As we settle into Q1 of 2020, it’s important for businesses to assess performance and evaluate any progress made since setting New Year’s resolutions at the end of 2019. In this post, we’ll take a deeper dive into one important resolution in particular: call center technology.

New features in call center technology are changing the way we work with each other and interact with customers. As 2020 continues, staying on top of the latest trends and best practices in call center technology will ensure your business doesn’t fall behind.

At this point, you either already have a call center solution or you’re looking for one. In either case, it’s important that your call center technology is working with (not against) you and your mission to deliver the best customer service. Here are five essential features that will make this easier.

  1. Cloud Hosting

If you haven’t moved to the cloud yet, 2020 is the time to do so. The cloud is where an IT resource, like an operating system, database or software application, is stored and can be instantly accessed through the internet.

The biggest benefit of the cloud? It means you don’t have to worry about hardware, installation and the big costs in time, money and resources that on-premise hosting comes with. This means you can focus even more on your job.

In addition, the cloud drastically improves data sharing, increases productivity and minimizes security risks. Your call center technology should be hosted in the cloud, so you can spend more time focusing on the benefits technology provides and less time worrying about servers and poor security.

  1. Analytics & Reporting

Your technology is only as effective as the insights you can gain from it. Call center metrics are important to track, and your solution should make it easier than ever to make meaningful business decisions with data. Analytics and reporting will help you visualize where you need to get better when it comes to agent performance and customer experience.

Some metrics that you should consider tracking (and your technology solution should help you with) include:

– Average speed to answer
– First call resolution
– Customer satisfaction rating (CSR)
– Average handle time
– Hold time

  1. Telephony & CRM System Integration

A comprehensive call center solution should be just that – comprehensive. This means it should help you with all areas of your business by fully integrating into all of the systems that support you.

2020 should be all about the connected call center. So, it’s essential that your call center technology allow all systems in your technology stack to work together. Specifically, your solution needs to link between your telephony system, CRM and other data repositories or systems of record.

When a team member takes a call, the data should automatically flow – so they can focus more on answering the customer’s question, and less on manual data entry and record-keeping.

  1. Social Media Support

Don’t ignore social media. It’s where your customers are which means you need to be there too. This is vital to improving the customer experience. In addition to live chat or SMS, social media is another piece of the omnichannel puzzle, a multichannel approach to customer service that provides customers with several avenues to get the answers they need.

Certain customers will go to social media for quick feedback and personalized (and immediate) answers to their questions. So if your business is trying to fulfill the omnichannel experience, as it should, then your call center technology must support this effort.

A comprehensive, cloud-based solution will provide you with the flexibility you need to evolve with your customers, as well as a central location for social media implementation. So, your team members can actively stay engaged and be consistent with answering questions, comments or concerns across social media platforms.

  1. Workforce Management & Communications

Communicating with your customers through multiple channels is important for a well-rounded experience. Communicating with your employees is equally as important. So, as your call center technology supports customer interactions, it also needs to support workforce management and communications.

Why? Because a happy workforce is a happy customer. Can your technology make it easier for you to build, train, retain and schedule a high functioning team? It should.

At the end of the day, your call center system should support your overall goals – improving the customer experience. And these five features will help you get there.

Want to transform your call center technology in 2020? Take a look at the CDC Solution and contact us today to learn more.