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~ Sound of Data ~

THE FUTURE

OF CUSTOMER

SERVICE

TELEPHONY

Text: Erzsi de Letter // Photos: Sound of Data, Unsplash

The world is digitising, and so is customer service. Channels like email, social, chat and bots
all happen online. Easy and fast when it comes to simple and non-urgent questions, but
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when things become complicated or urgent, 34% of consumers still reach for the telephone.
This is because of speed and the indispensable human touch. What does the future of

customer service telephony look like in this digitising world?

roducts and services are becoming more Telephony is on an island
complex Many brands prefer to promote digital channels where
PThe danger of increased digitising is that human agents can multitask and handle more interactions at a
components like tone of voice, empathy and engagement time and where everything that’s done and said is (often)
are pushed aside. Customers want support, preferably automatically logged in the CRM or ticketing software.
24x7, quickly and easily with, for example, self-service, Telephony is a single-tasking activity which is why it’s
(chat)bots, etc. If these options are not available or not often considered to be more expensive. It’s also a channel
easily accessible, personal voice contact is indispensable. that isn’t as easy to measure and analyse as other digital
Many products and services are becoming more and more (online) channels. Telephony isn’t integrated into the front
complex, and so are customer questions. And this calls for and backend and often operates on an island separate from
more human interaction. the other channels.

Important for customer service satisfaction Outside the online journey
This is also reflected in CGS’s Customer Service Crisis Up until now, telephony has been an offline channel that
Survey (October 2020). Nearly 40% of UK and US isn’t part of the online journey. When website visitors reach
respondents would rank the “opportunity to speak with for the telephone, they are out of sight and can’t be tracked.
a human agent” as a top-three requirement for ensuring This makes things like customer satisfaction and return
customer service satisfaction. And about 44% said they on investment harder to measure because surveys are sent
wish brands would be more transparent about “how to get through different channels (with low attention value as a
help from a human”. What you often see is that digital result), and you can’t always link a conversation directly to
channels are pushed forward on websites, and you need to a sale.
look hard for that telephone number.

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