Will video transform the contact center? Don’t believe the hype
by Mike Butts on March 11th, 2011
My first exposure to video conferencing occurred back in 1996 or 1997 when the global company I was working for purchased several large video conferencing consoles for our manufacturing facilities and many smaller desktop units for our sales offices. The primary drivers for purchasing this video equipment were decreasing travel costs and increasing productivity and efficiency. (These are the same drivers that companies use today to justify video deployments.)
At first, we were really gung ho about using this technology to communicate with colleagues from around the country or the world. However, we soon figured out that it was far more productive to have a teleconference than to spend the first 40 minutes of a meeting trying to connect via our video conferencing equipment. It dawned on us that real productivity was derived from developing a culture of open collaboration and exchanging ideas rather than seeing each other on video screens.The end result of this experiment: slightly reduced travel costs for the first six months of the program and several “boat anchors” collecting dust in storage closets. This initiative proved to be an expensive lesson. It took a significant investment to determine that we were trying to solve a communications problem that didn’t exist.
My earlier video experience brings me full circle. Today some contact center solution vendors are proclaiming that “video is everything” and is “replacing voice” in the contact center. Huh? I’m not sure I get it. Granted, video can be effective in some niche applications and it could help improve service, but is there really a demand? Or worse, did these vendors spend money developing a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist?
What customers want today is:
- Fast resolution to their inquiries and problems
- Dictating how they communicate with vendors, whether it’s voice, mobile device, email, IM or web chat
- Seamless handling of their inquiry across multiple departments – no one wants to repeat their inquiry or problem each time they talk with a new information worker
Video doesn’t directly support any of these priorities.
The bottom line is that customers expect to resolve their inquiries on their first interaction with a contact center. Anything less is deemed a failure because consumers are keenly aware of the “art of the possible” when it comes to enabling technology. (Just think of all the mobile device advances within the past 12–18 months.)
So can video be effectively deployed in a contact center? Sure, it can be a good tool for instructing customers how to install, use, or troubleshoot a product, but I think most customers expect to help themselves to these types of videos on vendors’ websites.
Today’s next-generation contact centers use unified communications capabilities such as multiple communications channels, screen sharing, remote desktop access, call escalation to experts and much more, including video, to deliver consistent service levels that meet the growing service demands of today’s consumers.
So should companies invest in video capabilities for their contact center? Not at the expense of unified communications capabilities. Companies that seize the opportunity to equip their contact center and enterprise with Microsoft unified communications technology will have a dynamic platform to service customers while driving efficiency and productivity gains across the enterprise?without “boat anchors” dragging down the process.
Till next time.
Mike
Improving the way companies communicate internally and externally with their customers is an important objective for all organizations. This blog is focused on levaraging the collective knowledge withing Aspect.