Contact centers invest millions annually in advanced technologies with the hope of improving competitive positions, operational performance, and cost structures. Managers believe that sophisticated contact center technologies can enhance performance and, consequently, improve Call Center KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Key Performance Indicators in Contact Centers Include:
- Customer Satisfaction
- First Contact Resolution
- Cost Per Contact
At Fusion CX, we continuously strive to enhance our KPIs to maintain high customer satisfaction levels.
While many contact centers adopt new technologies each year under the assumption that these will lead to better performance and boost KPIs, comprehensive research linking technology improvements directly to enhanced performance has been sparse until recently.
Groundbreaking Research Findings
Companies like CISCO, Benchmarkportal, and Naquitline have conducted extensive research and gathered data to explore the relationship between contact center technologies and performance improvements. Their findings suggest that better contact center technology significantly contributes to operational success.
Benefits of Advanced Technologies Include:
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
- Lower Cost per Call
- Increased First Contact Resolution
- Higher Calls Handled Per Agent Per Hour
- Reduced Queue Times
- Improved Agent Satisfaction
Let’s delve into the data collected by different contact centers through their individual surveys.
1) Improvement in First Call Resolution
According to Benchmarkportal, advanced contact center technology can improve first call resolution rates by 4% to 13% through:
- Advanced Call Reporting and Analytical Tools
- Contact Center Data Analytics
- Advanced Call Routing Capabilities
2) Reduction in Cost Per Call
Naquitline reports that cost per call can decrease by as much as 35% with the adoption of advanced technologies, which include:
- Courtesy Callbacks
- Presence-Based Expert Escalation
- Integration of Advanced Apps and CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)
- Multi-Criteria and Skills-Based Routing
3) Enhancement in Customer Satisfaction
Benchmarkportal indicates that top box customer satisfaction (customers who rate their satisfaction as 5 out of 5) can improve by 5% to 7% with modern technologies like:
- Workforce Management
- Cradle to Grave Reporting
- Contact Data Analytics
4) Improvement in Bottom Box Customer Satisfaction
(customers who rate their satisfaction as 1 out of 5) can see improvements between 39% and 66% using:
- Touch Tone IVR (DTMF)
- Workforce Management
- Speech Recognition
- Call Recording & Retrieval
5) Increase in Calls Handled per Agent per Hour
Technologies have also been found to improve calls per agent by 6% to 18%, using:
- Natural Language IVR
- CTI & Apps Integration
- Multi Criteria Routing
- Presence-Based Expert Escalation
- Unified Cross-Channel Routing
6) Agent Satisfaction Enhancement
Technologies can escalate top box agent satisfaction (agents who rate themselves 1 out of 5 for overall satisfaction) by 4% to 11%, says Benchmarkportal, with technologies like:
- Advanced Reporting & Analytics
- Agent Desktop with CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)
- Real-Time Agent Feedback Tools
7) Reduction in Average Queue Time
The decline in average queue time by 12% to 43% can be achieved by:
- Blended Routing
- Presence-Based Expert Escalation
- Courtesy Call Back while in Queue
- Multi-Criteria Routing including Skills-Based Routing
8) Improves the Multi-Channel support
Improvements in multi-channel support for channels like email and chat can be significantly boosted by implementing technologies such as:
- Universal Multi-Channel Queue
- Unified Cross-Channel Routing
- CTI & Apps Integration
Everywhere the result affirmed that the contact centers of today could be the potent enablers of superior performance. For both, satisfying the customers and improving the financial performance of the contact center.
We saw that this research found that cost and quality are not at odds. With advanced contact center technology, one can lower the call cost but can withhold their customer satisfaction level.
