It's safe to say that the contact centre has changed drastically over recent years. We've evolved from rooms of people sitting at desks and answering phones, to agents connecting over SMS, social media, and instant chat - among other avenues.
To better understand where contact centres are headed in the quest for better customer experiences, leading communication company RingCentral commissioned a report from Altimeter looking at the rise of the "Collaborative Contact Centre." The study demonstrates a growing need for thoughtful digital transformation and customer-focused integrations of new collaborative technology.
The RingCentral and Altimeter Report
Digital Transformation (DX) is definitely one of the most important topics of conversation for many modern contact centres. However, it's the need for better customer experiences (CX) that is driving organisations to embrace new technology, according to RingCentral and Altimeter. In their study, the organisations looked at 500 knowledge workers across the United Kingdom and the US.
The findings revealed that while standard workplace environments, on-premises technology, and phone-based customer conversations were on the decline, new modes of communication, remote contact centre agents, and increased collaboration were all seeing increased popularity. The overall trend is towards something the report calls "Contact Centre 2.0". Apparently 86% of companies plan to transition to Contact Centre 2.0 in the next three years.
What's Leading the Move to Contact Centre 2.0?
RingCentral believes that the move to a more customer-focused and successful contact centre begins with a stronger collaborative strategy for today's service environment. Unified Communications solutions that combine business communications with contact centre solutions appear to drive better customer service levels, increased agent productivity, and enhanced cost savings according to the study. Already, RingCentral note that 55% of companies have implemented a team-messaging strategy into their contact centre.