Evaluating inbound routing tools in the age of multichannel customer contact.

Customer relationships are fragile, living things. They require personal attention and care in order to thrive, and they grow and evolve based on how well they are nurtured.

By the time customers log on or pick up the phone to contact a customer service representative, their mindset has been determined: they are either extremely interested in purchasing a company's product or service and are ready to seal the deal; or they are unhappy with a situation that must be addressed immediately. Whatever the situation, the first critical step to successfully nurturing customer relationships is ensuring customer needs are met quickly and effectively.

Once companies know this, it is easy to recognize that proper inbound routing is vital to any customer service effort. Organizations must be able to direct incoming queries to the most appropriate agent, the first time, every time. However, the emergence of multiple interaction channels makes choosing the right inbound routing tool a complex proposition for contact center executives.

Although the concept of multichannel customer interaction management (CIM) is fairly straightforward, its implementation within the framework of the contact center is quite challenging. Managing multiple channels involves handling inbound and outbound phone, fax, e-mail and Web contacts. Most contact centers today only deal with a single channel -- the telephone. The solution to the multichannel challenge is a three-pronged approach involving technology, processes and people.

Technology. Companies must assess the capabilities of their existing infrastructures and develop strategies for incorporating new channels they don't currently handle. One approach is to integrate additional point solutions via computer-telephony integration (CTI). In other words, companies can purchase and add an e-mail routing product, a Web chat and collaboration system, a fax management application and look to vendors of CTI solutions to tie these products to their existing automatic call distributor (ACD) and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. This approach, while common, has a number of flaws:

* The integration of additional point solutions adds to the fragility of an already-complex environment.

* Point solutions have their own internal rules application that determines how contacts are touted and how customers are prioritized -- making it difficult for companies to implement unique business rules and ensure consistency of service across applications and channels.

* Multiple point solutions create a multivendor environment, making support and operations increasingly challenging and expensive.

* CTI project implementation can last from months to years, creating enormous financial burdens.

* Numerous operating systems, database structures, administrative interfaces and desktop applications must be maintained.

* Agents must be trained on each of the desktop applications, lengthening the deployment cycle and increasing training costs.

* New technical resources must be added to manage each point solution, escalating overall operating costs,

A more beneficial and viable approach is to deploy a unified CIM solution that delivers universal queuing and blending of multichannel interactions. A unified CIM solution delivers the following benefits:

* The ability to execute on universal, unique business rules, enabling companies to manage customers consistently across all interaction channels.

* A single touch point for managing all interactions -- phone, fax, e-mail and the Web.

* Ease of use through a single point of administration, leading to lower operating costs and increased agent productivity.

* Fast implementation and easy integration to legacy infrastructure, resulting in investment protection and a clear migration path to new technologies.

* High scalability and reliability.

* The tools to foster cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

* Open APIs and connectors that seamlessly tie to business applications such as CRM, ERP, workforce management, order processing and billing systems.

When evaluating inbound routing solutions in the age of multichannel interaction management, unified solutions must also deliver the following:

Skills-based routing. Customers need to be connected with the agents best suited to address their needs. Through the use of skillsbased routing, contact center managers can assign varying skills and proficiency levels to all agents. A unified solution uses these skills to match each customer to the right agent the first time, delivering improved customer satisfaction and increasing revenue opportunity.

Screen pop. Through the use of screen pop, agents can have real-time access to customer information to make better-informed decisions during the interaction. Agents can leverage data on historical buying patterns from existing CRM, ERP and back-end systems to personalize the interaction with the customer and cross-sell additional products and services.

Universal queuing. Interactions across multiple channels can be prioritized, queued and touted using universal queuing. Companies can implement unique business rules to route customers consistently, regardless of the method of interaction. For example, an e-mail from a highly profitable client may be routed to the agent before the next phone call. Making routing decisions based on these dynamic, customer-centric rules is only possible through universal queuing.

Processes, Companies must also implement new processes to foster a multichannel mindset by focusing on customer acquisition and retention. To do so, companies must mine information on their customer buying patterns and preferences. Business applications such as CRM and ERP must be closely tied with the contact center to foster cross-selling and upselling. Call center reports must not only include call handle time statistics, but also must be enhanced to include profitability statistics and customer retention rates. The gap that often exists between telecom and IT personnel must be bridged so both embrace a new, converged environment. Both sides must work to jointly facilitate the deployment of Web-based tools such as Web chat, collaboration and e-mail management.

People. The contact center and its inhabitants must be perceived as a key asset, not as a cost of doing business. Contact center agents are the customer-facing part of the company and must be empowered with the information and tools necessary to maximize the profitability of each customer interaction. New agent skill sets need to be identified and rewarded -- such as written communication skills and computer and Internet literacy. Increased focus must be placed on agent training and productivity monitoring to maximize profitability of the resources within the contact center.

Whether implementing a new multichannel customer interaction center or introducing multichannel capabilities into an existing center, companies must identify the right solution to meet current and future needs. Through the use of a unified CIM solution, businesses can profitably deliver consistent customer service across all channels -- phone, fax, email and the Web.

Ralph Breslauer is executive vice president of sales and marketing for Concerto Software www.concerto.com.

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