Transforming the Contact Center to a Customer Advocacy Hub

Businesses have made significant investments in their contact centers, including cloud-based calling (VoIP), interactive voice response (IVR), workforce management software, advanced call analytics and reporting, omnichannel CRM software, and AI with machine learning. These tools help employees get the technical support they need and assist customers in resolving issues with remote agents. However, why do people still dislike calling contact centers? I’ve heard people say they’d rather visit the dentist than call a contact center. While I can’t confirm that the dentist provides a better experience, I do understand the frustration. I’ve waited 30 minutes to speak with someone who can’t resolve my issue on the first call, or hearing that their system is running slow, and I need to wait even longer for help.

Current state of the contact center

Customer expectations are growing.

75% of customers say they get frustrated when they don’t receive personalized support. It’s up to the business to provide the best service whenever possible because 73% of customers are more likely to switch to a competitor after multiple negative experiences.

People will continue to call for support.

In 2024, only 25% of support requests were managed via social media channels, even though AI chatbots, and social media reduce the need for human intervention and allow agents to focus on more complex issues. Only in a few scenarios—like booking an airline ticket and tracking an order— do people prefer a self-service solution over a human. Other than that people prefer to talk to humans for things like technical support, resolving an issue with a bill, applying for a new bank account, scheduling a medical appointment, or selecting a mobile phone plan.

More agents are working remotely.

With advances in cloud-based c (VoIP), workforce management software, and advanced (call) analytics and reporting, more agents are working remotely. More than 90% of contact centers have remote agents and 24% of companies have 100% virtual/remote contact center staff.

Optimizing a contact center can significantly enhance customer experience, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. It improves agent productivity, provides a competitive advantage, and allows for scalability to manage increased demand:

69% of respondents expect to hire more contact center employees over the next year.
24% of respondents have 100% virtual/remote contact center staff.
Less than 10% of contact center operators have no remote call center employees.
The demand for flexible, contact centers continues to grow as call center employees remain in remote environments. In fact, Nextiva found that nearly 25% of businesses surveyed have a 100% remote workforce in their call center.

Why people dislike contact centers

Remote (home) office networks lack a consist experience.

Agents working remotely gives more people the opportunity to contribute to the family and provides agents with greater flexibility and availability. Many companies provide a computer; however, home network equipment and internet connectivity can lead to an inconsistent experience for the agent and dropped calls for the customer. Many companies have set minimum network standards, but these standards can be affected by other household members eating up bandwidth, like doing homework, playing computer games, or watching streaming movies.

Computers are managed but not monitored.

Managing, configuring, and securing endpoints (rich and thin) are table stakes in the enterprise. However, many endpoints are not monitored for performance, degradation, crashes, and peripheral incompatibilities. Minimum computer specifications may become outdated when more demand is placed upon them, such as OS and application updates or normal wear and tear that degrades performance.

Line of business applications are deployed but not managed.

In enterprise environments, local application deployments undergo quality assurance before being rolled out. However, once applications are updated and new ones are installed, many companies fail to monitor their usage and performance. Key metrics to consider include application load time, user input delay, and data refresh speed.

Many contact centers depend on web and SaaS-based applications, which are monitored for availability from corporate headquarters. But how well do these web apps perform in remote locations or specific regions?

Unified communications and VoIP are crucial for contact center operations, yet they are often not measured for call quality, dropped calls, or peripheral usage.

“Best of all, ControlUp catches problems you DON’T know are happening so you can head off much larger issues by addressing them early” – Al Boyce, Systems Analyst, NC SECU

Improving the call center experience

While ControlUp cannot help an external customer with a canceled flight, or a low balance in their checking account, we can help the agent get the information they need by making sure the network, computer, and applications run fast, trouble-free, and secure. To support an agent’s devices and applications, ControlUp uses all the troubleshooting and remediations methodologies above and alerts on these key metrics to ensure the customer experience is exceptional.

Collect data:

Data collection: Real-Time data collection.
Devices: Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, thin clients, and VDI/DaaS.
Network throughput: Collect and analyze data on network performance.
Network latency: Tracking the time it takes for data packets to travel from a user’s device to a configurable network location and back.
Local applications: Know how long apps run, how often they crash, and why.
SaaS and Web applications: Know what Web apps are being used and if there are any issues.
Application load time: Track the time it takes for an application to become fully available to the end-user.
Application crash: Monitor and record events that show an application has stopped functioning properly.
Unified Comms drop calls: Using a combination of real-time data, synthetic testing, and detailed analytics.
User input delay: Track the time it takes for user inputs (like keyboard or mouse actions) to be processed and reflected in the user interface.

Connect the dots:

Alerting: To any computer event.
Idle and Active time Tracking: Track how much time agents are actively working on calls on their machines.
Native integration: Microsoft Intune and ServiceNow.
Browser integration: Brower plugin to integrate with any Web and SaaS application.
Qualitative feedback: Employee sentiment survey.
Employees experience report: View minute-by-minute details of the employee experience with the device, network, local and remote applications.

Correct the issue:

Troubleshooting: Library of troubleshooting scripts, AI assisted and follow the red user interface.
Remediation actions: Library of scripts or custom scripts from any scripting language.
Proactive issues resolution: Automated remediation.
Remote assist: Remote shadow, remote control, remote shell.

“The time we spend each day on reporting has been shortened by more than ten times. The value in that is huge.” – Tom Hamilton, Infrastructure Services Team Lead, Estes Express

Optimizing the digital employee experience (DEX) within contact centers is crucial for enhancing both agent productivity and customer satisfaction. By leveraging advanced monitoring, real-time data collection, and automated remediation, businesses can ensure that their contact center operations run smoothly and efficiently. ControlUp’s comprehensive solutions provide the necessary tools to address and resolve technical issues proactively, leading to a more seamless and effective support environment. As customer expectations continue to rise, investing in robust DEX tools and strategies will be key to maintaining a competitive edge and delivering exceptional service.

Furter reading:

Jeff Johnson

Jeff is a product marketing manager for ControlUp. He is responsible for evangelizing the Digital Employee Experience on physical endpoints such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. Jeff has spent his career specializing in enterprise strategies for client computing, application delivery, virtualization, and systems management. Jeff was one of the key architects of the Consumerization of IT Strategy for Microsoft, which has redefined how enterprises allow unmanaged devices to access corporate intellectual property.