It’s a short week due to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., but call centers never rest. Here are some of the top stories we’ve been following.
Most people attempt to influence their government either through voting or getting in touch with their elected officials. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has set up a couple of call center channels that will let citizens file complaints about the government. The center runs 24/7 and has more than 100 staffers, so citizens can voice their complaints at any time.
The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada police department has begun using an has begun using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to reduce the number of calls it handles. The non-emergency system will direct callers either to information about city services or to file complaints, depending on which option they select. They will also have the ability to talk to a real person if they need to.
The Philippines has emerged as an outsourcing destination of choice for a variety of reasons, but software giant SAP is giving it another boost by expanding its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations to the country. The company will open a call center there that will provide information about marketing and sales jobs in the country. The company’s HR for the Asia-Pacific region is already located there.
More people are using social media to get in touch with companies, either to praise them or file complaints. The research firm Forrester has the data to back this up. Its forecasted that social customer service technology will be the number one investment contact centers will make in 2014. The company surveyed a number of firms, and 67 percent of them said that social customer service was growing in importance.
With all of the various options for call centers, what makes a health insurance call center truly effective? With the regulatory environment, over-the-phone service is becoming more important, according to Insurance & Technology. A number of vendors offer APIs that can call up information about clients when they call, letting operators help customers more easily.
VoIP has also revolutionized customer service, according to 2Talk’s Julian Rivers-Smith. Hosted solutions are easy to implement and allow things like routing calls to mobile phones for a more flexible workforce.
Be sure to follow Call Center Services for the latest new and to catch up on the stories you might have missed.