Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tech

Latest Technology Trends In Call Center Outsourcing Firms

Technology is the most effective catalyst for call center companies. It is indeed responsible for increasing the profits by enhancing the productivity and delivering superior customer support.

By 2017, more than 50 percent of investments associated with R & D will be based on innovations related to customer experience, as predicted by research firm Gartner.

This and various other statistics radiate the importance of technology in contact center industry.

Let’s have a look at major technological trends which are doing rounds in outsourced call center industry.

Visual IVR

Present age can be defined as smart era where almost every online task is shifting to smartphones.

This happens in the case of IVR too.

Visual IVR is basically an interactive menu which is visible on a computer screen or smartphone. This form of self-help technology is allowing a lot of customers to choose from multiple menus to solve the queries on the spot.

This technology saves the customers from listening and remembering the commands of DMTF tones.

So, the customers do not feel irritated.

The technology also helps the outsourcing call center companies by saving call-related costs. Reduction in number of agents is another major perk of the technology.

Though, some customer service experts criticize the technology, visual IVR is there to stay for long time.

Cloud computing

Cloud technology has always captured my attention due to its widespread applications in multiple industries.

The cloud computing in contact centers comes with three major perks namely scalability, security and cost control.

Yes! Call center outsourcing companies save a lot from their budget by moving to cloud.

Let’s see how.

Areas where companies usually spend money while using regular software include:

  • Software updates
  • Infrastructure
  • Data backup
  • Maintenance

All these spending are can be purged off by implementation of cloud technology in the contact center.

Artificial intelligence in IVR

I often tell my colleagues and management team on how AI will revolutionize the contact center industry in upcoming years.

This sci-fi filmmaker’s favorite technology is going to change the scenario of voice-command dependent IVR system.

Presently, the AI may be a costly technology. But in future, it will become an inevitable part of contact centers.

How this technology operates

When a customer calls a customer support service and uses voice for a random query, AI comes into operation. The request is translated by AI through text-to-speech process for an optimum response. AI creates complex and deeper mapping paths which are responsible for deriving the suitable response.

The outcomes of the request come out in a natural form which no less than a human sound!

Video chat support

Online customer support through video chat is rising consistently as an important technology trend in contact centers.

Even research firm Gartner forecasted that more than one-fifth of the 500 biggest businesses across the globe will implement video-based chat support in their firms.

What’s so awesome about this technology?

This interesting technology allows the call center agents to guide the customers on issues through a live demo.

Customers, on the other hand, feel more connected with the company.

The technology can also prove to be boon for customers with hearing impairment.

Video chat is when used in combination with regular online chat gives amazing experience to the customers.

Data analytics

These two magical words have helped numerous industries through valuable insights derived from big data.

Various outsourced call centers are also utilizing data analytics to predict the behavior of their consumers.

Earlier, regular statistics were sufficient to get reasonable related to various departments.

But now, data analytics (heavier version of statistics) are needed to thrive in industry,

Tools such as customer relationship manager (CRM) suites are coming in handy for processing big data for call center industry.

Call back technology

This technology which remained low profile for many years is now gaining momentum due to its appreciation by customers.

In this process, the customer support agency asks the customer for an option of call-back in case the customer is not interested in waiting.

Call back process has already supported multiple companies to boost their sales. This happens as the customers feel special and tend to buy a product when they receive a call back.
Is it popular in customer support?

Ans: Absolutely!

Contact centers are making customers more satisfied by providing him / her with a call back.

Tip: Do not delay your call back for more than 30 minutes to ensure a happy customer.

Various other important benefits of this technology include:

  • Decreased call handling time
  • Improved executive productivity
  • Cost saving by call centers

Workforce management system

Few years back, I used to hear from various call center managers that unpredictable call volumes was their biggest challenge.

This resulted in lot of money wastage if the staff was in excess than the requirement. Also, during holiday rush and other peak times, there was insufficient manpower to tackle the call volumes.

This is where workforce management system with multiple tools came to rescue call center agencies. It allowed them to forecast the volume of calls during different intervals.

This helps in recruiting the optimum number of agents in the firm. This ultimately provided cost control and efficiency at every phase in call centers.

Written By

Amelia Roberts has spent over more than seven years in the call center outsourcing industry. She has acquired such phenomenal and formidable expertise that her advice and judgment are sought by most of the CEO and Managers of reputed firms. She has written many research papers and books related to the call centers. Presently she is a consultant in one of the leading firms and still continues to write her research papers and books.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You May Also Like

Tech

Easily free up space on your Mac by removing duplicates using a duplicate photo remover program.

Tech

The emergence of a multi-vendor marketplace within an eCommerce app sparks a revolution in the way we purchase and sell. However, 2024 is an...

Business

Augmented Reality (AR) technology has heralded a new era in marketing, redefining the ways businesses engage with customers and creating unprecedented opportunities for immersive...

Tech

If you’re looking for sources to stay updated on the newest tech trends, subscribing to tech YouTube channels can be an option. We’ve rounded...