They say that old habits die hard, and that’s especially true in the world of contact centers.
Contact centers across the financial industry are quite often running on legacy, traditional architecture and software that while certainly have served their purpose, are very much stuck in the past in many other ways. When customers get more and more used to streamlined, digitally-focused solutions from other businesses, these outdated solutions become an increasing obstacle for many to having a satisfying customer experience.
Contact centers need to evolve, and some are doing so in the same way that many other services have over the last several years: They’ve gone digital.
Digital contact centers are developing new paradigms for how customer service in finance can be, utilizing the advantages of online service to deliver the same kind of experience that customers expect from most B2C applications.
Here’s a look at where the digital contact center is going, and some of the key benefits that are helping to defy the outdated design of previous call center solutions.
What is A Digital Contact Center?
Traditionally, phone calls were the bread and butter of any financial institution’s customer interactions. As the years went on, however, new channels like email, SMS, and online chat began to rise in popularity. While the early call center solutions began to adopt these channels in some form or another, it was the digital contact centers that came up after with all these new online channels in mind.
Digital contact centers operate on a 100% digital mindset, operating everything from online platforms. Taking advantage of the nature of cloud computing, digital contact centers are able to operate these different channels all from the same unified platform. While traditional call centers had to add on channels like email, SMS, or online chat afterwards, digital contact centers were created with them in mind and baked right into the infrastructure.
Since older solutions had to add these channels later, it can lead to unnecessary siloing. This causes inefficiencies in both managing and using these channels, adding frustration to the mix. If a user wants to switch to a phone call after engaging in a text chat, for instance, they may need to leave the interaction, get back into a queue, and then explain their issue to a representative all over again.
What’s New in Digital Contact Centers
While the concept of the digital contact center has been around for a while now, it’s an ever evolving technology that constantly sees new additions and upgrades. Here’s a few of the new additions that are creating the digital contact center of the future:
- ChannelLess® Routing: Because of the more unified nature of digital contact centers, these platforms are capable of seamlessly routing users from one channel to another, without any stops or interruptions in the process.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): With AI entering so many different areas of business, it was inevitable it would eventually reach the digital contact center. Everything from customer-facing chatbots to automated tools meant to help employees and managers, AI functionality is rapidly being incorporated into modern digital contact centers.
- Real-Time Visibility: Modern digital contact centers allow you to see your customers’ activity while they browse your online properties. This generates opportunities for proactive outreach and eliminating the need to ask the customer as many clarifying questions.
- Dashboards and Reporting: Digital contact centers can keep track of all sorts of different data points, from average handle times to how effective each interaction is. Modern contact center softwares don’t just track this info, however, but also make it easy to read and can even summarize the data or make suggestions for improvement.
- Integrations: The best digital contact centers have pre-built integrations with the softwares and technologies that most financial services companies are already using. Well-established, fully functional integrations with best-in-breed fintech partners are a must-have feature for modern contact centers.
The Benefits of Digital Contact Centers
While there are clearly many enticing benefits to the digital contact center, a full digital transformation isn’t on the top of every financial institution’s to-do list. For those that prioritize bringing their contact centers to the digital age, however, there are a variety of noteworthy benefits to moving your contact center digitally.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction: The vast number of new utilities created with digital tools, the ability to switch channels without messy transitions or the need to repeat oneself, and the pure convenience of digital service makes this a surefire crowd pleaser.
- Improved Efficiency: Having everything from your phone calls to your online chats on one platform makes managing multiple channels a breeze. Employees will have everything they need on one platform, without the need to constantly switch programs or learn multiple systems.
- Decreased Wait and Handle Times: With tools like AI to handle customer inquiries automatically, live observation letting reps help right from the get-go, and seamless handoffs easing the channel transition, customers will spend less time waiting and more time getting the help they need.
It’s clear that the contact centers that escape the traditions and setbacks of legacy technology see amazing benefits that improve the service experience of everyone involved, from customers to employees and even managers. Digital contact centers change the way financial institutions look at customer service, and with ever-evolving customer expectations, it’s high time everyone else caught up.
Learn more about Glia’s digital service tools here, or get in touch with us and we’ll show you a live demonstration.
