Back in 2020 it was clearly a seminal year of unprecedented challenges for Contact Centers throughout the world. These challenges have constituted more than a series of simple operational adjustments. The global pandemic has forced Contact Centers to face head-on the reality of fundamental change. At the forefront of these changes has been technology – transformational technology that provides customers with the service they expect, in the ways they need and expect it — through phone, chat, email, social or other channels.
As we moved through 2021 & 2022, we all experienced a growing focus on providing improved customer experiences and journeys. 2023 through to 2025 (and beyond) has all been around AI and how it’s changing from the simple chatbots to more sophisticated AI Agents capable of handling complex tasks. .In this article, we identify five significant Contact Center trends to look out for during the course of the year.
1. Remote agents and a hybrid model
The pandemic and the consequent enforced lockdown measures have forced Contact Centers to depend more on Cloud technology than ever before. Agents have had to adjust to working from home with the support of Cloud technology, and many Contact Centers adopted a work from home strategy that has stuck.
To view this forced change to remote working as a temporary inconvenience would have been naive and short-sighted in the extreme. Working from home has clearly been adopted widely and is a clear differentiator for Agents in selecting their employer. It’s unlikely that Contact Centers will move wholesale to 100% remote working – certainly not immediately, but a more probable long-term outcome is the hybrid model – a scenario whereby teams are encouraged to work remotely for a sensible work-life balance as well as being encouraged to use the office as a collaboration and meeting space.
Those companies that have adopted the remote, Cloud model have enjoyed numerous benefits:
- Business continuity
- Business agility
- Improved productivity
- Enhanced security
- A more productive and enjoyable agent experience
2. Cloud and multi-Cloud
Contact Centers aren’t looking for off-the-shelf Cloud software, where they have to adapt their process and systems to the demands and restrictions of the technology. They want Cloud software that’s bespoke – that adapts to their needs of their business. Regardless of the size or complexity of their business, they need technology that’s scalable and flexible.
The mass migration from OnPrem solutions to Cloud deployments is largely over, with over 80% of Contact Centers now using Cloud deployments, the focus is now on attrition based on quality of services, ease of use and efficieny.
3. Self-service efforts
On the ball Contact Center managers understand the key role played by individual team members in delivering that all-important world-class experience for customers. This means personalization. Making customers understand that they are valued and perceived as much more than a sales statistic.
Using new technology to give agents the freedom to manage a customer’s journey across channels and touchpoints clearly enhances the customer experience. But it does more. Employee empowerment also improves their own sense of engagement and satisfaction. All this will combine to improve all-round performance.
Increasingly Contact Centers are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to handle more of the day-to-day tasks. This lifts the pressure from agents and allows them to offer more personalized customer experiences.
4. Digital and AI
One of the most noticeable changes in Contact Center provision in recent years has been the switch to omnichannel capabilities – messaging, SMS, email, chat, combined with the use of AI (Artificial intelligence) and the increasing more challenging tasks that AI is able to perform well. Contact Centers are learning to drive better business outcomes by optimizing that technology. This year will see more companies than ever turning to tools such as AI-powered chatbots and digital assistants. They will be employing these platforms to transform their approach and with it, the customer experience.
Whether your Contact Center uses human agents or chatbots to engage with customers, you should be using social media to demonstrate a responsive and caring approach to resolving issues. You should be finding ways to make conversations with customers public – showing how you address customers’ issues.
This approach will both enhance the customer experience and give you far greater, more high-profile credibility. The benefits of embracing Digital and AI are almost incalculable. Undoubtedly, they’re here to stay.
5. Quality Assurance (QA) will become increasingly automated
Contact Centres have traditionally excelled at measuring quality and service metrics for phone interactions. However, achieving equivalent service quality on digital channels has been a struggle.
As 2021 progresses, Contact Centers will have to invest in tools that provide an end-to-end view of the customer journey. They will want to identify friction points, overall quality of service and team performance issues.
The rise in remote working has rendered many conventional, manual QA approaches unreliable. Contact Centers are increasingly seeing the need to automate the identification of “coachable moments”.
Automated Testing with Occam
As your Contact Center faces up to the continual changes it will need to make, and you adopt the necessary Cloud and AI technologies, to be sure to retain and enhance your CX standards.
Occam’s Razor platform will give you the peace of mind you need to make sure your customers enjoy the best possible experience and journey.
Automated testing allows you to comprehensively ‘soak-test’ new processes and systems before conducting a full launch. Your all-important customer experience will remain unaffected.
You’ll find you can easily test any enhancements you make to your customer’s journey – right from the placing of the call to pick-up by the agent. In the event of results falling below your pre-determined standards, the monitoring software alerts you and your team. This enables you to address the issue before the customer’s experience is adversely affected.
Load testing ensures that your systems are built to specification and continue to operate as designed, regardless of the pressure imposed by high volume call traffic.
Request your demo call today
Find out how our continual testing platform will help you to create a collaborative workspace, ensuring your Contact Center’s operations continually run smoothly.
