When it comes to contact centers, they are always a blink away from a change–a change that might occur due to a shift in technology or customer needs. These changes can significantly impact the overall functioning of the contact centers.
As we discuss contemporary contact centers and its future, we must consider the future. What will be the changes faced by the contact centers? How would customers prefer to interact with the contact centers? How will technologies like cloud computing, AI, automation and APIs impact the ultimate customer experience?
Through this article, let’s understand the future trends that might shape the future of contact centers. How will contact centers look like half a decade later? Keep reading for our point of view.
Are contact centers going away in 2027?
To keep it short, No! Instead, more businesses will jump on the wagon to establish their contact centers in future instead of relying on outsourced organizations. With that said, it is essential to know that the contact center we know today might seem different in the future. While some of these revolutionary changes, we already see contact centers undergoing a positive transformation.
Advancements like Multi-level IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems in cloud contact centers enable businesses to create complex call routing structures, guiding callers through a series of menu options and ensuring they reach the most relevant department or agent efficiently. While WhatsApp for businesses, Ai-powered chatbots and get toll free number are changing the way communication is done by setting new standards.
Let’s understand the cloud contact center future trends that will reshape the future of contact centers.
1. Customer Service will be the Key Differentiator.
This is no surprise, as customers become more demanding of a “positive” customer experience–and have little patience when it is missing. Studies also show that the actions of contact center agents leading to positive experiences will push customers towards loyalty and vice-versa.
Poor customer service can no longer hide behind closed doors and will eventually be the fall of your brand reputation. Nearly all businesses will have a digital footprint in the future, so their successes and failures will be open to the public eye. This is a significant reason companies compete based on the best customer service–with the social proof being the ultimate trophy.
2. The Shift of Channel Preferences
Today customers have multiple options to get in touch with your business–phone calls, emails, social media, instant chats and messengers, WhatsApp API, and more. However, regardless of their entry, the consistency of messaging and experience across platforms keeps a customer going in his journey.
As the customer experience becomes increasingly omnichannel, the future of contact centers and its role in the becomes pivotal. They are the main contributors to creating a highly-engaging and intent-based customer journeys across all touchpoints–digital or on calls. They assist customers across processes like pre-sales, order placing, delivery, returns, and refunds.
If customer communication is broken on any of the touchpoints across the entire journey, the customer experience can fall flat. For instance, the customer’s experience on the voice call is significantly impacted by even the most minor factors like brand authenticity and verified identity.
Imagine a brand–ranking highest on the search results, having a robust customer-friendly app, and a great satisfaction rate over chats–not having a branded business caller ID (name, logo, or a verified badge. Chances are that this brand’s caller experience is poor since its call can easily get lost in the pool of competitors.
This also sheds light on the importance and the sudden importance of toll free numbers for businesses to enhance customer service with customized free call flexibility.
With reliable services like Truecaller for business, companies can leverage added layer of credibility and customer trust in their brand to earn loyalty and improve brand reputation. The verified business caller ID helps companies to distinguish themselves and stand apart from the clutter.
3. Introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Still, many contact centers rely on legacy systems that can be slow to use and require agents to go through several redundant steps, even for basic everyday tasks. Mostly, these delays don’t go well with impatient callers.
Robotic Process Automation or RPA uses AI and bots to simplify software robots’ building, deployment, and management to work with digital systems. RPA can streamline workflows for contact centers. It starts right from the start, when the robots guide agents through the training programs, emphasizing processes, next steps, etc. and it becomes a reality with the help of ML techniques aligned with data annotation.
RPA can enable agents to record all essential call details and provide real-time insights to improve the customer experience. Other benefits of RPA would include:
- Reduced call-wait times, fewer human errors, and more reliability
- The freedom for agents to focus on delivering the best customer experience instead of following complex workflows
- Higher agent satisfaction and convenience
4. Brand Identity and Positioning will be critical to driving Better Customer Experience
With marketplaces becoming more and more saturated, brands need to bend over backward even to seek their audience’s attention.
To put it briefly, one can say that customer communication offered by a contact center is an aggregate of credible, transparent, and highly unique interactions. This is why businesses need to work on their brand’s identity and showcase it as an established, authentic entity. If you position yourself as a brand that takes care of the confidentiality and privacy of its customers, you are already halfway through creating a delightful customer experience.
With tried-and-true solutions like the verified business caller ID by Truecaller and advanced features like Call Me Back, you can add a layer of reputation and reach more people. Additionally, by letting your customers know why you’re calling them, you can add to a better customer experience and cut the confusion from their minds as to “why am I receiving this call?”
5. Increased dependency on contact center analytics
Data has proved to be one of the most significant aspects contributing to the success of contact center communication. As rightly said, “what you cannot measure, you cannot improve,” analytics have grown to become paramount in determining the success of contact centers. Identifying areas of improvement can help leaders like you build creative solutions.
Utilizing data points about channel preferences and customer needs enables contact center agents to deliver better service on inbound interactions. Cloud telephony tools like cloud call center solution and call center software like MyOperator help you with deeper call analytics to help you strategize better for your next business calling initiatives.
Similarly, for outbound conversations, information on the sales cycles and strategies like cross-selling and upselling will drive higher conversion rates. When contact centers are armed with data-driven consumer behavior and patterns insights, higher conversions and better experience are a cakewalk.
What does it mean for your contact center?
Adapt. Adjust. Overcome.
As we look five years into the future of contact centers, it’s clear that solving for the customer and offering a delightful experience to them will prove to be the game changer for this industry. Therefore, business owners must rely on service providers to add credibility and reputation to their brand.
With flexible, authentic, and scalable solutions, you can prepare your contact centers technology to thrive and face future challenges head-on.
Want to power up streamlined and verified business calls for enterprise call centers? Truecaller for Business and MyOperator an IVR service provider have partnered to provide the best business outcomes for you. Schedule a free demo now.
