What is an Omnichannel Cloud Contact Centre?
Customer service functions are handled by omnichannel cloud contact centres using cloud-hosted, multichannel contact centre software that allows customers to seamlessly switch between channels. A variety of channels can be used to reach people, including phone calls, chats, emails, text messages (SMS), and social media.
The course of a single transaction between a customer and a business does not always follow a linear path, which means they might contact customer service by phone, email, and mobile app. It is important to them to receive the same customer service experience across customer service channels, as well as to have access to their transaction history at every touchpoint. These expectations can be met with an omnichannel approach.
Suppose a customer has a problem with an order and wishes to chat online. After a few minutes, they decide to speak with someone directly about their problem. An agent working in an omnichannel cloud contact centre can respond proactively by elevating the chat with a phone call. Customer context remains in the chat interaction, so all customer information is readily available. If the customer needs to switch channels – for example, they need to leave and instead of chatting, they now need to call from their cell phone – the phone agent will have a transcript of the chat interaction; this agent might even be the same one with whom the customer consulted.
It will take a great deal of effort to accomplish this. Technology must be in place for omnichannel cloud contact centres. Contacts can be intelligently routed from multiple channels using an automatic call distributor (ACD). Workforce management systems are needed for omnichannel cloud contact centres in order to forecast volume and schedule multi-skilled agents accordingly. Customer data and conversation histories need to be accessible to agents regardless of the channel in the omnichannel cloud contact centre. The software provider hosts and maintains this technology since it is cloud-based.
In addition to handling complex “people” details, cloud contact centres also have to deal with complex “technology” details. In order to facilitate seamless experiences, agents must be able to handle multiple channels simultaneously. Agents should be trained, managed, monitored, and motivated in accordance with this principle at the omnichannel cloud contact centre.
In order to meet customer expectations, organizations must transform basic call centres into omnichannel cloud contact centres. The experience economy of today demands that.