It’s safe to say that the contact centre has changed drastically over recent years. We’ve evolved from rooms of people sitting at desks and answering phones, to agents connecting over SMS, social media, and instant chat – among other avenues.
To better understand where contact centres are headed in the quest for better customer experiences, leading communication company RingCentral commissioned a report from Altimeter looking at the rise of the “Collaborative Contact Centre.” The study demonstrates a growing need for thoughtful digital transformation and customer-focused integrations of new collaborative technology.
The RingCentral and Altimeter Report
Digital Transformation (DX) is definitely one of the most important topics of conversation for many modern contact centres. However, it’s the need for better customer experiences (CX) that is driving organisations to embrace new technology, according to RingCentral and Altimeter. In their study, the organisations looked at 500 knowledge workers across the United Kingdom and the US.
The findings revealed that while standard workplace environments, on-premises technology, and phone-based customer conversations were on the decline, new modes of communication, remote contact centre agents, and increased collaboration were all seeing increased popularity. The overall trend is towards something the report calls “Contact Centre 2.0”. Apparently 86% of companies plan to transition to Contact Centre 2.0 in the next three years.
What’s Leading the Move to Contact Centre 2.0?
RingCentral believes that the move to a more customer-focused and successful contact centre begins with a stronger collaborative strategy for today’s service environment. Unified Communications solutions that combine business communications with contact centre solutions appear to drive better customer service levels, increased agent productivity, and enhanced cost savings according to the study. Already, RingCentral note that 55% of companies have implemented a team-messaging strategy into their contact centre.
Of course, to achieve more scalable and flexible communications within the Contact Centre 2.0 environment, many businesses are also increasing their focus on the potential of the cloud. The report showed that contact centre cloud migration is set to increase drastically within the next three years – becoming more popular than on-premises hardware. Of the companies that were surveyed during the report, 61% have already transitioned their content centres completely into a cloud environment. Additionally, 86% of people with a transition strategy for Contact Centre 2.0 say that they plan on completing their transformation within the next 3 years.
Responding to Rising Trends in Communication
It seems that for most companies in the RingCentral report, the drive for digital transformation is intrinsically linked to an increasing demand for better, more immersive customer experiences. As the way that people connect and communicate continues to change, contact centres need to evolve if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Collaborative services that allow team members to connect with the expertise they need during a call, cloud-based solutions for better agility, and omnichannel approaches to service are all transforming the contact centre as we know it. RingCentral also highlighted additional trends critical to modern businesses, including:
- Operational agility (50%)
- Empowered workforces (46%)
- Leadership culture (33%)
You can access the full collaborative contact centre report here.
About Altimeter
Altimeter helps leaders thrive by providing research and advisory on how to leverage disruptive technologies. Altimeter analysts take a holistic, yet pragmatic approach to understanding the intersection of technology and the human side of business.
