The Importance of Omnichannel Contact Centres

Studies conducted by Contact Centre vendors indicate 9 out of 10 customers want the companies they do business with to offer an omnichannel experience.

After all, we’re living in a world offering multiple ways to connect and communicate with brands, from SMS and channels like WhatsApp, to video and audio. Indeed, around 98% of Americans regularly switch between multiple devices and apps for communications each day.

An omnichannel Contact Centre allows business leaders to successfully connect with their target audience on the channels they like best. The challenge is successfully implementing an omnichannel solution with all of the correct technology.

Here’s everything you need to know about the importance of omnichannel Contact Centres.

What is an Omnichannel Contact Centre?

An omnichannel Contact Centre is an all-in-one technology platform which allows businesses to connect with customers through multiple channels. The key difference between an omnichannel solution and a “multichannel” service is the connection between the various channels.

Omnichannel solutions make it easy to track context and information from one platform to the next. This reduces the risk of losing information about a client as they switch from WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to SMS, social media, voice, or video. Customers can start a conversation on one channel and switch seamlessly to another without having to repeat themselves.

The omnichannel Contact Centre started relatively simple, offering a basic tool for connecting things like voice calls and emails. Today, however, platforms can offer a wide multitude of different channels, including:

• SMS (text messaging)
• Web conferencing (video)
• Live website chat messaging
• Social media messaging
• Messaging apps (WhatsApp)
• Virtual faxing
• Email
• VoIP telephony

What are the Features of an Omnichannel Contact Centre?

As mentioned above, the omnichannel Contact Centre has evolved drastically in recent years. As the market for Contact Centre software continues to grow at a phenomenal rate (approaching a value of $165 billion by 2030) omnichannel solutions are growing more advanced.

Notably, omnichannel tools aren’t just a great way to give customers more options for how they connect with businesses. The right technology also ensures business employees have a more unified ecosystem where they can manage various calls. The all-in-one landscape ensures employees spend less time jumping between apps and more time focusing on customer service.

Some of the most important features of an omnichannel Contact Centre include:

• Powerful integrations: Aside from connecting multiple communication channels in a single place, the right CCaaS omnichannel solution will also be able to integrate with various other critical tools in the business world. The right solution should be flexible enough to allow companies to add in new messaging tech like WhatsApp and social media. It should also integrate seamlessly with ERP, CRM, and other critical apps in the business.
• Omnichannel routing: CCaaS solutions with omnichannel capabilities often come with powerful routing technology. This ensures whether a customer is messaging a business, engaging in a video conference, or starting a phone call, they’re connected to the best possible agent for their specific needs.
• Artificial Intelligence: As customer expectations continue to evolve, many omnichannel solutions now come with integrated AI tools. These solutions can offer self-service opportunities to both customers answering questions, and employees searching for valuable information. The AI ecosystem can also help with things like analysing customer intent and sentiment during a conversation.
• Reporting and dashboards: Most omnichannel Contact Centres will come with in-depth analysis tools to track various important business details. Companies will be able to track things like how many calls come through each channel, and when the busiest times are for Contact Centre agents. This can help with planning purposes.
• Workplace management: Many tools for omnichannel service also come with features to help optimize the hybrid workforce. As employees become more distributed around the world, innovative tools can offer behind-the-scenes insights into engagement levels and performance regardless of where team members might be located.

The Biggest Benefits of Omnichannel Contact Centres

In simple terms, omnichannel Contact Centres are tools which allow businesses to deliver the quality service customers are looking for across the channels they’re already using. The right strategy can differentiate a business, and give it an edge over the competition. What’s more, it improves both employee and customer expectation at the same time.

Some of the major benefits of the omnichannel Contact Centre include:

Better Customer Retention And Satisfaction

Studies show companies with omnichannel communication tools have up to 91% better customer retention rates than other organizations. Omnichannel platforms give customers the freedom to communicate on the channel they prefer. However, they also prevent customers from having to repeat themselves, reduce hold times, and improve first-call resolution rates.

In a world where consumers expect a digitally-enhanced and convenient service experience, omnichannel solutions are more important than ever. In fact, more than 60% of consumers expect to be able to use social media, and chat messaging before making a call to a business. Because omnichannel solutions align the customer journey, they also allow agents to offer a more personalized and consistent level of support.

Omnichannel solutions also allow companies to experiment with different levels of service to offer their customers, including self-service solutions empowered by AI. Implementing the right tools gives customers more freedom and choice, which boosts retention rates.

Improved Employee Performance

One of the best things about omnichannel Contact Centres is how good they are for improving customer and employee experience at the same time. Around 80% of today’s customers say they expect immediate responses to their customer service inquiries on any channel. An omnichannel Contact Centre provides employees with the information they need to resolve problems fast.

With an all-in-one environment for tracking context and information, employees can quickly respond to issues without having to do extensive back-end research. Intelligent routing tools within the Contact Centre also make it easier to ensure the right agent receives the correct call instantly, with fewer needs for call transfers.

An omnichannel Contact Centre can also be ideal for empowering the remote and hybrid workforce. The right solution provides an all-in-one environment in the cloud which agents can access anywhere. Some solutions even come with AI assistants to empower agents and help with things like social media message management, and sentiment analysis.

Enhanced Business Insights

Finally, an omnichannel Contact Centre aligns all of the components of the customer service communication stack into one place. This doesn’t just improve productivity and enhance customer experiences; it also provides a clearer view of crucial business insights. The right technology makes it easier to track the customer journey and make choices which benefit the customer.

With in-depth insights into customer preferences and journeys, business leaders can create more optimized strategies for serving clients. At the same time, business supervisors and managers can track the performance of agents, and determine which employees might need more support, and which could benefit from additional training.

Some of the top cloud-based technologies on the market even make it possible to predict the future needs of a Contact Centre audience by looking at historical and real-time data. The result of all the combined information in the Contact Centre is a powerful, efficient, and effective strategy for personalization and customer support.

Don’t Underestimate Omnichannel

As the expectations of customers in today’s landscape continue to evolve, an omnichannel Contact Centre is rapidly becoming a table-stakes investment for business leaders. Clients expect to be able to interact with their favorite brands on every channel, without having to compromise on a consistent customer service. If you haven’t invested in an omnichannel Contact Centre yet, now could be the perfect time to start exploring how these tools can benefit your business and customer