OptiNet Blog

The contact center and omni-channel communications   We’ve talked in other blogs about the value of contact centers over traditional, one -  dimensional call centers, but we haven't talked yet about the need for contact centers to be designed on the omni-channel model. This blog explains what omni-channel means and why this is a critical part of the contact center design.   Omni-channel refers to a specific model of multi-channel communications. We already know a contact center makes use of many different modes of communications in order to best meet all of your customers wherever they choose to be. But we haven’t talked about the fact that contact centers need to be omni-channel. In the omni-channel model, all of the channels are integrated.  The idea here is to allow for cross channel “communication” so that the information and customer data that is accumulated on one channel is immediately communicated to all the other extant channels. The goal: whenever a customer connects on a

4 reasons customers prefer contact centers   You may have read that call centers are beginning to take a back seat to contact centers, where customers and prospects can interact across a wide array of communication modes. Today we’re discussing four big reasons customers prefer contact centers.   As a reminder, contact centers offer customers a variety of communication channels: voice, email, text, chat box, social media, and others. New generations are very familiar with non-voice communication channels and may prefer these channels over voice. People now are accustomed to using non-voice channels for most of their personal and business communications needs. Voice has become a secondary method, at best, for many users. Self-service has become the norm. Customers have become accustomed to self-service options that require no interaction and are available on-demand. Social media has become an important channel of customer interaction. This is a particularly important issue.

What is a contact center? We hear that the contact center is the preferred channel communication model, but what is driving this? Before looking at that question, let’s define “contact center.” The contact center is kind of a call center on speed. Instead of communicating with customer and prospects via one channel only (voice), the contact center is equipped to communicate across a wide variety of channels. It takes the phone center communication model and layers on all of the additional varieties of voice and data communication channels that have appeared over the last two decades. Contact center channels may include VoIP In-app chat Chat bot Text Email Social media IVR Unlike call centers, contact centers have become a single hub for all the methods of interaction that customers choose to use.   So why is this necessary? The answer is new technology. Customers have many communication channels available to them, each of which is better suited to particular

4 R easons call centers are becoming outmoded Call centers have been around for decades. Everyone is familiar with how they work and almost everyone has had at least one bad experience with using one. Did you ever put off calling an 800 number because you didn't want to deal with an annoying phone tree (IVR), waiting on hold, or just the tedium of slowly spelling out your name, address, email, and credit card number? You are not alone. Historically, call centers have had some serious limitations when it comes to customer satisfaction. Of course, that reputation may be unfair. There are many well-run call centers, but the call center model is becoming outmoded. Much of it has to do with the one-dimensional nature of the call center; it is a single channel communication tool. Call centers are primarily, or even solely, places where customers can communicate with a business via voice channel. (At the start, this meant traditional telco lines; now it likely means VoIP.) Below