ROI, ROI, Wherefore Art Thou ROI?

Just for fun, let’s start this technology article with some English literature and vocabulary. I chose the title hoping it would capture your attention, but there’s method to my madness. Most of us think that “wherefore” means “where”—as in, Where is the Return on Investment (ROI)? But Shakespeare’s Juliet said, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art […]

How AI Will Change the Nature of Contact Center Work

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence, robotics and automation in the contact center offer the potential to drive faster, more consistent around-the-clock service and deliver higher customer satisfaction. Or that senior executives are enthralled with the possibilities for enhancing products and services, automating routine tasks and improving decision-making. While organizations forge ahead with plans […]

Blending AI With Human Support

The future of work and the impact that artificial intelligence will have on the workforce has been a hot topic lately. The publicity has been a bit unsettling, though, given the tendency to couple the acronym AI with the word “replace”—as in “AI Will Replace Half of All Jobs in the Next Decade” or “Could […]

The Customer Journey In The Land Of The Smartphone

“The smartphone is becoming the ubiquitous and predominant tool for both selfservice and assisted service.” I want you to join me on a journey to the land of the smartphone. I’m from Portlandia, so I’m going to call this (not the least bit mythical) land Smartphonia. This is an incredibly exciting and compelling adventure that […]

Technology’s Role In The Omnichannel Pursuit

“Enterprises will not achieve an omnichannel customer experience with tools alone. Strategy comes first, followed by the process, integration and organizational elements to drive value from the technology and deliver on the goals.” Omnichannel Is Everywhere—Vendor Marketing, Analyst Articles, Conference Sessions, Client Wish Lists. While touted as a new concept, it doesn’t seem all that […]

Working Together To Optimize Technology

“A stalemate can occur when the center wants IT to educate them on what’s possible and IT wants the center to define what they want or need.” Technology is the great enabler but too often falls short in delivering promised results, leaving users and executives frustrated. Whether pursuing exciting new technology or refreshing existing systems, […]

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  • Customer Engagement

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    Digital Customer Care

    “A fundamental element of providing an excellent customer experience is making it easy for customers to get their questions answered through whichever means they prefer.” [...]
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    All About Ease

    The 1950 movie “All About Eve” starring Bette Davis is a “backstage” story revolving around an aspiring stage actress named Eve Harrington. Tattered and forlorn, [...]
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    Enough of the ideas, where’s the execution?

    I’ve just had the pleasure of chairing a customer engagement conference. There were some great speakers. One of my favourites was Stewart Bromley from Atom [...]
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    Smartworld Launches Cloud Customer Engagement Solutions in the UAE

    The new offering leverages the virtualized capabilities of the Altitude uCI 8 platform to deliver Altitude’s flagship contact center applications in a cloud-based service model. [...]
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  • Also in Customer Middle East

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    You Can’t Afford Not to Pursue Knowledge Management

    Knowledge Management (KM) may be the single most impactful technology to help centers address key goals: Reduce workload through greater self-service and shorter handle times Improve First-Contact Resolution (FCR) rate, and with it, the customer experience Enable agents to handle increasingly diverse and complex contacts without extensive training and specialization Contact center leadership understands the […]

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    Clamping Down On Nuisance Calls

    Nuisance calls are becoming a real problem in the industry. We have all been there, whether it is someone constantly ringing you about an accident you may have been in or some robotic voice advising you on PPI. Some businesses continue to break the law through their persistence. As it stands at the moment only […]

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    What To Do With Your IVR?

    “No matter how much you may feel like it’s not worth the investment or you don’t know where to start, you can’t take a passive approach.” I recently saw this jarring headline from the BBC: “Will we stop speaking and just text?” If that’s not enough to make you wonder if there is a future […]

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    Measuring And Achieving FCR

    “These tools go hand-in-hand with good processes and the right contact center support and IT resources to use them effectively, across all channels.” Many contact centers have a big goal: Increase first-contact resolution (FCR). Leaders know it can improve efficiency, lower costs, provide a better customer experience. What’s not to like?! Unfortunately, it can be […]

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    Imagining The Possibilities With AI

