Top 10 Call Center Trends For 2014

Top 10 Call Center Trends
for 2014
VoiceTrust Whitepaper
Top 10 Call Center Trends for 2014
Page 2 www.voicetrust.com
Introduction
Call centers are evolving to meet higher customer service expectations. A mix of new technology and
changing consumer demands is creating more nimble support organizations.

Customer expectations are at a peak. The speed of reaching an agent and resolving an issue is now
the most important factor in providing great service. The gap between expectations and reality is
growing.

Social media is amplifying the impact of positive and negative call center experiences, with 16% of
callers voicing complaints through Twitter and other social websites.

In this whitepaper, we examine the trends shaping the call center industry to help you create a more
effective customer experience strategy in 2014 and beyond.
1. Voice Biometrics
Voice biometrics verifes your identity through the unique patterns in your voice, and is experiencing
growth in call centers hit by fraud and identity theft. Banking, insurance, and healthcare providers are
using voice authentication to prevent fraud and speed up the caller verifcation process.

Voice is a much stronger form of authentication than traditional security questions and account
information, and shortens calls by an average of 20 seconds according to Gartner.

US call centers spend over $12 billion each year verifying the identity of their customers. Voice
authentication translates into huge savings for these organizations and a better customer experience,
making it a fast-growing technology.
2. The Cloud Migration
The North American cloud-based call center market is expected to
grow to $2.1B in 2014 according to Frost & Sullivan.

Cloud-based infrastructure is the fastest growing segment in the
call center industry. Its monthly payment model and reduced up-
front costs makes it appealing, especially for small and medium
businesses.

The gap in functionality between on-premise and cloud-based systems continues to narrow, further
driving hosted call center growth. Expect to see more consolidation in this space and 18% of all call
center seats being cloud-based by 2015.
3. Voice of the Customer
Call centers are proactively capturing customer service feedback to adapt to changing customer
preferences and expectations.

More organizations will implement these voice of the customer (VoC) programs which are capturing
feedback across a variety of channels including social media, web surveys, and focus groups.
Emotion detection is an interesting development that analyzes how a person feels based on their tone
of voice.

Forrester Research predicts annual growth of about 20% in the coming years for VoC. According to
Jim Davies, Research Director at Gartner, it is now being viewed as a must-have strategy.
4. Social Media
Social media is transforming the call center landscape. Twitter and Facebook are becoming frst-
contact resolution and escalation channels, helping lower inbound call volume.

Social monitoring is also helping call centers measure the sentiment of their callers and providing
real-time information about potential issues.

Positive interactions are shared over Twitter and Facebook, helping customer experience leaders
attract new clients and grow their revenues. Negative experiences are even more likely to be shared,
and customer complaints are tarnishing a companys brand and reputation, leading to lost customers.
5. The Smartphone Revolution
Customer service in the mobile era is driven by the explosive
growth of smartphones and functionality they provide.

They will be responsible for 37% of inbound customer service calls
in North America by 2016. This fundamentally transforms how
customers interact with call centers, and 68% of decision makers
say smartphone integration is a top priority according to Forrester.

Here are some vendor solutions that capitalize on this trend:

Almost 4 in 5 consumers surveyed already use mobile applications for customer service. We expect
the number and functionality of mobile customer service solutions to grow in 2014.
Mobile Rescue by Fonolo
Workforce Mobile by Aspect
Mobile Reach by NICE Systems
6. Big Data Analytics
Comprehensive analytics have been a major hurdle for call centers. Multiple technologies and
systems make a rolled-up view a big challenge.

Not surprisingly, 2/3 of contact center executives view analytics as a key area of innovation necessary
to deliver a better customer experience.

We are fnally making progress in the analytics arena. The frst driver is the move towards all-in-one
call center systems, with a centralized reporting structure. The second is the move towards open
standards and data sharing that make it easier to aggregate information from telephone, chat, and
social media channels.
7. Gamifcation
Gamifcation is catching on in call centers and is in the early stages of adoption.
It promises to improve employee productivity and morale by making the call
center more fun through the use of rewards and other gaming concepts.

According to Ovum, There is a clear ft for gamifcation in the contact center,
where agent attrition rates are high, agents are unmotivated by repetitive tasks
and new hires need to get up and running quickly.

There are two main players in the call center gamifcation today who we expect
to be joined by other competitors in 2014:
8. Call Center Consolidation
More customers turn to web self-service options to answer their questions every year, causing call
centers to reduce staff and consolidate operations.

Budget constraints are also responsible for consolidation. According to CSC, organizations can save
between 25 and 50 percent by consolidating multiple call centers into one central operation.

This trend is a step in the right direction when it comes to delivering effective customer service on a
tight budget. Comcast is a good example of what is happenening and announced plans to cut 230 call
center jobs as part of their regional consolidation strategy earlier this year.
Bunchball
Playvox
9. Video Support
Video call center solutions deliver richer customer interactions, increased
agent productivity, and faster call resolution.

Not surprisingly, banks are the biggest adopters so far and use the
technology to provide better service to high-value clients. The competition
in this space is already intense and expected to grow.

The more prominent video solutions include:
10. Knowledge-Centered Support
More call centers are implementing a centralized knowledgebase to make customer support faster
and more effective.

For example, Avaya implemented Oracle Knowledge and was able to increase knowledgebase
usage by 25% and agents found answers 82% faster than their legacy system within 6 months of
deployment.

KCS is more prevalent among larger organizations because of the investment required, but we are
increasingly see these solutions move down into small and medium-sized organizations.

Leading vendors with KCS-verifed solutions include:
Avaya One Touch Video
Cisco Video Remote Expert
Nice Contact Center Video
Oracle Knowledge
eGain Knowledge
Knova Knowledge Management
Contact Us
About VoiceTrust
We provide voice authentication solutions that prevent fraud, eliminate identity theft, and make
application logins more secure. Fortune Global 500 clients including banks, insurance companies,
call centers, and enterprises rely on our solutions to verify the identity of millions of users. Founded in
2000, the privately-owned company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with additional offces in the
USA, Germany, and UAE. For the latest insights on security and user authentication follow
@VoiceTrust on Twitter, or visit www.voicetrust.com.
VoiceTrust Offces
Corporate HQ - Toronto, ON
Phone: +1 (416) 901-1333
Email: info@voicetrust.com
Canada - Montreal, QC
Phone: +1 (514) 587-2525
USA - Princeton, NJ
Phone: +1 (609) 751-9223
Germany - Munich
Phone: +49 (89) 127 16 0
UAE - Dubai
Phone: +971 4 445 8238

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