What is an Intelligent Contact Center? This question is answered from several angles by the nine contributors to this month’s installment in CRM magazine’s Best Practices series. The chief take-away trending in all of the following submissions is that an intelligent contact center must consolidate all customer interactions into a single view, for the benefit of both customers and agents. This data stream coming from multiple channels has to be synthesized into a coherent conversation between the contact center and customers, regardless of the source: voice, chat, email, social media, mobile, or whatever other channel is being used. 

That’s the technology piece of the puzzle, and without a technology solution, the goal of an intelligent contact center simply can’t be achieved. The other pieces of the puzzle are the people and processes parts. Staffing issues are critical, and forecasting human requirements is essential to running an efficient operation. Having the correct number of agents, with the right skills and training, is an ongoing challenge, but technology can also be extremely helpful in determining the correct balance of managing payroll and delivering excellent service. 

If you have any comments or would like to download this supplement in its entirety, please visit us online at www.destinationCRM.com/BestPractices, and contact us or one of the sponsors.

Bob Fernekees
VP/Group Publisher, CRM Media
Information Today, Inc.