What to consider when you implement digital call center?

Organisations typically transform their call centres into digital call centres in response to customer demand. Consumers, especially younger Millennials and Generation Z, often find digital channels more convenient and easier to use than telephone customer service. In fact, NICE's 2019 Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Benchmark Study found that chat customer satisfaction scores are on par with phone customer service, with emerging digital channels such as private social messaging not far behind.

Technical implications for digital call centres

Converting an exclusively telephone-based customer service into a digital call centre requires effort, talented staff and the right technical tools. Not all call centre software can support digital channels. Digital call centres need:

• Automated contact distributors (ACDs) that can transmit digital interactions. Ideally, the ACD should also have omni-channel capabilities, which means it should have a universal queue that holistically classifies, prioritizes and forwards contacts from all channels.
• Interaction channels that are capable of supporting a multitude of digital channels. Channels must be easy to add or remove.
• Workforce management software capable of predicting the volume of all supported channels and assigning agents with multiple skills to maximise utilisation. These capabilities are important for the efficient operation of a digital call centre.
• Reporting tools that provide comprehensive reporting of all channels. Support for multiple channels adds complexity, so consolidated reporting is critical.

Global reach

Where do you do business? Will the call centre only handle calls from one country? From some countries? From all over the world? This should be taken into account, as choosing an English-speaking call centre provider will not be a good idea if you have a lot of French-speaking customers.

Size

The size of your business directly affects the size of the call centre you should aim for. If you choose a supplier that is too small, your business will be held back, whereas if you choose a supplier that is too large, you will incur unnecessary costs and a lack of personalised attention. Make sure the size of your call centre fits the size of your business.

Future expansion

Is your business planning to grow or do you expect your products to take off? If so, it won't be enough to just match the size of the supplier to the size of your business. Make sure the supplier you choose can accommodate the expected growth and grow with you.

Experience

If your business produces software specialising in supply chain management, but the vendor's call centre has experience in computer architecture software for academics, they would probably not be the best fit. It would take a lot of time to get the right training. On the other hand, if you want to change vendors because your current vendor is not doing the job, it may be best to have a new, outside industry observer identify problems and optimize performance.

Training programme

How comprehensive is your supplier's training program? How effective are they? Perhaps attend and observe a training session. Well-trained employees are essential to call center performance, and without a strong training program, they may not be able to adapt to your business.

Technology and capital  

Does the supplier already have the technology to partner with your business? If so, this is an advantage but certainly not a disqualification. A supplier who has capital and is willing to invest in your technology, as well as any new technologies that may emerge, can also be a strong partner. 
 

Cost  

Obviously, you want to choose the supplier with the highest performance and the lowest price. But when estimating the cost, make sure that everything is perfectly clear.  For easy comparison, be sure to request all cost estimates from competing suppliers and call them for more information if there are any outliers (if one bid is much lower or much higher than the others). Be aware of tax and currency differences when negotiating with a multinational supplier.  

"Pricing in the call center business is a maze of confusion, methods, models and tricks, so beware," said Tom Christenson, president of CGS Contact Center Services. "It's best to make sure that all the vendors you're comparing have the same data and similar answers about how they price. Make sure the assumptions used to develop those prices are consistent and standard across all potential suppliers."

Track record

Does the supplier have a track record of great performance and improved results? If a supplier has call centers that consistently perform and are able to adapt to high-pressure situations when something goes wrong, you know you have a quality supplier. Effective customer service eliminates unnecessary steps to resolve customer issues. Your call centre provider should be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of its agents through efficiency. Agents must be able to deliver an experience that satisfies customers. Your existing customers will provide you with the most accurate guidance for satisfactory service. From there, you can make an informed decision about the seller.

Security and cloud

There are many reasons why you should consider a call center vendor that operates in the cloud. Deployment via the cloud is much faster and cheaper than in-person deployment. With today's technology, call center providers can offer their services both on-premises and in the cloud. Just be sure to consider security measures around disaster recovery and redundancy. An on-premises provider will serve you well if you have a reasonable number of agents, or if you are skeptical about the level of security a cloud-based provider can provide. A cloud-based vendor is best for your business if you have a reasonably large number of agents working from multiple locations. Many senior managers tend to gravitate towards the cloud because it is also fairly simple to implement.

Personnel suitability

At the end of the day, the most important factor to consider is the strength of the vendor's management, executives and agents. Are their strengths in line with your needs? Do you feel you can build a solid partnership with them? Make sure you know the people and resources of your potential call centre partner before making a decision.