| | MAY 20198THOUGHT LEADERSHIP`The medium is the mes-sage' ­ a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan to emphasize that the medium of communications is equally important as the content it delivers. Today, organisations globally are realising the true meaning of this phrase, as cus-tomers have become highly spe-cific about the media they choose to communicate with.Forrester Research has found that 95 percent of customers use more than one channel to connect with organisations. Customers not just want one option for their que-ries or feedback, they want to be able to get in touch any way that suits them ­ whether that be voice, video, chat, email or social media.The organisations that are ris-ing to this challenge effectively are using cloud technologies to deliver seamless communication across every channel. That doesn't just lead to an enhanced customer experience, it can also transform performance on an ongoing basis, as the data their contact centres harvest leads to ever better under-standing and precision.Analytics will Change EverythingWith an intelligent contact cen-tre, organisations can use analyt-ics tools to understand customers individually, building-up a full picture of their needs and desires. The results could transform cus-tomer service. For example, a cred-it union discovered an issue with their ATM policy when searching for calls in which the customer asked to speak to a supervisor. As a result, they adjusted the policy and recouped over a billion dol-lars in lost revenue.Research conducted by contact centre solutions experts, Calabrio, shows that 34 percent of contact centre agents feel the lack of cus-tomer data available to them at the time of a customer's request means they're unable to fully deal with their query. But with access to better data and support, agents can handle requests efficiently and keep customers satisfied.Analytics solutions can also help contact centres increase op-erational efficiency by identifying trends and bottlenecks ­ from le-thargic systems to cumbersome processes. Managers can then seize opportunities to streamline workflows and extract insights that drive better, faster service.Yet, many organisations are dragging their feet. Currently, the average contact centre only anal-yses two percent of all customer interaction data. Traditional con-tact centre metrics are limited to average handling time and script adherence, neither of which accu-rately reflects the quality of the customer service provided. By har-KNOWLEDGE: THE DRIVING ELEMENT FOR TODAY'S CONTACT CENTRESBy Peter Quinlan, VP - Unified Communications & Collaboration Product Management, Tata CommunicationsIn his career spanning over three decades, Peter has held significant roles across an array of companies that include Dell, Gateway, 3COM, Getronics, and Quinlan Consulting, prior to joining Tata Communications.Peter Quinlan
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