Customers have long been frustrated when interacting with companies when they hit the ‘this is not my department’ in services i.e. going from checking to savings and functionality, such as retail, to phone, and to the Web. These corporate silos, say observers, are one reason why firms are not as successful as they can be in attracting and retaining customers and in obtaining maximum lifetime value from them, and in managing costs.

 

In response, Genesys has launched a new initiative, called Cross Channel Conversations, which is designed to knock down the silos between traditional contact centers, the Web and next generation communication channels such as SMS and social networking.

 

This ‘virtual wrecking ball’, launched at the firm’s annual G-Force conference this week, is in effect creative destruction. The company, owned by Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) says it will result in new solutions that bring together contact centers, branches and back offices, and virtual technologies, including the Web, chat, SMS, video, avatars, virtual assistants and smartphones.

 

In outlining the Cross Channel Conversations initiative, Genesys (News - Alert) says that major changes are needed if companies are to successfully adapt their businesses to serve a growing wave of consumers who interact across multiple channels.  

 

To make this happen Genesys will provide an integrated platform to serve as the hub of these interactions. This will enable enterprises to deliver a differentiated customer experience blending all of the possible communication channels, including and such as voice, Web, mobile, and IM into a single conversation. Cross Channel Conversations will allow customers to seamlessly hop from one channel to another according to their preferences without losing the context of their interactions, resulting in differentiated experiences.

 

Solutions based on the Genesys Cross Channel Conversations initiative will include the following key features:

 

*          Support for the widest breadth of channels: Cross Channel Conversations supports any interaction type as part of a customer conversation

 

*          Proactive management of conversations across channels: No matter what channel a customer uses over time, Cross Channel Conversations manages one customer conversation so that enterprise can optimize the outcome of customer interactions

 

*          Pooling or mobilizing resources across the enterprise to leverage all talents. Cross Channel Conversations aligns every conversation with the ideal resource based upon business value, skillset and availability so that an enterprise can provide its best resources to address customer needs

 

This vision builds on Genesys’ intelligent Customer Front Door (iCFD) initiative, introduced in 2008, that integrated virtually all of the key technologies in speech recognition, self-service innovations, and business processes. This move marked a shift from frustrating IVR menus and ‘voice mail jail’ to a single intelligent self-service and live-service user experience, enabling customers to easily move from a voice-activated, self-service system to a live agent without delay.

 

With Cross Channel Conversations, Genesys is moving to break down similar barriers between a variety of emerging communications channels. The initial emphasis is on blending Contact Centers and eServices in order to enable consumers to interact with an organization with whatever technology is most appropriate and efficient.

 

 “Genesys is addressing one of the key issues companies face today as they see a generational shift in customer service,” says Ian Jacobs, senior analyst at Datamonitor. “Consumers prefer having the choice of a variety of channels as they move from initial research, to purchasing, to service. As companies add more channels, they need to provide consistency in a complex environment. To deal with this complexity companies must move towards integrated, multichannel customer interaction platforms.”

 

“One of the greatest difficulties in customer service is to federate the context and history of the request based on past interactions on the same topic that might have been over different channels,” explains Nicolas de Kouchkovsky, president of Genesys. “Genesys’ Cross Channel Conversations addresses one of the key challenges in customer service today by preserving continuity and consistency over multiple channels. As the conversation moves, numerous systems must be orchestrated to help the consumer navigate and to proactively offer the most relevant resources in the enterprise to solve an issue.”

 

The ‘genesis’ for Cross Channel Conversations came from observed multichannel best practices. These include:

 

*          In the Middle East, a 3G service provider has created advanced multimedia contact centers that combine video, voice and SMS, with voice recognition, avatars and other advanced self-service choices. The video call center and IVR technology has enabled seven million Egyptian customers to access self-help videos or to interact live with agents via video-enabled mobile phones

 

*          In Latin America, a leading communications provider has integrated SMS text to complement their live customer service and automated voice self-service platforms. The company leveraged its traditional contact center business processes and customer relationship management software to create a single environment for all customer interactions. As a result, it has enabled both inbound and outbound SMS, giving customers a greater number of choices for interaction while avoiding silos and customer disconnects throughout the process

 

*          In Europe, one of the region’s fastest growing banks has extended customer service to virtually anywhere within its organization. By leveraging a unique combination of presence and unified communications and customer service, the company can give customers access to virtually any of the 6,000 key employees in a branch/back office, improving its responsiveness

 

*          In South Africa, a leading premium television entertainment provider improved its customers’ experience by creating an iCFD that leverages speech recognition to improve customer satisfaction with voice platforms. It also breaks down the barriers between self service and live service when customers need to talk to live agents. Using speech technology coupled with built-in business processes they can quickly identify the customer’s needs and intent, and make a determination on using automated or live service

 

“The Genesys Cross Channel Conversation initiative was developed because a growing number of our enterprise customers are asking for a comprehensive solution,” says de Kouchkovsky. “We have drawn from the best practices of companies from around the globe who have provided valuable experience in how to unlock value through this type of integration.”