Multichannel Contact Center: What it is & How it Works

everyone this is nate from get voip and
for today's installment of our voigt
vocabulary video
we're talking about multi-channel
contact centers
let's get right to it
a multi-channel contact center is a
software solution allowing businesses to
manage multiple communication channels
within a central interface eliminating
the need to switch between different
applications all throughout the workday
key communication channels within a
multi-channel contact center platform
include voice calling and sms text
messaging
video conferencing
instant website chat messaging via chat
bots or live agent chat
email social media messaging
mobile applications in addition to these
inbound and outbound communication
channels multi-channel contact center
software will also include team
collaboration workflow management and
analytics tools like
real-time and historical automated
reporting
ai powered assistance
internal knowledge base integration
crm integration
internal team chat messaging
customer feedback and customer
preferences
one of the biggest misconceptions is
that omnichannel and multi-channel
contact centers are the same thing
while both platforms do offer multiple
communication channels within one
interface there is one major difference
between the two multi-channel context
centers offer the same channels as
omnichannel solutions
but conversations are not automatically
synced across all channels in real time
because these channels aren't integrated
multi-channel contact centers don't
offer a seamless transition from one
channel into another during a customer
agent interaction
this means multi-channel conversations
are shorter and less complex
and can usually be finished in just one
or two interactions between customers
and agents
though the customer can choose their
preferred communication channel
in a multi-channel contact center they
need to stick to that same channel until
the interaction has completely finished
in other words a conversation that
starts via a website chat ends via a
website chat omni channel contact
centers on the other hand do allow
customers to seamlessly transition from
one communication channel to another
during a single transaction or a
conversation between an agent and a
customer
all conversations are synced across all
channels in real time meaning that if a
customer starts an interaction on a
website chat they can switch to social
media messaging and still pick up right
where they left off
this means that omni channel
communication is a better choice for
longer and more complex requests that
may take several hours or even several
days and more than one agent to
completely resolve
in addition to being able to switch
between communication channels
omnichannel users both agents and
customers
can switch between devices when needed
if a customer starts a texting
conversation on their mobile device but
then has to head to the office they can
resume the conversation on their office
desktop computer or laptop
key benefits of multi-channel contact
centers include in-depth customizable
analytics including user sentiment
analysis most common support topics
customer behavior and demographics
insight and agent performance monitoring
crm integration and automatic agent
support suggestions mean faster more
personalized customer service
increased agent productivity and
optimization leading to decreased
employee turnover rates
additional communication channels
present an opportunity to expand your
market
to get the most out of your
multi-channel contact center solution
first make sure you know which channels
your customers use the most while it's
tempting to have a presence on every
available channel it's more effective to
focus on three to four at most the ones
that your customers are most likely to
engage with you on
to find the right options survey your
customers conduct tests and demographic
research
and review current engagement analytics
whenever possible also make sure to use
ai and automation to simplify and speed
up customer agent interactions
and to offer extensive self-service
options on multiple channels
bots ivr phone menus automated text
responses and even preemptive reminder
emails make your customers and agents
lives a lot easier
speaking of agents always ensure your
team is trained to properly use all
available communication channels
consider having a dedicated
representative for each channel and
update employee training materials
frequently
finally integrate all your third-party
communication and collaboration tools
across all your interactive support and
sales channels in addition to ensuring
your agents can access key information
integrations can offer access to
channels your multi-channel contact
center solution may not provide for more
information about multi-channel contact
center software check out the link in
the description box below to watch more
videos from our voip vocabulary series
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get voip
[Music]
you