CONTACT CENTER CORNER: UC KillerApp = Contact Center?

A number of people have circled contact centers as the "killer app" for unified communications (UC) with Information Week taking the latest look at how UC seems to be the perfect fit for the call center environment.

A good return on investment (ROI) is the attractor for putting UC into the contact center. There are plenty of metrics to monitor that relate to either cost savings or increased revenue, plus customer satisfaction measurements and service metrics such as first call resolution. The belief is UC technology can improve first call resolution, so you don't keep people on the phone as long.

The Big Idea for a UC-enabled contact center is having experts throughout the company directly plugged into the contact center escalation list. A UC-enabled contact center agent can tap into a real-time buddy list of corporate subject matter experts and pass off an appropriately screened call to be directly handled without having to escalate through a supervisor or arrange a call back.

Avaya has taken the reverse tactic, suggesting the enterprise could reach into the contact center to leverage its core expertise. A retail store could have a kiosk with a phone and a bar scanner. If you have a question about a product, scan it. The back-end software looks up the product and connects the call to the agent who knows all about the product, rather than having to dig through the store to find the on-site subject expert.

For more:
- Information Week examines Contact Centers As The UC Killer App

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