Indeed, with unified communications (UC) being one of the key driving factors of innovation in call center technology, some trends and insights can help you map the shape of your contact center in 2021 and beyond.
1. AI will be used as a primary tool to enhance customer service
The rise of automated tasks within call centers has grown exponentially over the past decade. With the rise of bots, AI and machine learning have become staples in both bigger and smaller companies across the industry.
While this rise has seen tremendous success, it is essential to note that it is being used as an augmentation to humans, not a replacement. Artificial intelligence technologies are continually used to enhance productivity within organizations while simultaneously improving customer experience journeys. This is currently seen through automation such as chatbots, business intelligence tools, and more. This year the focus on continued AI growth will be a priority for the industry.
2. The customer journey will become experiential, not transactional
An increasing number of businesses are offering broadly similar products or services, indicating a change in business models. This change has triggered a new differential scale; the scale of customer satisfaction. The better a customer’s experience with your business, the more likely they are to use your service again and offer good reviews.
Customers value your company through their experience with you, from the first point of contact to every communication moment after the sale. This is one of the primary reasons call centers are increasingly focused on customers’ experiential journey rather than a purely transactional one.
3. Multicloud is more critical than ever before.
Cloud environments are increasingly required to offer cloud ‘their way,’ which means that they look for a cloud service that is flexible, portable and scalable. Removing restrictions on how they can manage their business will be the primary focal point for cloud technology providers.
In 2021, expect to see customers saying “no more” to proprietary systems, single-vendor lock-in and forklift upgrades. Instead, they’ll welcome customizations that let them use and plug-in features that are best for their businesses.
4. Workforce Engagement
For decades, the correlation between employee engagement and customer service remained fairly unconnected, but this has changed drastically in the past few years. Delivering a seamless customer journey starts with employees. Empowering agents to manage a customer’s journey across channels and touchpoints improves their engagement and job satisfaction.
Expect to see more contact centers turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to handle smaller, more routine tasks. This unburdens agents and frees them to provide more personalized customer experiences. In 2021, contact centers will see the re-adoption of the 1994 model published in the Harvard Business Review – the service-profit chain. This theory will become a popular focal point within company cultures as it looks to improve employee satisfaction, which in turn empowers businesses to offer butter customer success journeys.
5. Enhanced Analytics
In 2021, more omnichannel call centers are opting for advanced analytics programs to build dashboards with statistics that affect their businesses. There’s an increasing trend of this display of statistical dashboards on user interfaces, so that call agents and managers can get real-time updates on customer experiences.
Contact centers will make data analytics and insights one of their primary objectives, leveraging sophisticated systems to convert data – such as call and screen recordings, chats, SMS messages, and more – into insights for their teams. These insights will create real-time feedback loops and keep your finger on the pulse of your organization – big or small. With consumer data becoming more of an asset, more advancements in analytics will appear as companies continue to implement more unified communications platforms and strategies.
How Smartz Solutions enables you to meet the demands of these trends and stay at the forefront
Smartz Solutions’ product suite focuses on your business’s core pillars – customer success, employee engagement, and data intelligence – in an integrated, customizable solution.
The Smartz Solutions product suite builds better workplaces, communications, and insights through Smartz Human Asset Management, Smartz Communications and Smartz Business Intelligence.
Smartz Human Asset Management is an industry-leading customizable single-sign-on portal. It empowers employees to understand and see real-time shift information, announcements, compliance, policies, and laws, managing personal details, e-learning, surveys, leave applications, time, and attendance.
Smartz Communication dynamically connects you with your customers on the channel they prefer through intelligence campaigns, sentiment analysis, bots, and A.I.D ( Smartz Solutions proprietary technology).
Smartz Business Intelligence turns insights into strategy through the power of Sisense. Transforming your data into insightful, actionable dashboards, all while reducing the cost per user, compared to other BI solutions.
About Smartz Solutions
Smartz Solutions specializes in managing customer and employee experiences through our enabling technology. Our success is based on technological foresight and strong business knowledge, enabling us to develop integrated solutions that meet your business needs.
Our power lies in turning insights into strategies and giving you the power to make effective business decisions. Based on a wealth of knowledge covering multiple industries, we have developed a suite of products that include the entire customer engagement journey offering best-in-class, world-class applications in a single end-to-end CX and EX platform.