AI Magazine Issue 3 2018

56 Acquisition International - Issue 3 2018 According to Jeremy Hamill-Keays, old habits are hard to break and the use of technology is no different. Here, he recommends five approaches to contact centre management that can be consigned to history. nnovation is everywhere and it can seem as if we’re constantly encouraged to take on more and more technology to lower costs, improve customer satisfaction and increase market share; the list is endless. However, has anyone actually stopped, looked around and considered if and how this new technology can replace what is already there? It’s a bit like buying new furniture or the latest fashions without getting rid of the old. Sooner or later, you just end up with clutter rather than a fresh start. The same applies to running a contact centre. Instead of making your operation more productive, maybe too much old technology is weighing it down and preventing your organization from reaching its full potential. It’s the start of a new year so what better time to de- clutter and throw out the old? Here we explore five practices that are worth assigning to history: 1. Who needs ACDs? – ACDs, the traditional foundation of the contact centre, are still a useful tool but they need to adapt to modern environments and customer needs. Voice-only ACDs may soon become a thing of the past, being replaced by fully-integrated enquiry distribution including multiple media channels. As alternative channels such as Web chat and social media become more commonplace, multi-media ACDs will provide a more integrated experience for agents and an improved omnichannel service for customers. Greater integration allows for easier reporting and comparisons – always a bonus. Similarly, combining a multi-media ACD with other cloud-based applications, such as WFM software, allows for easily accessible data in real time 24/7, Five Old Habits for The Contact Centre to Consign to History, fromTeleopti I Five Old Habits For The Contact the ability to scale up and down user numbers instantly and add new features automatically all result in more time to spend on delivering an outstanding customer experience. What is more, a pay-as-you-go cloud business model means you pay only for what you use. 2. Time to ditch fixed-pattern spreadsheets and embrace responsive automation - there’s no doubt about it, people like spreadsheets because of the comfort factor. They give everyone their own version of the truth, with complete authority to update and amend their spreadsheets when they like, without interference from anyone else. The downside to spreadsheets is they bear no relevance to what is happening outside a user’s immediate department and being manual, are often out of date and inaccurate. The very nature of spreadsheets tends to make them inflexible and personal to their creator. This can leave a contact center high and dry when that individual moves on. Any manual workings and knowledge walks out with the creator, often making changes such as adding a new skill, difficult and time consuming for those remaining. Automated planning is definitely the way forward with the latest WFM solutions enabling clear visibility of agent activities, increased efficiencies and the ability to capture and manage big data. Take the example of Rentalcars.com, the world’s biggest online car rental service. It produces effective, flexible work schedules for over 800 people and manages seasonal peaks and troughs from one single, automated solution. FEXCO, Ireland’s most successful multinational financial and business solutions provider with operations in 29 countries turned to automation to improve agent scheduling and adherence for 460 contact center staff and introduce smarter, consistent ways of working. 3. A whole new world of learning - say goodbye to irrelevant training sessions - the days of traditional classroom learning where the whole team sat conference-style listening to the trainer will soon be a thing of the past. Thanks to Intraday monitoring Company: Teleopti “Automated planning is definitely the way forward with the latest WFM solutions enabling clear visibility of agent activities, increased efficiencies and the ability to capture and manage big data.”