Although call centres and contact centres are distinctly different, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Call centres use voice as the sole communication channel to service inbound and outbound phone calls. Alternatively, contact centres offer a range of channels including voice, email, SMS and web chat, allowing customers to choose their preferred channel. Contact centres can better be understood as the next evolution of the traditional call centre.
Customer Experience
Call centres are designed to maximise the number of calls handled by agents in order to field more enquiries or reach more customers. Contact centres also aim to maximise calls, but customer experience and company brand is also at the forefront. Contact centres place emphasis on handling calls efficiently and efficiently within the customer’s preferred communication channel.
Call centres and contact centres are both able use IVR to automatically route calls. Call centre IVR designs often make it difficult for the customer to reach a live call agent which can be frustrating and time-consuming for the customer. Contact centres can design their IVR to facilitate customer self-service where possible, then route to agents for more complex enquiries. Features such as skills-based routing can direct customers to agents who are best equipped to handle their enquiry. As a multi-channel solution, contact centres can utilise other channels including web chat to enable self-service.
Integration
CRM integration allows agents to make calls directly from the CRM and view customer information simultaneously. Although both call centres and contact centres offer CRM integration, contact centres go a step further and provide a single and complete view of the customer. Agents can view all previous interactions with customers across multiple channels, whether voice, email, web chat or SMS. This insight helps agents to create personalised customer experiences and offer a start-to-finish customer journey.
The Digital Experience
Having multiple channels to select from when interacting with companies has become a common customer expectation. Some customers want to speak to someone on the phone for complex enquiries, while others may prefer to ask a quick and simple question over web chat. Unlike call centres, contact centres cater to this need by offering a suite of channels including voice, email, SMS and web chat. With email and web chat enquiries continuing to increase, implementing multichannel communications is a crucial consideration for all businesses.
The Collaborative Contact Centre
ipSCAPE has created a voice solution through Microsoft Teams to power the Collaborative Contact Centre. This solution enhances powerful contact centre capabilities by combining them with Teams functionality. In addition to contact centre features, agents can utilise collaborative tools including screen sharing, file sharing and editing and video conferencing. The Collaborative Contact Centre ensures business continuity, allowing companies to seamlessly transition to remote work.
ipSCAPE is a cloud customer experience technology that powers the communication for contact centres, sales and customer support. ipSCAPE is a feature-rich, scalable, multichannel solution that offers advanced integration capabilities. Want to learn more? Contact Us 1300 477 227 info@ipscape.com