By Steve Brubaker, InfoCision Chief of Staff
In the battle to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, call recording and monitoring still rule the day. In this Part 2 of our series (see Part 1 here) on contact center strategies for 2017, based on findings relayed in a new report from ContactBabel, I focus on how interaction recording keeps the contact center spotlight on enhancing the customer experience.
The new generation of interaction recording solutions allows contact center managers to bring more levels of the business into play than simple “call recording” would permit. Today, interaction recording includes capturing and synchronizing what is on the Communicator’s screen with audio channels. The tool can even be used to record after-call work, email and Web chat, as well as to identify areas for workflow improvement.
Traditionally, supervisors used interaction recording to monitor the quality of Communicator-customer interactions, choosing best practice examples to share with other team members for training purposes. Recordings also help supervisors resolve disputes because they can find out exactly what has been said by both customer and Communicator. For this reason, call recordings are mandatory in some litigious industries—an increasing trend.
Advances in interaction recording solutions enable supervisors to take a more analytical approach. For instance, a standard report may positively indicate that certain types of calls are being quickly resolved by one particular Communicator, whereas a new-generation solution might show that the Communicator was unable to help these customers and was simply passing calls through to colleagues. In the latter case, the supervisor is given the opportunity to improve the scenario, rather than missing the issue altogether.
Newer solutions also allow Communicators to tag interactions that can add to company data stores and then be used to drive business goals, not just in the contact center but across business units such as sales and marketing. For example, if a customer mentions a competitor’s offering, the Communicator tags the interaction for possible action by the business’s commercial team. This also empowers the Communicator, adding to morale.
Interaction recording analysis also is key to measuring and improving upon contact center metrics, such as average speed to answer and average call duration. Consider, for instance, the use of interaction recording to determine the quality, not just quantity, of the contact center’s performance as a whole. A key performance indicator such as average revenue per call can be established, which is more directly relevant to the needs of the business, and will help prove contact center contributions to company profits.
Call recording is being used by 85 percent of contact centers, according to responses from the 221 contact center managers and directors polled by ContactBabel. Call recording usage is nearly ubiquitous in contact centers with at least 50 seats, and within certain industries, such as insurance and retail and distribution. The majority use it for both quality assurance and training.
Sixteen percent of respondents say they wish to replace or upgrade their current systems. The four functions they would most like to add or improve are: 1) increasing the speed of search and playback; 2) providing better data management information systems and reporting; 3) improving the ease of use for supervisors and trainers; and 4) adding and improving multichannel capabilities.
Mostly, respondents were looking to positively impact the daily experiences of supervisors and managers with next-generation interaction recording solutions. Advances in technology will continue to support the contact center’s ability to meet customer service quality objectives, helping Communicators improve interaction handling for a better customer experience.
The post Contact Center Strategies, Part 2: New-Generation Call Recording and Monitoring appeared first on The Right Call.
