The economics of digitally transforming a Contact Centre

“Please hold… a representative will be with you shortly” — what follows is an endless loop of classical music. This is probably the single most annoying thing one can experience when calling an organisation. Many large companies employ a Contact Centre to effectively manage an influx of calls coming in from customers. However, many organisations maintain legacy technology, which does not address the needs and demands of their customers. Digitally transforming your Contact Centre can bring positive enhancements, not only to the customer experience, but also reduce the cost of operating your current Contact Centre environment.

One area of savings we see in Contact Centre digital transformation projects is an “improvement in average handling time”. Implementing digital enablers can lower the amount of time required to handle a call, which includes elements such as the waiting time, speaking time and closing time. Intelligent Routing is used to accurately route the call from contact to resolution, reducing the waiting time by in our experience, at least 2 percent. Another functionality, Predictive routing, uses historic data based on agent/customer interaction to determine the best match between waiting customers and available agents, before routing accordingly. This can help save another 2–3 percent in handling time. Secure Payments PCI is a cloud solution that helps process payments securely in the Contact Centre environment, driving down call handling time by at least 1–2 percent as well. Overall, if your cost per minute is $4USD, you can save up to $0.40USD through the implementation of digital enablers.

Another area of savings can come from a “reduction of inbound and outbound calls”. A Chatbot can be implemented in place of an agent to resolve calls related to common enquiries by using Artificial Intelligence. This can lead to a 5 percent reduction of inbound calls and a Chatbot is often 80 percent cheaper than a human agent. Proactive notifications can also be used to keep customers informed about their account and service issues, reducing the need for them to call in. This can lead to another 5 percent reduction of inbound calls and a 10 percent reduction of outbound calls. Interactive Text Responses, harnessing Robotic Process Automation, are automated and predefined, allowing user options for self-service purposes and FAQs. Again, this can reduce inbound calls by 3 percent and outbound calls by 5 percent. If say, your company receives 1 million calls annually, these digital enablers can reduce your volume of calls by at least 100,000. When your cost per call is around ~$4USD, this soon begins to move the needle.

And finally, a digitally enhanced Contact Centre environment can lead to “fewer compensation claims and errors”. Speech Analytics is used to uncover insights about the customer experience in the Contact Centre. We believe this technology can help you reduce compensation claims by around 2 percent. Recording and Monitoring tools can be implemented to better monitor quality standards and deal more easily with regulatory requirements and dispute management. This can help you achieve a 3 percent reduction in compensation claims. Overall, if your company spends $1MUSD on errors and compensations annually, these digital enablers can help you reduce that amount by at least 5 percent.

In this era of changing normal, having an effective and digitally enhanced Contact Centre is crucial to maintaining positive customer relationships. Digitally transforming your Contact Centre can improve your customer’s experience and reduce the possibility of them being stuck in an endless loop of classical music, whilst waiting to speak to a representative. Moreover, you will help your company save a significant sum of money, making this is a win-win situation for all parties. Start today to have a brighter future for tomorrow, good luck with your digital transformation journey in your Contact Centre environment.

Xiang Hui Cheow is a Digital Experience Consultant, working in British Telecom. You can contact him at xianghui.cheow@bt.com