Aspect Bolsters Its UC Offering with New Capabilities

For contact centers, the use of Instant Messaging (IM) isn’t particularly novel. IM has been used to enable agents to reach out for help internally for years, and “click-to-chat” buttons have been popping up on many company websites as well. However, although chat is growing as a channel, the use of IM for customers hasn’t proliferated all that quickly until recently. Internally, while chat sometimes exists within a contact center, it’s never been high on the requirements list. IM’s use within a contact center has been viewed as both an insecure channel and a time waster for agents. In addition, IM hasn’t been subject to the same business rules as other contact center functionality. For example, IM’s aren’t routed or tracked like phone calls.

Aspect’s latest UC release has the firepower to greatly change the perception of how IM should be used within a contact center.  It now has IM available through its Blended Interaction, Streamlined Collections and Seamless Customer Service UC apps for the contact center using the capabilities of the Aspect Unified IP  6.6.1 platform product.  Aspect has taken on the challenge of increasing agent productivity and customer satisfaction by applying the rules of the contact center to IM, and embellishing its functionality with unified communications capabilities.

In developing these capabilities, one of Aspect’s first priorities was to use the flexibility of its presence engine combined with instant messaging to increase productivity, starting with the concept of expert agents. Expert agents are those people outside the contact center with specialized knowledge that someone in the contact center might need in order to complete a task or help a customer; for example, a technical support representative. More often than not, contact centers agents can be pretty isolated from the rest of the enterprise, not knowing who might be able to help them without going through their supervisor. For example, agents may be taking orders, but have no clue who in finance could help them with a problem. They might have a paper “buddy list” that they turn to for help, but that requires picking up the phone, putting the customer on hold and bothering the same people over and over to answer a question.

The use of IM combined with presence changes all of that. Now when an agent has a customer with an issue that they can’t completely address and they need to engage an expert agent, the agent can request an expert using a designated key word, name, or phrase, and the system looks up a particular name or skill set to find support for the agent. The system knows not only who is available, but what types of skills they have, and the number of times that they have been used as a resource within a given time frame, ensuring that the agents don’t over stay their welcome with ad hoc experts outside the contact center.

Using IM, when an agent gets stuck on a question or has an urgent customer situation that requires a supervisor or another specialist in the contact center, they can engage that other person with minimal impact on the customer. Previously, if an agent had an issue their options were to raise their hand and wave someone over, or tell the customer that they have to put them on hold, call a supervisor, explain the problem and then conference in the customer. Using IM, the agent can inform the supervisor about the customer’s situation so that the supervisor is prepared when they get on the line, without having to put the customer on hold. In addition, presence capabilities let the agent know which specialists in the contact center might be available to help with the problem, which increases productivity and customer satisfaction.

This new functionality also impacts customer service by providing an enhanced customer service channel for the customer. For example, a company can publish an IM address for customer support in its marketing materials, which customers can add to their IM buddy lists. When the customer rolls the cursor over the buddy list, they can see who is available to chat with. Once again, the system knows the number of people in queue for a chat session and which agents are available to chat, and can inform the customer as to the expected wait time.

Aspect has taken this one step further by supporting IM with interactive messaging response (IMR). IMR uses natural language processing to analyze the content of IMs and can either route an IM to the agent with the appropriate skill set, or send an auto response IM back to the customer requesting more information about the query. Of course, the system can also provide customers with options such as waiting in queue, using the IVR system, or being transferred to an agent. They also might even be routed outside of the contact center if it makes business sense.

With enhanced IM, all of the business rules of the contact center also apply, such as transferring the customer to someone outside of the contact center or to a specific agent when necessary. All of the IM interactions are tracked, routed, and recorded the same way as a phone call, providing the same visibility to contact center managers as with other channels, and providing consolidated history of any customer interaction with other channels.

This has a huge impact in first contact resolution. Let’s look at the example of a customer support help desk environment where a manufacturer provides tiered support for customers. Often this support is outsourced for the first call and handled internally for the more serious calls. Imagine this scenario we are all familiar with - you call for technical support for your appliance and the agent can’t answer your question, so you are put on hold while the agent calls the second tier customer support center for help, and also waits in queue. At some point he receives the information needed and returns to hopefully finish the call.

What has happened here? You called and sat in queue, resulting in toll charges for the company and frustration for you. When the agent called for technical support, you were put on hold, resulting in more toll charges to the company, and more frustration for you (especially as you were probably listening to a watered down rock song passed off as music on hold). The agent came back on the line, and explained that he needed to transfer you to someone who can help answer your inquiry, resulting in a transfer charge.

All of this can be avoided if the initial agent could look at his tier 2 support list to see who is available and then send them an IM. Ideally, the company could avoid putting you on hold and respond to your question while you are on the line. This is how customer support should be. No need to re-explain your issue to the second agent, or hear “let me take your number and have someone get back to you,” and no more music on hold.

Aspect’s formal enfolding of IM into the contact center, harnessing the power of other UC functions such as presence, not only will improve support for customers, but will improve the satisfaction of agents handling those support calls. Aspect’s expert agent solution has the potential for not only increasing productivity, but lowering agent turnover too, making everyone happy.