    “Remember that AI is not going to just run on its own. You need people involved for the ‘human- assisted learning’ to determine how to act on the insights and opportunities the system discovers.” Artificial intelligence (AI) is breaking the hype meter in the contact center industry. While it’s only in the early adopter stages, […]

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    Employee Engagement And The Quality Management Renaissance

    What we believe is driving this renewed interest, or renaissance, if you will, in QM is an industry focus on employee engagement that is driving the majority of operational changes in the contact center. I like the word “renaissance.” To me, it conjures up thoughts of something refined, elegant and important. The Renaissance period in […]

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    The Case For Technology In An Understaffed World

    “No technology is a silver bullet, but many tools can make a dent in the key things that contribute to understaffing.” Our annual challenges and priorities survey, as well as our project experience, show that high attrition, absence and adherence issues, and the uphill battle to gain budget approval for additional staff remain pain points […]

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    Simply Automating Isn’t Enough: 4 Tips To Ensure Self-Service Is Your CX Ally

    As chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and social media drive the growth of self-service customer engagement, it’s clear the role of the contact center is changing and will continue to do so. According to Forrester, “Companies that master the interplay between AI, automation and human relationships will dominate their industries.” Where does customer experience (CX) […]

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    Mobile Apps For Agents

    Some things just go together like chips and salsa, Frick and Frack… millennials and smartphones. It doesn’t seem that long ago that managers were contemplating whether Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies made sense for the workplace. In fact, a 2016 poll conducted by Service Agility and Contact Center Pipeline found that 42% of contact […]

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    “Unleash AI’s Power to Elevate Customer Experience” recommends Altitude Software at MECC 2018

    Altitude Software, a global provider of omnichannel solutions to deliver great customer experiences, today announced that it is joining the Middle East Contact Centre and Customer Experience Conference to be held in Dubai from April 24 to 25, 2018. As most countries in the MENA region have embarked on a range of reforms to diversify […]

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    Lucky Main Conference Delegates To Receive Copies of Brand New Customer Experience Guide From Author Himself

    Conference delegates at MECC events always leave with lots of actionable guidance that they can refer to on their return to their place of work. MECC ’18 delegates can look forward to a similar bonus this year when a large number of the acclaimed “Experience My Brand” book will be distributed to lucky main conference […]

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    Attend The Region’s Top Independent Call Centre/CX Conference At Very Special Pricing

    The annual MECC ’18 Conference is the region’s leading call centre/CX learning/guidance opportunity. It is where regional call centre professionals come (and many are annual visitors) because they are faced with:- Starting a call centre or CX initiative Looking to fix a call centre problem or dramatically improve existing performance Trying to decide whether to […]

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    Viva Kuwait Chooses Awards Night Sponsorship To Highlight Its Successful Contact Centre Strategy

    Viva Telecom established its footprint in Kuwait in 2008 and given a multiple operator market, decided early on to differentiate itself by making its call centre the first point of contact for the customer and delivering a very high level of customer experience and support there. In order to achieve this effectively, Viva Kuwait choose […]

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    INSIGHTS Middle East Call Centre Awards Competition Reaching Its Climax

    With just over two weeks to go to the big (Awards Gala Dinner) night, excitement and anticipation are building. The international judges have finished their deliberations and come April 12, nominated call centres have been invited to send a manager to participate in the regional Judging Day. Not only is this a learning opportunity in […]

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    Attend The Top Independent Contact Centre Technology Event For Free

    The MECC events have always included a set of free-to-attend presentations to help attendees keep up with the latest trends and technologies. For MECC ’18, this has translated into a 1 day forum known as “CC RECHARGE” which effectively does what it says – helps you reinvigorate your tech plans in the light of the […]

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    Meet Customer Expectations At Any Size!

    “Keep in mind that perfection can be the enemy of progress. The goal is to make continuous improvements in the customer experience while adjusting strategy, investments, processes and working relationships along the way.” I’m pretty sure that, regardless of the size of your center or company, you seek to deliver a great customer experience. And […]

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    Leveraging Digital Channels

    There is no question that skilled agents offer the best opportunity to save unhappy customers who are at risk of leaving. But how do you help customers, and retain them, if you never hear from them? Today’s tech-savvy customers prefer self-service over phone calls, and they’re more likely to seek answers to their questions within […]

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