The Rise of Omnichannel CCaaS

Customers, more than ever, expect an omnichannel experience. They want the convenience of being able to move seamlessly between different digital and human channels.

One of the most effective ways of supporting this is deploying an omnichannel Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) platform to underpin current and future needs.

BT’s latest Autonomous Customer 2023 research highlights the growing demand for omnichannel. The results of this global survey suggest that consumers are becoming increasingly digital. For example, 39% shop more on websites compared to 2022.

However, companies are struggling to deliver the omnichannel experience that’s required to support this shift.

For example, 69% of consumers find dealing with customer service issues tiring and exhausting, compared with 66% in 2020. 89% want organisations to make it easier to contact them by phone, webchat, email, messaging, and social media. This is up from 82% in 2020.

The data highlights big gaps between usage and satisfaction levels on popular channels. 77% of consumers use telephone customer service, but only 32% said they were extremely or very satisfied with the experience. Similarly, 55% used email for customer service but only 32% were extremely or very satisfied.

A key conclusion from the research is that joined-up omnichannel service is an opportunity, rather than a cost, for brands.

80% of people will buy more from organisations that offer excellent customer service, with 57% valuing convenience more than price.

Meeting Omnichannel Needs with CCaaS

For a truly omnichannel, future-proofed customer service experience you need to embrace the following three fundamentals:

1. A Single CCaaS Platform

Use a single CCaaS platform to underpin all customer service channels. This makes it easy to add new channels and simplifies supporting customers across multiple channels.

It provides the flexibility to scale activity between channels, ensuring resources are deployed where they are needed.

Not only does it benefit customers by providing a cohesive, consistent experience, but it is also more cost-effective than running disparate systems within your contact centre.

Training for agents is simplified and call handling times drop, as agents are able to focus on customers, rather than spending their time navigating multiple solutions to find information.

2. A Joined-Up Customer Experience

To create a fully joined up experience, you need to be able to collect information across the entire customer journey.

Sharing it with agents offers insight into the customer’s history and a clearer comprehension of the context of each enquiry.

This means customers don’t have to repeat themselves or receive the same answers multiple times. No wonder that 88% of consumers in BT’s research wanted any channel they were using to have access to details about their previous contacts.

Ultimately this underlines the importance of having a single source of information across all channels. A CCaaS platform is the ideal way to make this happen.

3. Ability to Move Seamlessly Between Channels

Another important aspect of omnichannel is giving customers the ability to switch channels during an interaction as their needs change, especially from digital to human channels.

For example, two-thirds (67%) of consumers maintain that they should be able to switch from webchat to a voice or video call. In essence this means that customers view the customer experience as a whole, rather than distinguishing between individual channels.

As Dr Nicola Millard, BT’s Principal Innovation Partner puts it: “Customers don’t think about channels – they have goals and look for the easiest path to get to them.”

Here again CCaaS technology can play an essential role. A cloud contact centre platform accommodates all channels while making it easy to move customers between them. Not only does it increase customer satisfaction, but it enhances efficiency.

A single platform supports cross-channel working and provides centralised information access. This enables resources to be diverted to where they are needed most.

It’s vital to understand that consumers want an omnichannel customer service experience. They don’t just want digital or human channels, but the ability to access both, during the same conversation.

This must be seamless, without customers having to repeat themselves each time they switch. To deliver an experience like this you need a flexible, scalable omnichannel CCaaS platform that can meet your current and future needs.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Enghouse Interactive – View the Original Article

For more information about Enghouse Interactive - visit the Enghouse Interactive Website

About Enghouse Interactive

Enghouse Interactive delivers technology and expertise to help bring your customers closer to your business through its wide range of customer contact solutions.

Find out more about Enghouse Interactive

Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: Enghouse Interactive