DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
And while digital transformation is critical, the phone experience can’ t be ignored. Which begs the question, how can the right balance be struck?
One strong solution is having a single customer interaction platform that brings everything under one roof and acts as a foundation for future innovation. Here are five key reasons why companies should double down on the digitization of call centers, unifying phone and digital on a single platform.
1. THE LEGACY CALL CENTER CAN’ T KEEP PACE WITH CUSTOMER PREFERENCES.
As an increasingly screen-centric world continues to influence consumer expectations, businesses have been moving toward digital-first interactions.
Yet the need for telephonic customer service remains strong. According to McKinsey & Company, 71 % of Gen Z are likely to contact customer service by phone, and the percentage only rises for older generations. Unfortunately, phone support moves customers away from a more convenient digital experience, creating friction for callers and agents. Simply offering digital options, though, is not enough. Consider how frustrating it is for customers to begin a journey online, only to be told to call in for further support. They are often forced to navigate automated menus, wait in a call queue, and then repeat details surrounding the issue to a representative.
Exacerbating the issue, the representative often has little to no context of the caller’ s previous online experience to help determine the next best step.
As convenient and efficient as digital-first options are, many customers still want ways to speak to a live representative. Especially in a critical moment of need, such as dealing with suspected fraud or solving a loan issue. If the situation calls for it, the ability to switch to a more efficient and effective channel without losing context is crucial.
It’ s also not enough to simply unify traditional phone support and digital channels like chat and video onto a single customer interaction platform.
Businesses must be able to bring a caller into an onscreen experience within the same, uninterrupted interaction to reduce friction and increase satisfaction. This approach eliminates legacy voice limitations that often trap customers in one communication channel. Additionally, it accelerates resolution and drives up conversions.
The tools and benefits of this seamless approach strengthen collaboration between customers and representatives, shorten handle times, boost customer satisfaction, and help eliminate future calls by educating customers about their digital self-service options.
A call center solution with digital functionality can equip representatives with specific context, enabling them to see exactly what the customers are doing online. This dramatically decreases handle time while improving NPS or CSAT, thanks to reduced user effort and a smoother service experience.
2. STAFFING CHALLENGES ARE INTENSIFYING.
Recent data from Salesforce shows 77 % of agents report increased and more complex workloads year over year. And 56 % say they’ ve experienced burnout. But higher turnover rates and increasing call volumes are not the only reasons behind staffing difficulties.
It is often challenging to manage all of the customer service channels and tools spread across multiple systems, each with its own unique management consoles to support.
Doing so requires representatives to toggle between- and sometimes even log in and out of- different systems as they manage multiple channels. Thus, making it nearly impossible to deliver fast, convenient customer service experiences that build loyalty.
Piecing together both real-time and historical insights across these various systems makes it difficult to accurately gauge operational performance. Not to mention effectively adapt to changing conditions.
Service staff must learn and leverage different applications, resulting in wasted time from the scrolling between screens. This excess time spent searching for critical operational information negatively impacts productivity and CXs.
Call center supervisors and managers struggle to meet the key call center metrics- such as handle time and wait time- that impact service levels and customer satisfaction. Without accurate data for individual representatives, effective coaching and managing is a challenge, further contributing to employee churn.
3. MULTIPLE SILOS CAUSE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES.
As organizations bolt on more digital service options, they need to balance staffing for high volumes of phone calls while driving adoption of digital channels.
But separate systems for voice and digital hinder their ability to switch representatives between phone and digital options to adjust for changing volumes. Additionally, it’ s complicated to shift more interactions to digital when phone calls are handled on a separate platform with no way to seamlessly bridge them. JULY 2025 43