Despite advances in technology, the majority of contact centres still rely on callers accessing their organizations using the same method since the early 60’s. In order to properly meet the market demand, we need to look at how people communicate and adapt accordingly.

The introduction of smartphone technologies, starting with RIM in the business world, and then Apple for the consumer world has put advanced technologies in the hands of the majority of users. Today there are 2.6 billion smartphones in use and worldwide it is expected to exceed 6 billion by 2020. Unfortunately these users have to connect to the contact centre by calling a phone number. This results in the same user experience that we have all had with contact centres since the emergence of the telephone.

Advanced mobile and web apps can radically change the way organizations communicate. Using a web page or phone app, users can sign on and navigate through self-service menus on the device. When they reach the point of needing to communicate with the contact centre, they can see queue times and choose to initiate a voice, chat or video directly from the device. There is no need to put down the smart phone and call a different number.

When they do this, two important things that happen:

• The user does not need to call a different number. Instead, the system will connect the caller when an agent is available using the medium of their choice.

• The user does not need to provide information again. All information from account details to activities on the app or web page can be passed to the agent. While waiting for an agent to become available, the system could ask the user to provide any additional details required for the call while they are queued which reduces your agents handle time.

These tools, including mobile apps, Virtual Hold and click to call capabilities, which have been around in various formats for many years are now at a point where they truly empower callers to connect to the contact centre. Given that over 37% of inbound customer service calls in North America are being done from smartphones, there is a large market that is looking for advanced service tools. By adopting these technologies in your contact centre, you can offer a truly differentiated service.