Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) was the buzzword of 2020, and understandably so. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, shops closed – with some shutting for good. This sparked a huge growth for online consumerism and it’s now likely that many businesses will remain online only. An example of this is recent news high street giant Debenhams has been earmarked by BooHoo, with the fashion chain only committing to rescuing the troubled business should it become online only. Moves and acquisitions like these are now no longer trends, but becoming cemented in the fabric of what society is calling the ‘new normal’.
Government bodies and the frontline staff involved in fighting the pandemic are among the stars in leading the way for CCaaS. But there are some surprising new sectors making the transition with the CX boost doing wonders for their businesses. And as CCaaS offers remote working capabilities, is it any wonder other industries are following suit?
Delivery Drivers
An integral part of CCaaS is IVR, also known as Integral Voice Response. The integration of AI and IVR is likely to spike with increased demand and intelligent IVR works to offer support while assisting the agent in their daily duties. One special feature is it can judge the tone of voice of the customer to pair them with the right agent for their call. Delivery company FedEx upgraded its IVR systems. The result? It reduced 11,000 live calls to live agents per day to just 6% of that via automation.
Online Money Services
PayPal has been using Genesys to deliver top CX. The online payment service teamed up with the company’s Engage CCaaS which is now used for its 8,500 agents. The system is extremely popular as it can be customised to suit the needs of the business.
Banks and Building Societies
Multi-level encryption, two-factor authentication, and secure Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) enables direct communication and data exchange between browsers. These are all security measures that have been used successfully by CCaaS clients in the financial sector. And with branches closing every week, it has become all the more obvious that contact centre agents will continue to work remotely thoughout much of 2021.
The NHS
As frontline contact centre teams battle with a surge in COVID-19 cases, the NHS continues to adopt a more intelligent CCaaS system. NHS 111, the non-emergency medical helpline, has witnessed calls for advice rocket since spring 2020. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which is coping with an increase of tens of thousands of people seeking help with benefits is another example.
Accelerated implementation and seamless integration with existing IT systems without compromising service or security is the key to CCaaS. But despite a migration lead time of around six-eight weeks, some CCaaS players are struggling to achieve the best CX due to a lack of or old CCaaS technology.
Businesses should expect the influx of customer calls to slow as nations grapple their way out of lockdowns, but despite countries seeing a light at the end of the tunnel with new vaccine admissions and advancements in modern science, consumers will adapt their methods to make CCaaS the new normal in the coming months.
