Navigating Customer Contact Space in the 21st Century

Bill DurrDirector, Global Field Marketing

My Credentials

My Credentials That’s Me!

We’ve Consulted Great ThinkersWe’ve Consulted Great Thinkers

Call Center EnvironmentCall Center Environment

Customer Contact EnvironmentCustomer Contact Environment

Contact Center Cost ModelContact Center Cost Model

Labor65%

Communications25%

Technology10%

Leverage PotentialLeverage Potential

Labor65%

Communications25%

Technology10%

•Customer Retention•Customer Loyalty•Revenue Growth•Profit Enhancement

The First Call DistributorThe First Call Distributor

Technology RoadmapTechnology Roadmap

Basic Call Processing Real-Time & Historical Reporting Conditional Call Routing Lexicon Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) IVR (Interactive Voice Response) CTI Data Link (Computer Telephony Integration) Workforce Management Tools (WFM) Intelligent Call Processing (aka CRM) E-Mail IP Transactions

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

Basic Call Processing Define a Target Group Define Delay Announcement(s) Define Overflow Target Group

Real-Time & Historical Reporting Historical Reporting

Enables Planning the Work Real-Time Reporting

Enables Reacting to Deviations from Work Plan

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

Conditional Call Processing Lexicon Sophisticated Rules-Based Call Routing Key Elements to Consider

If…..Then Statement Number & Kind of Variables

For Example: If Sales Service Level <80%, Then Offer Call to Customer Service

Powerful Variables Service Level Calls Waiting Average Speed of Answer Number of Agents Available

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

ODBC Reporting Add Business Data to Contact Center Reports Enterprise Access to Contact Center Data

CTI Data Link Screen Pops

Saves Agent Time Personalizes Interaction Promotes Loyalty

CTI in the Call Center - HypeCTI in the Call Center - Hype

Screen pops and beyond

Relationship management

Call processing aligned with business issues

Enhances revenues, reduces costs

CTI in the Call Center - RealityCTI in the Call Center - Reality

Very low level of implementation

Many projects fail or underwhelm

Expensive

Drag on

CTI in the Contact Center CTI in the Contact Center

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

IVR Robot Agents Increasingly Accepted Handles Simple Transactions Natural Language, Speaker Independent

Very Powerful Very Customer Pleasing

IVR in the Contact CenterIVR in the Contact Center

It’s Hard to Imagine a Contact Center Without IVR

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

Workforce Management Software Accepts History from Contact Center Data Provides Forecasts

Call Volume Transaction Time

Define Agent Shifts & Preferences Generates Agent Schedules Real-Time and/or Historical Adherence

Workforce Management in the Workforce Management in the Contact CenterContact Center

Particularly for Contact Centers With Extended Hours Over 50 Agents

Intelligent Call ProcessingIntelligent Call Processing

AKA Customer Relationship Management Identify Who is Calling Evaluate Worth to the Company Route Accordingly

Treating Different Customers Differently Pareto Customers

20% of Customers Yield 80% of Revenues Some Customers Not Worth Having

Intelligent Call Processing (CRM) in Intelligent Call Processing (CRM) in the Contact Centerthe Contact Center

Extensive DataBase Required Look Out for Integration Costs

1.5 to 5 Times Cost of “Tools” & “Products”

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

E-Mail Differentiate Specific vs. Non-Specific E-Mail

e.g. Webmaster@, Sales@, Service@ Contact Centers Will Be Expected to Handle Non-Specific

E-Mail in the Call Center - HypeE-Mail in the Call Center - Hype

50% of US Have E-Mail Access by 2001

10% of all customer contacts by e-mail in 2001

95% of all e-mail messages delivered in 5 minutes or less

Response Time Implications

E-Mail in the Call Center - Why?E-Mail in the Call Center - Why?

Can’t or won’t wait for human assistance Web page content prompted inquiry/transaction Need convenience of 24x7 messaging access Don’t need to “discuss” anything Want to send information & data attachments first Want well-documented audit trail of interchange Want to eliminate time, errors & effort in transcribing

information during live conversation Don’t have 2nd line for live call-back while still connected

to web

E-Mail in the Call Center - RealityE-Mail in the Call Center - Reality

Ultimately, A Great Addition to the Contact Center Carefully consider before integrating with voice calling

Unpredictable volumes Unpredictable response expectations Different skill-set Potential high impact on operations

Rising Volumes Will Dictate Automated Response

Web-Mail AutomationWeb-Mail Automation

MailServer

Auto-Response

CSR

Email

Firewall

WebMessages

DatabasesMessages

Automated Automated Email AgentEmail Agent

MessageMessageTracking andTracking and

WorkflowWorkflowEmail ACDEmail ACD

Complex Messages

Suggested Responses

Call Center Manager

Definitions & CommentsDefinitions & Comments

IP Transactions Voice Over IP Text Chat Application Sharing Whiteboarding Video Over IP

From Call Centers to Contact From Call Centers to Contact CentersCenters

PSTN

ACD Voice Server

Station Wiring

From Call Centers to Contact From Call Centers to Contact CentersCenters

Fiber NetworkFiber Network

IP

Gateway

PSTN

PSTN

ACD Voice Server

Gateway

Station Wiring

IP

PSTN

From Call Centers to Contact From Call Centers to Contact CentersCenters

Fiber NetworkFiber Network

IP

IP

IP

Gateway

PSTN

PSTN

ACD Voice Server

Gateway

Station Wiring

IP

PSTN

Voice Over the Internet - HypeVoice Over the Internet - Hype

Essentially free calling

High-touch web-integration Assisted browsing Page push/pull

Getting better all the time

Source: Gartner Group June 9, 1998

Voice Over the Internet - RealityVoice Over the Internet - Reality

Reliability issues “High availability LAN” = oxymoron

Quality issues Packet delay matters

Average delay in PSTN = 20 msec People notice delay = 50 msec Disruption begins = 100 msec Practical unintelligible = 250 msec

Typical multihop IP delay As low as 150 msec Frequently as high as 500 msec

Voice Over the InternetVoice Over the Internet

Acceptable for Private, Controllable Network Use Not Ready for Prime Time Will Eventually Blow Away Text Chat

Video Over the Internet - HypeVideo Over the Internet - Hype

Multimedia PC’s rapidly proliferating

Humans are visual creatures

Video transactions are rich & pleasing

Simple matter of bandwidth

Bandwidth is trending to zero cost

Video Over the Internet - RealityVideo Over the Internet - Reality

Great for internal users

Video enabled consumers Small population

Video Over the InternetVideo Over the Internet

Acceptable for Private, Controllable Network Use Not Ready for Prime Time Will Eventually Blow Away Everything Else

MultiMedia Contact CenterMultiMedia Contact Center

Media Integration ManagerReports

Server

ACD Voice Server

PBX

Agent Workstation

LAN/WAN

WFM

IVR

Fax Server

CTI Server

E-Mail Server

Web Server

PublicSwitched

TelephoneNetwork

PublicSwitched

TelephoneNetwork

InternetPacketNetwork

InternetPacketNetwork

We Know Where We Want to BeWe Know Where We Want to Be

Technology Uptake in the Call CenterTechnology Uptake in the Call Center

Forget vertical market differences Type A firms

Already have call centers Believe call centers are strategic assets Moving To implement multi-media

Type B firms Already have call centers View as important But not strategic Implement multi-media when customers demand it

Type C firms Emerging call centers Viewed as not important to mission Won’t implement multi-media

15%

65%

20%

The Goal: Recapture One to One, The Goal: Recapture One to One, Personal InteractionPersonal Interaction