Call center industry is just like living organisms. It continues to evolve for becoming fit for the survival with changing environment. This industry witnesses multiple new trends and technologies which allows it to grow as per changing demand of the market.
Some trends which are expected to be prevalent in 2020 are discussed below.
Voice Biometrics
Usually, the user identity-related verification takes a long time which may frustrate the end-consumers. The voice biometrics will ensure that verification process is done passively thereby saving time of consumers and ensuring fraud prevention. Call center outsourcing firms need not to apply some sophisticated technology to implement voice biometrics.
Innovative IVR and more focus on self-service
Apart from voice biometrics, we will also see a rise in innovative IVR solutions. Personalization of IVR and customer self-service will become the norm. IVR would also be used to convey information on a broader scale e.g. if there is an outage of service, then IVR messages could be used for communicating the message to callers from the impacted area. Companies would also offer self-service options as part of their call center services. It will allow many customers to resolve their issue by themselves thus reducing the call volume.
Videos
Interactive voice response (IVR) is one of the best resources for any call center services company. And when it is upgraded to video, it becomes more powerful and valuable. The smartphone generation (Gen Y) will definitely love to consult an agent face-to-face using video IVR for resolving their issues. Videos can also be part of ‘Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)’ section of the website which will be loved by customers.
Importance of data will grow
Data scientists from across the globe have always looked forward to call centers for customer related insights as these centers are hub of customer data. This year will witness more reliance on data analytics for predicting customer behavior by call centers. Recording and archiving the calls have been an integrated part of call center monitoring process. This data will be used to obtain insightful pattern that will tell how the customers will react to specific response.
Focus will be on satisfaction rather than call time
A customer in present day scenario loves complete resolution for a query rather even if it takes time. If a response from contact center is quick but not as per the expectations of the customer, it will be marked as negative response. 2020 will witness more focus on customer satisfaction even if the speed is compromised.
Social media monitoring will be prevalent
Last few years saw the rise of customer support through social media channels like Facebook and Twitter as queries used to come mainly through these sites. But with advent of other social media channels and increased activity of customers on multiple forums, outsourcing call centers company will monitor every social media site. This will be necessary to ensure that negative comments are not posted by unsatisfied customers on any social media channel. It seems that only those brands which have social media support with proper monitoring will survive in 2016 and rest will start to decline. It is also possibility that social media page will be handled by agents for marketing purposes.
Intelligent call routing
This trend is growing each year as customer is more satisfied by interacting to an agent which is able to respond effectively. Using past history of customer, several discounts can be offered to him/her which can help in enhancing the sales.
Also, by connecting to a caller which has previously discussed issue with agent, a lot of time can be saved. This will also reduce frustration among customers related to explaining the issue to agents again and again.
Popularity of cloud will rise
Cloud technology has been a promising trend for call center industry due to multiple benefits linked to it. Other than cost effectiveness, it allows the employees to work from the comfort of their homes. Also, agents don’t have to leave the job even if they are shifting to some other region of the world. He/she can stay connected with the employer and continue to work with the support of cloud computing. Therefore, the year will witness the implementation of cloud software in various small and large-sized call centers.
Chief Customer Officers will become part of call centers
Various big players across the world are already hiring CCO to offer better services to their customers. Even call centers will start hiring a knowledgeable and experienced person for this post. The CCO will be responsible to make major decisions at micro and macro level aimed to improve customer satisfaction level to a greater extent.
All the trends and technologies discussed above are expected to take call center industry to a new horizon!
Content Summary:
The 2020 will witness the rise of various trends and technologies beneficial for the call center industry. Some essential trends include hiring of chief customer officers, increasing importance of social media monitoring and implementation of video IVR.