The future of voice - a six step survival guide for contact centers, from Teleopti

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According to Annika Edberg at Teleopti, voice is no longer the endangered
species many would have us believe. It all comes down to adaptability and flexible
workforce management (WFM)
Mary Phillips
PR Artistry
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PressReleasePing - February 27, 2018 -London, UK - Voice
may no longer be at the top of everyone’s technology wish list but
the old beast still has plenty of life left. Just listen to the experts:
research indicates that inbound telephone calls to live agents
Adaptability and flexible WFM is the
name of the game and will ensure the
survival of voice for many years to
come.
today account for 65.3% of all contacts with 53% of professionals claiming that this type of interaction is likely to
increase greatly, slightly or simply stay the same in the foreseeable future.[i] In today’s multi-channel contact centers,
the continued existence of voice as a popular communications method puts added pressure on managers seeking to
create a seamless, blended call experience for customers by ensuring the appropriately skilled agents are available to
deal with telephone, email, chat, sms and social media at the right time.
The other part of the conundrum is that when combined, both inbound and outbound voice calls in contact centers are
on the decline and have statistically been that way for some years now. But does it really matter? Well, it definitely
matters if the status of voice affects the way that contact centers are run, evolve and even survive. Understanding how
to replace voice channels and maximise schedules to maintain service levels is essential to the longer-term wellbeing
of customer service, contact centers and the agents who work in them. Contact center leaders who choose to
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ury their heads in the sand or just accept that voice will eventually go away risk losing experienced staff as well as
customers and revenues. Here we look at the major trends affecting voice in the contact center industry, what
managers need to do to stay ahead of the game and how the latest Workforce Management (WFM) solutions can help.
Facing the future: a survival guide
1. Customer expectations are growing – this is something most of us have probably suspected but 80.3% of the 380
contact centre professionals who responded to Call Centre Helper’s latest survey believe this to be the case.[ii]
Advances in mobile technology and the Internet of Things have created an always-on culture that has radically
changed the way that people consume information along with the goods and services they buy. They expect instant
access to an organisation’s shop window 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Technology is a great enabler and
contact centers need to keepup with this trend and use WFM creatively
2. Accept that new technology is here and make it work for you – rather than seeing new technology as a threat to
the status quo or another thing to worry about, contact center leaders should view their operations as a strategic part of
the corporate digital eco-system where new technologies have the power to transform customer service. Email, web
chat, social media and SMS are all on the rise.
However, first of all step back and consider if it is absolutely necessary to offer all channels because if you do, the
quality has to be consistently high and meet expected service levels. Next, whatever channels you decide to offer, be
sure to blend them successfully with traditional voice to create a true multi-channel contact center environment that
gives customers greater choice of how they can communicate and delivers a faster, highly personalised customer
experience. Likewise WFM should be blended enabling resources to be switched between channels while ensuring
the most qualified agents respond to enquiries when and where required
3. Consider Artificial Intelligence (AI) to overcome staff shortages – according to Call Centre Helper, staff shortages
represent a real barrier to providing great customer service, a situation that has risen steadily to 30% since 2015.[iii]
In its report, ContactBabel reveals the alarming reality of agent skills today. In medium or large contact centres, 60% of
agents handle voice only and 5-10% handle text only (email, web chat and social media). Perhaps it’s time to turn to
the various forms of AI – virtual or digital assistants and chat bots or bots – to manage the gap between agent
abilities/time and the customer experience? Start by making bots the first port of call for customers and remember to
take them into account for WFM purposes.
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Virtual assistants, for example, can begin by directing customers to the correct part of the website or accessing the

correct part of the knowledge base. If they cannot answer a request, they may then seamlessly route the customer to a
live web chat agent.
4. Chat bots – next stage in Internet revolution - chat bots are computer programs that mimic conversations with
people using AI and are fast transforming the way people interact. They are revolutionizing the mundane tasks in our
daily lives, rather like having your own virtual butler. They can order lunch or a taxi, set up meetings, shop and book
flights. Other more complex industries, such as insurance, are experimenting with conversational personal assistants
to automate claims management.
5. When only the human touch will do – despite all this, don’t force digital channels if your customers don’t want
them. Why alienate certain demographics like the less technology-confident older generation when the spending
power of the silver pound is legendary? Certain organizations, with a higher than average mix of emotional or complex
enquiries (for example local housing authorities, chronic illness or emotional health charities) are more likely to
consider retaining voice to accommodate their customers’ specific needs and conduct sensitive conversations. Voice
will always play a part in crisis management situations such as emergency services. Maintaining service levels
depends on having agents available at the right time, therefore to ensure survival when only a human will do, WFM will
need to take priority
6. Look at the agent journey – customer journey mapping is a hot topic but if a customer has a life cycle, what is the
lifecycle of the agent? Enriching the agent journey will make them happier and more productive. Look at each stage –
recruitment, training, working, personal development, potential attrition – to identify the delights and the pain points
and then find the solutions and technology necessary to support them. Building agent friendly schedules and providing
advisors with the right tools to handle customers, based on their own judgement, improves customer loyalty and
delivers the quality of service that all customers deserve and expect.
Adaptability and flexible WFM is the name of the game and will ensure the survival of voice for many years to come. Act
now to face facts, address the challenges ahead and take positive steps to support the evolution of voice. Make the
most of this trusted channel and robust WFM to create high-performing agent teams and maintain exceptional levels of
customer service now and into the future.
Annika Edberg, Senior Project Manager and Consultant at Teleopti
[i] ContactBabel’s UK ‘Contact Centre Decision-Maker’s Guide 2017-2018.
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[ii] Call Centre Helper ‘What Contact Centres are doing right now’ 2017 survey
[iii] Call Centre Helper ‘What Contact Centres are doing right now’ 2017 survey
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Category: Technology
Region: Europe
Tags (meta-keywords): workforce management, call centre software, contact centre technology
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