A contact center is a central point from which organizations manage all customer interactions across various channels. Their main goal is to offer customers efficient and effective technical support, customer service and sales assistance.
Typically, contact centers include one or more call centers but may also include other types of customer contact channels, including emails, web chats and social media interactions. In addition, organizations often integrate contact centers with their customer relationship management strategies.
In the recent past, contact centers are growing in importance, as customers increasingly expect organizations to be always available on various channels, not just over the phone. Hence, the contact centers have become more advanced; the contact center may also need to:
- Connect different channels such as messaging, video, and social media.
- Deliver self-service solutions via chatbots and virtual agents.
- Analyzing conversations and provide important insights.
The current business leaders still require components of traditional contact center technology. They still rely on global systems that can provide local numbers for businesses to connect with their clients. Call routing tools and forwarding systems are also needed, although they are often much more advanced today with the aid of Artificial Intelligence. However, in a surrounding where 96 percent of clients state service is important to their choice of brand, contact center tech is becoming more critical differentiating feature. A common trend that has emerged in the recent years is:
- 3CX Phone System. It is an open standard, software-based phone system based on the SIP standard. It works with range of phone hardware and also features web browser-based extensions and mobile apps. A major advantage is the software itself, it can be hosted on a remote server, on premise (on a local server) or both for extra resilience. Typically, it is regarded as a great IP PBX for small and growing businesses due to its cost efficiency and flexibility. Its benefits include: It has unified communications, it’s cost saving, it has CRM integration, it has a live chat and it is also easy to integrate.
In a nutshell, a contact center is the main source of customer interaction. When a company has a team of active inside sales agents, it provides great value of conversation over calls. In terms of remote work, the onset of the pandemic has seen a surge in online customer activity. Also, its benefit is not limited to saving time and money, better customer information, better use of interactive voice response systems and improved CX. Therefore, a contact center aids one to find what exactly is needed by the customer, hence giving an opportunity for boosting sales.