Navigating Customer Contact Space in the 21st Century

Bill Durr Director, Global Field Marketing

My Credentials

My Credentials

Thats Me!

Weve Consulted Great Thinkers

Call Center Environment

Customer Contact Environment

Contact Center Cost Model Communications 25% Labor 65%

Technology 10%

Leverage Potential

Customer Retention Customer Loyalty Revenue Growth Profit Enhancement

Communications 25%

Labor 65%
Technology 10%

The First Call Distributor

Technology 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 & Comments

Basic Call Processing

Define a Target Group Define Delay Announcement(s) Define Overflow Target Group
Historical Reporting

Real-Time & Historical Reporting

Enables Planning the Work Enables Reacting to Deviations from Work Plan

Real-Time Reporting

Definitions & Comments

Conditional Call Processing Lexicon

Sophisticated Rules-Based Call Routing Key Elements to Consider

If..Then Statement Number & Kind of Variables If Sales Service Level <80%, Then Offer Call to Customer Service Service Level Calls Waiting Average Speed of Answer Number of Agents Available

For Example:

Powerful Variables

Definitions & Comments

ODBC Reporting

Add Business Data to Contact Center Reports Enterprise Access to Contact Center Data Screen Pops

CTI Data Link

Saves Agent Time Personalizes Interaction Promotes Loyalty

CTI 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 - Reality

Very low level of implementation

Many projects fail or underwhelm

Expensive

Drag on

CTI in the Contact Center

Definitions & Comments

IVR

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

Very Powerful Very Customer Pleasing

IVR in the Contact Center

Its Hard to Imagine a Contact Center Without IVR

Definitions & 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 Contact Center

Particularly for Contact Centers

With Extended Hours Over 50 Agents

Intelligent Call Processing

AKA Customer Relationship Management

Identify Who is Calling Evaluate Worth to the Company Route Accordingly

Pareto Customers

Treating Different Customers Differently

20% of Customers Yield 80% of Revenues

Some Customers Not Worth Having

Intelligent Call Processing (CRM) in the Contact Center

Extensive DataBase Required Look Out for Integration Costs

1.5 to 5 Times Cost of Tools & Products

Definitions & 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 - 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?

Cant or wont wait for human assistance Web page content prompted inquiry/transaction Need convenience of 24x7 messaging access Dont 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 Dont have 2nd line for live call-back while still connected to web

E-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 Automation
Auto-Response Automated Email Agent Databases Suggested Complex Responses Messages Mail Server Web Messages Message Tracking and Workflow CSR

Messages Email

Email ACD

Firewall

Call Center Manager

Definitions & Comments

IP Transactions

Voice Over IP Text Chat Application Sharing Whiteboarding Video Over IP

From Call Centers to Contact Centers

PSTN

ACD Voice Server

Station Wiring

From Call Centers to Contact Centers

PSTN Gateway PSTN IP

Fiber Network
IP PSTN

Gateway
ACD Voice Server

Station Wiring

From Call Centers to Contact Centers

PSTN Gateway PSTN IP IP

Fiber Network
IP PSTN

Gateway
ACD Voice Server IP

Station Wiring

Voice Over the Internet - Hype

Essentially free calling High-touch web-integration

Assisted browsing Page push/pull

Getting better all the time

Voice Over the Internet - Reality

Reliability issues

High availability LAN = oxymoron

Packet delay matters

Quality issues

Average delay in PSTN = 20 msec People notice delay = 50 msec Disruption begins = 100 msec Practical unintelligible = 250 msec As low as 150 msec Frequently as high as 500 msec

Typical multihop IP delay

Source: Gartner Group June 9, 1998

Voice Over the Internet

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

Video Over the Internet - Hype

Multimedia PCs 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 - Reality

Great for internal users

Video enabled consumers

Small population

Video Over the Internet

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

MultiMedia Contact Center

WFM ACD Voice Server Reports Server Media Integration Manager

Public Switched Telephone Network

CTI Server IVR

LAN/WAN

Web Server

Internet Packet Network

E-Mail Server PBX Fax Server Agent Workstation

We Know Where We Want to Be

Technology Uptake in the Call Center

Forget vertical market differences Type A firms 15%

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

Type B firms

65%

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

Type C firms

20%

Emerging call centers Viewed as not important to mission Wont implement multi-media

The Goal: Recapture One to One, Personal Interaction