Contact Center Solutions Community



Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

Multi-channel Contact Center Management Still A Challenge

October 03, 2007
By Prabhala Ranga Sai - Contact Center Solutions Contributor

According to a study of contact center professionals by the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), operational shortcomings are preventing true multi-channel contact center success.
 
As per the study, more than a third (34.9%) of centers surveyed do not measure the first-contact resolution (FCR) rate for calls handled by live agents, despite FCR being considered one of the most critical key performance indicators by many experts.

 
According to the study, the biggest problem is that what needs to be tracked and measured in today’s dynamic environment often is not. For example, nearly half (47.5%) of all polled centers fail to measure FCR for their e-mail contacts, and one in two centers (50%) that handle chat do not measure FCR for chat sessions. The situation regarding Web calls, Web callbacks and fax is even more critical.
 
Assuring quality across all channels is also a problem. While 98.7% and 92.2% of centers surveyed reported conducting quality monitoring for traditional calls and e-mail transactions, respectively, only 71.1% of centers monitor their IVR calls to ensure that the IVR system is working properly and efficiently; only 73.8% of centers monitor their Web callbacks; just 75.6% of centers monitor their fax transactions; only 79.2% monitor the Web calls they receive; and 81.4% of centers monitor their chat sessions.
Similar red flags were raised with regard to customer satisfaction measurement, with many centers failing to formally gauge the customer experience across all channels. Following is the percentage of contact centers that do not bother to survey customers who contact them via a particular medium:
 
  • Chat – 63.3%
  • Fax – 63%
  • Web self-service – 61%
  • Web callbacks – 60.4%
  • Web calls – 56.2%
  • E-mail – 51.7%
  • IVR calls – 51.6%
  • Phone (live agent) – 21.5%
 
Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents (56.7%) feel that workforce management in the multi-channel environment is either “much more” or “somewhat more” challenging than it is in a traditional call center environment.
 
The challenges aren’t likely to dissipate any time soon, as contacts are growing across nearly all contact channels. For every channel, the majority of respondents reported either an increase in contact volume or no change over the past year. The channels showing the most growth over the previous 12 months are phone (live agent), e-mail and Web self-service.
 
Following are other key findings from the study.
 
  • More than four in five centers (83.9%) handle customer e-mail transactions. Two in three of these centers (67.8%) an e-mail response time objective of 24 hours or less. Only 43.7% of them have an e-mail response management system in place to enhance e-mail routing, tracking and reporting.
  • Just over half (55.4%) of centers support a Web self-service application, with the most common features of these apps being FAQs, customer access to personal accounts, help options, and a knowledgebase/search engine.
  • Web chat in contact centers appears to have stabilized — 15% of centers surveyed this year currently handle chat transactions, compared to 15.6% in the 2005 study. However, more centers today (58.4% versus 50%) have their chat agents use Web collaboration tools during sessions with customers.
  • Web callback transactions have yet to take off either — with just 9.3% of centers handling such contacts (down slightly from 10.9% in 2005)
  • Click-to-talk Web calls remain rare in contact centers: only 6% of centers surveyed currently handle such contacts (up slightly from 4.3% in 2005).
  • 44.8% of respondents feel that their center is behind others in their industry with regard to the development/management of their multi-channel environment.
The three biggest multi-channel management challenges cited by respondents include:
  1. technology implementation/integration issues;
  2. securing budget for multi-channel needs; and
  3. ensuring quality/consistency across the various contact channels/types.
The three most common changes/improvements planned for the next 12 months are:
  1. improve service level/response times for all contact types;
  2. revamp training for e-contact/multi-channel agents; and
  3. begin monitoring all contact types.
 -----
 
Don’t forget to check out ContactCenterSolutions’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers whitepapers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
 
 
Today’s Featured White paper is titled Genesys Global Consumer Survey – 2007 brought to you by Genesys.
 
 



Home

  FREE CONTACT CENTER SOLUTIONS ENEWS