fairly limited right now.

Basically, the assistant can help with basic functions on your phone, just as send messages, respond to messages, open apps, check weather and play a song. It's pretty cool tech, nevertheless still a bit limited, and the bots at times struggle to get it right.

Now, what does this have to do with the contact center industry? The industry is beginning to take notice of these personal research assistants and is recognizing the potential for integration. As the innovation advances, contact center research developers will begin using these to integrate personal assistants with customer service organizations' backend systems and provide self-service options to their clients via smartphone apps that talk to you.

Toll-free number

Instead of dialing a toll-free number and talking to a voice deeply rooted in tedious and cumbersome menu-driven self service using your keypad, you will talk to a personal assistant avatar on your smartphone screen in much more natural speech patterns in the at once generation of Intelligent Customer Front Door research.

Some initial studies have shown that visual IVR research can reduce the amount of time required to get through a self-service conversation by as much as 56 percent. Avatar-based visual IVRs could reduce that even furthermore.

Now, let's try that bank call again, nevertheless this time, you're talking to Hal, your personal assistant on your smartphone screen.

Over the then and there few years, we will see big changes in the contact center experience. During nobody will ever be able to come up with anything as cool as Kramer's Moviefone, visual platforms will become increasingly popular and, as the innovation improves, will remove some of the pain from customer service.