Growth and expansion: Those seemed to be the two bywords for the call center industry this week, and we have some of the highlights.
A new study says that outsourcing of customer service call centers will only grow in the year 2014 and there is the possibility that call center jobs may get more interesting. Customer call centers are a complex business where companies have to figure out the optimal means for customers to reach them. In the past, all customers had to do was take their telephones and make a call to the manufacturer about any issues with their products. From there it changed to emails, then to instant messaging and text messages. Retailers are now calling this the “omnichannel” way of connecting to customers, and it is required to succeed in business. This trend of multichannel service is also set to bring about a change in people looking for jobs and companies trying to offer service to their customers. The study concluded that brands wouldn’t be able to offer the customer service that consumers expect if they didn’t work with an expert in the business and it’s also creating thousands of jobs that are just getting better and better.
In other news, Actiance, an American-based multinational corporation helping companies benefit from communication, collaboration, and social media, has launched Alcatraz, a new cloud-based archive. This product keeps the focus on context with the traditional requirements of an email archive. Such communications tools are creating huge volumes of data and it is a challenge for IT departments to manage this growth in-house. According to IDC (News - Alert)'s 2012 Digital Universe study, such worldwide data is expected to grow 50-fold from its 2010 levels by 2020. “Solutions such as Actiance's Alcatraz are emerging to solve this challenge,” said Laura Dubois, program VP of storage at IDC.
On a more local level, Millers Mutual Group, a commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurer, is hoping to modernize its operational transactions and also realize a simplified user experience which should lead to increased levels of customer service for agents and customers with Accenture (News - Alert) Duck Creek Policy and Accenture Duck Creek Billing software. Larry Fortin, chief information officer at Millers Mutual Group, said, “Accenture’s software has already provided our [call center] agents with the ability to quickly and effectively communicate with both the company and customers, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.”
That’s good news for Miller, and the industry in general. Be sure to check back daily for the latest Call Center Services news.