In these challenging times, quick-to-deploy cloud customer interaction solutions, such as Bots, Callback & Digital Channels can provide contact centres with some short-term fixes whilst also delivering long-term benefits.
As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, contact centres are faced with a double whammy; coping with erratic and unpredictable call volumes, whilst also preparing for scenarios where agents may not be available to work.
As contingency plans are drawn up, in addition to resource planning, contact centre managers will be looking at how their systems and technology can assist in these uncertain times. Cloud technology comes into its own in these difficult times, because by its nature it is easier to flex and can be deployed outside of the traditional centralised office-based environment. Agent home working becomes more practical, and additional digital communication channels can be enabled.
Organisations will want to learn lessons from the coronavirus outbreak, and will initiate long-term reviews and programmes to cater for future uncertainties. But in the short-term, they need solutions that can be rapidly deployed and deliver real benefit within days. We look at a few examples of how cloud solutions may help:
Bots
Bot technology is starting to have a significant impact on customer service, but is seldom seen as a short-term initiative! However, the use of Bots as a first-line for fielding simple queries can help organisations focus their limited human resources on those queries that actually require manual intervention. The key here is to ensure that as many simple queries can be handled (taking an FAQ approach) with an escalation route to agent interaction via a call or one-to-one chat when required.
Callback
We all know that waiting in long contact centre queues can lead to significant customer dissatisfaction. Unplanned events, such as the coronavirus outbreak can lead to unexpected spikes in call volumes, which can cause significant queue times. By offering a reliable callback service, using either virtual queue technology or scheduled callbacks, organisations can flatten call volumes whilst retaining customer trust.
