The new year has finally arrived, and with it comes the promise of new opportunities, challenges, and trends to consider. Regardless of what changes may arise in the months to come, most experts can agree that CX will be a front-of-mind consideration for every business moving forward. Now more than ever, companies are under increasing pressure to build relationships with consumers through meaningful experiences.
However, the strategies that today’s organisations use to connect with and delight their clients are changing. Let’s explore some of the things we’re likely to see in the contact centre market during the next 12 months.
The Cloud and Agent Experience
2021 will no doubt be the year when contact centres move more aggressively to the cloud. Although companies have been preparing for this shift for years now, less than 20% of contact centre teams had a cloud-first strategy before the pandemic hit. Now that we’ve seen first-hand just how valuable the cloud can be to business continuity, every organisation will need to consider a cloud-based future. We predict around 40-50% of contact centres to be cloud-based by the end of this year.
At the same time, the shift to cloud will also help to place a stronger focus on another major trend – agent experience. Cloud-based environments allow team members to work from anywhere, supporting better work/life balance. The hybrid contact centre is likely to become the new go-to solution for many businesses. Scheduling and management teams will need to figure out how to accommodate varying locations and split shifts in this new world. However in the long-term, the transformation will ensure that agents can get the best of both worlds, remote flexibility, and in-office engagement.
Contact centres will also need to think beyond changing work structures to ensure truly amazing experiences for agents. You won’t be able to treat your staff members like numbers if you want to succeed in this new world. Power to the agent is here!
Context and the Rise of Big Data
As the contact centre becomes more cloud-focused and digital, we’ll once again see the intersection of humans and robots working together in a new environment. Once the contact centre moves to the cloud, CCaaS opens the door to a vast selection of new AI automation tools like chatbots and conversational interfaces.
Although some mundane tasks will be automated by AI and bots, agents will also receive a new set of superpowers in the form of context and information. Access to the right assistants and tools for agent augmentation will pave the way to better context in conversations. Once contact centres have figured out the right balance, the balance of bots and agents will help businesses grow.