Fonolo Helps Credit Union's Mobile App Offer Enhanced Call Center Experience

This article originally appears in the March 2013 issue of CUSTOMER Magazine.

Mobile apps have become must-have components for companies in the financial space. Most large and mid-size banks already have very full-featured mobile apps. But, sadly, many of them drop the ball when it comes to connecting with a live agent. Their Contact Us page does nothing more than display a phone number. This forces a customer who needs to speak to an agent to start over. What if that customer was about to apply for a loan? Chances are, he’ll put his phone back in his pocket and that revenue opportunity is gone. That risk can be remedied by having a smarter connection to the call center.

That's exactly what 1st United Services Credit Union did with the latest update of its iPhone (News - Alert) app. The app’s Contact Us section, powered by Fonolo, lets their customers reach an agent with one tap — no phone menus, no waiting on hold.

Fonolo (News - Alert) is a cloud-based call-back service that lets companies deliver a better call center experience. Its goal is to solve the top three complaints people have about the call center: waiting on hold, navigating phone menus, and repeating information to agents.

The deployment with 1st United shows how Fonolo is a truly multi-channel solution. 1st United is using Fonolo’s click-to-call widget on its website, and using Fonolo's In-Call Rescue service for callers who dial-in directly. So customers are getting an enhanced hold-free experience regardless of the channel they use to connect.

A recent study conducted by Adcom surveyed users of mobile financial apps. Seventy percent of respondents complained about problems they experienced, and 80 percent said they want to request customer assistance from within the app they are using.

Today's consumer expects a mobile app that lets him or her connect with a live agent when needed, and the ability to make that transition while maintaining the context of what was going on. The good news is that it’s not hard to make that happen. Fonolo can be easily added to any mobile app and will handle the connection with any existing call center.

The credit union added this functionality to it mobile app and the website using Fonolo, and it didn't have to change anything in the call center.

“It was remarkable how easy it was to get the Fonolo solution up and running. We are thrilled to be offering this improved experience to our members,” said Mark Edelman, vice president of member contact at 1st United Services Credit Union.

 If you'd like to learn more, TMC (News - Alert) is hosting a webinar with 1st United and Fonolo on Feb 28. Register for free here.

Shai Berger (News - Alert) is co-founder and CEO of Fonolo (www.fonolo.com).