Video killed the radio star… but brings customer interactions to life!

The use of video in the workplace is far from commonplace in contact centres. It often is for work meetings between colleagues, especially now that many people – at least some of the time – work from home and the need for visual contact is greater. However, this channel is rarely used for customer interactions. Why is that? After all, it does have the potential to significantly improve the customer experience and that of the employee.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of video in the financial sector for, for example, mortgage conversations, and in the medical world for consultations between doctor and patient. In real estate, video calling was even used for home viewings during the pandemic. These are all examples of customer contact, but strangely enough, these applications are often not attributed to the contact centre, which creates a distorted picture.

Make it simple

But also in the – let's call it the ‘traditional’ – contact centre, the use of video can bring many benefits, both for the customer and for the employee.

As we discussed in a previous blog post, contact centre employees are increasingly becoming the organisation’s business card now that customer interactions – partly out of necessity – are increasingly taking place remotely. They are the ones who make the difference! And proper eye contact is crucial in developing a bond of trust and increasing customer loyalty.

In addition, video as a contact channel has the potential to make interactions about technical questions or product information much simpler. Because let's face it, isn’t it much easier when someone visually guides you if you can't connect your new TV, also – especially! – outside store opening hours? Or vice versa: when an agent can demonstrate to a customer how a product works?

The duration of these types of conversations is also a lot shorter because the customer can see what the agent explains, and vice versa. Result: a higher First Contact Resolution and more satisfied customers. And that’s what makes the average contact centre employee pretty happy indeed!

Seeing is believing

Research¹⁾ shows that more than half of calls to customer service departments are made via mobile phones instead of landlines. This offers enormous potential for video calls between customers and organisations. Not (only) as an independent channel that is used here and there, but as a structural part of the omnichannel contact centre.

Of course, it is vitally important that customer contact employees are trained in conducting visual conversations with customers. Some will naturally be better at this than others. That needn’t be a problem! Start by deploying the employees who are immediately enthusiastic about it and let the others have a look first. Seeing is believing – literally.

Would you like to use video as a contact channel in your contact centre? Go for it! There are various solutions where ease of use and data security are the top priorities. We are happy to help you on your way!

^{1) ContactBabel (sponsored by Genesys): The US Contact Center Decision-Makers' Guide 2021}

Whitepaper 'From cost centre to centre stage'

In our whitepaper ‘From cost centre to centre stage: the effect of employee satisfaction on the customer experience’ we focus on the employee. We look at factors that have a positive effect on their well-being, and what their impact is on the customer experience and the business results. Twenty pages of useful information that you can apply immediately.

How do you make your contact centre a success for employees, customers and management? In other words, how do you change it from a cost centre to the centre stage of the organisation?

Would you like to find out how to achieve this?