3CLogic's Contact Center Blog

As remote work becomes the new norm due to COVID-19, it has only served to exacerbate the inefficiency that comes with non-integrated systems and on-premise technologies. According to a recent survey, only 10% of employees are able to establish a complete view of the relationship between their company and customer without toggling between several different platforms. Not surprisingly, many CIOs are turning to a few key providers to streamline operations to improve employee productivity and the overall customer experience. Among those at the top of the list? Microsoft.

Today, only 1-2% of recorded voice calls are analyzed by the average contact center, leaving hundreds of thousands of minutes of data untouched. That’s because an analysis of every single call by hand – a process that can take up to a half hour per call – would be a waste of time and resources. But there is value in this “dark data”.

Voice Remains a Key Part of the Customer Service Value Chain

For decades companies have been experimenting with new technologies (chat bots, emails, artificial intelligence) to respond more effectively to customer inquiries. However, if the recent COVID-19 events have revealed anything, it is that sometimes people simply need to talk to a real-life person. This is not only true for the current crisis but extends to any complex, time-sensitive, or personal crisis at any point in time.

According to Dimension Data’s recent Contact Center benchmarking report, digital channels (email, web chat, social media, SMS text, video chat), which currently account for roughly 35% of contact centers’ total interactions, are expected to overtake voice within the next two years. The catalyst?—the widespread adoption of Internet-connected mobile devices. Consider the following: by 2018, Cisco predicts that the number of mobile devices used by consumers will grow close to 8 billion.

An astounding 82% of today’s consumers say speed of service is the number one factor to a great customer experience. And as businesses increasingly seek ways to improve their customer service, many have turned to virtualization and self-service. Airlines use self check-in, restaurants allow customers to make their own reservations, and grocery stores have self check-out lines—the list goes on.  In the case of contact centers specifically, 62% of best-in-class companies use interactive voice response platforms in some capacity to facilitate the delivery of fast but relevant customer service.