To overcome these pain points, companies need to find new ways to optimize staffing across the channel mix to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their contact centers.
Rather than dividing representatives among two or more separate systems, unifying them on a single platform that supports both phone and digital interactions allows organizations to staff from a common pool of representatives.
By giving live agents the technology to support customers in both phone and digital, managers can address staffing issues in real time based on heightened volume in either channel.
When the transition between channels is seamless, live representatives can focus on addressing and resolving customer issues, ultimately increasing productivity and employee satisfaction.
Such a strategy can significantly increase operational leverage and enable call center managers to more effectively build staffing plans for the entire channel mix.
... A“ CHANNEL-LESS” ARCHITECTURE STREAM- LINES ENGAGEMENTS AND EQUIPS REPRESENTATIVES TO CREATE THE RIGHT INTERACTIONS AT THE RIGHT TIMES.
4. NEED TO BUILD ON DIGITAL, NOT LEGACY, TECHNOLOGY.
The traditional“ legacy” call center that once met and even exceeded customer expectations has increasingly become a service liability.
For most businesses, the system is based on a phone-only service model, which is why most call centers remain completely disconnected from digital platforms.
But to support customers who prefer phone service as well as those who favor digital options, businesses need a new approach with a digital foundation versus the legacy phone platform.
The ability to include phone interactions within a broader digital experience strategy helps ensure that all aspects of the CX remain up to date.
Rather than having multiple channels for customer service, with phones separate from mobile and online channels, a“ channel-less” architecture streamlines engagements and equips representatives to create the right interactions at the right times.
A single platform also reduces future compatibility issues from disparate solutions, as phone and digital CX components work in concert with one another and with core systems and processes.
Bringing everything together onto a single modern platform makes administration and management easier and more cost-effective, as organizations will have more control over the entire range of experiences.
5. DISJOINTED CHANNELS LIMIT THE VALUE OF FUTURE AI IMPLEMENTATION.
The race to modernize platform administration and management reveals another critical consideration for today’ s call centers: AI.
Call centers considering AI implementation will quickly find that disjointed channel systems aren’ t only keeping them in the past, they’ re also preventing them from keeping up with the competition.
Across the industry, contact centers are rushing to implement AI solutions, yet most traditional approaches result in disconnected tools bolted onto legacy systems. This creates the same problems as siloed channels: isolated experiences, fragmented data, and inconsistent service delivery.
Not only do these siloed solutions illuminate the friction between channels, but they also create clunky transitions between AI and human agents.
When customers are transferred to human agents, siloed solutions prevent them from accessing any context about the interaction, forcing customers to start over and repeat themselves.
Yet with a single, channel-less platform, human agents can receive AI summaries at the time of transfer. Thus, empowering them to provide superior service and eliminate customer frustration.
Organizations operating with separate systems for voice and digital will also find that their AI-powered insights are limited to channel-specific data. This prevents them from analyzing interactions across every channel for comprehensive performance recommendations and reporting. Instead, these call centers receive fragmented findings that lack context and widen the barrier between systems.
The solution lies in channel unification. When channels are unified in one seamless platform, AI technology can unlock call center insights for every stakeholder- agents, managers, and executives- regardless of channel.
For businesses evaluating AI implementation, the foundation matters. Disconnected systems will always limit AI’ s potential and complicate adoption. By choosing a truly unified platform, organizations can accelerate their AI journey while reducing risk.
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