Modern contact centers are more efficient and effective at keeping customers satisfied than ever. But it took years and many technological breakthroughs for us to reach this point. The evolution of outsourced contact centers may also give us some insight into what comes next for this space, which could be meaningful for you as a business owner if you use these solutions.
So, with that in mind, keep reading. We’ve covered the full evolution of outsourced contact centers below with some predictions for what comes next as well.
The Foundations of Contact Centers
Besides electricity and phones, if there’s any single invention you can trace the birth of modern contact centers back to, it’s likely the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD).
Invented in the 1960s, this allowed businesses to filter incoming calls for the first time so that they could assign them to agents. Before that, the concept of a contact center with multiple agents working in it was impossible to achieve.
Several other technological breakthroughs helped to push contact centers forward in their early days, as well. These include:
- The creation of 0800 toll-free telephone numbers in the 1980s
- Internet in the 1990s
- Social media in the early 2000s
Together, these technologies laid the bedrock of what would later go on to become the modern omnichannel contact center. But we’ve come a long way since then.
New Technology Drives Improvement
The story of outsourced contact centers is one of constant improvement. Businesses are always on the lookout for new technologies they can use to stand out from the competition and provide better service to customers.
That’s why the most effective way to trace the history of outsourced contact centers and their modern evolutions is to look at how new technologies gave rise to step-by-step improvements in this industry.
Omnichannel Communication
Email, texts, and social media all helped businesses begin offering support through more than just telephones. Thanks to these technologies (and the growing using of
chatbots) businesses have been able to provide service to customers wherever they choose to receive it.
Cloud-based Contact Centers
We’ve also seen a growing shift in the way that contact centers are oriented. Cloud-based support centers are becoming the norm because they make it easier to scale agents, which is more adaptable to surging and declining customer requests.
The invention of cloud technology also made it easier for contact centers to integrate their offerings with third-party applications, including CRMs, ERPs, and even Facebook Messenger to get more insights from social media-based support.
The growth in cloud-based contact centers has been one of the biggest trends in this industry over the last decade. It’s unlikely to slow down anytime soon either, given how much money companies are able to save by not having to rent office space for their agents.
Skill-based Call Routing
The growth of skill-based call routing has been another exciting trend to watch in the evolution of outsourced contact centers. Traditional call distributors were only able to give calls to the next available agent – not the best available one. That’s changed as this technology has evolved.
Today, routers can select the best possible agent for every call received. That way, companies are able to provide the best possible customer service outcomes for every call they receive.
Skill-based call routing, when used correctly, can significantly enhance the quality of service that a company’s customers receive on a consistent basis. It’s quickly become the norm in this industry precisely for that reason.Remote Agents
As cloud technology has become more and more powerful, it’s become easier for businesses to use remote agents in their contact centers. This has been an important evolution, as its allowed companies to provide exceptional customer service at a much lower cost.
Today, companies can outsource their contact center to an entirely remote team. This reduces labor costs significantly and also eliminates the need to purchase all of the equipment and software it takes to run an effective contact center.
Thanks to remote agents, company leaders can remain focused on what they do best without also having to worry about how to manage an internal contact center. It’s why this change has helped companies become much more efficient.
Remote Agents
As cloud technology has become more and more powerful, it’s become easier for businesses to use remote agents in their contact centers. This has been an important evolution, as its allowed companies to provide exceptional customer service at a much lower cost.
Today, companies can outsource their contact center to an entirely remote team. This reduces labor costs significantly and also eliminates the need to purchase all of the equipment and software it takes to run an effective contact center.
Thanks to remote agents, company leaders can remain focused on what they do best without also having to worry about how to manage an internal contact center. It’s why this change has helped companies become much more efficient.
Customer Journey Tracking
We’re also seeing more powerful analytics software, which is opening up new possibilities for companies with contact centers. Customer journey tracking is the premier example of this.
Customer journey tracking involves analyzing a customer’s journey as they go through the support process. By understanding this journey, companies are more effectively able to serve their users.
For example, a company employing customer journey tracking may realize that customers often try to reach out to an online chatbot before calling. In that case, investments could be made in improving the chatbot or making agents available online.
This would likely improve customer satisfaction and save time in the contact center so the team becomes more efficient. It’s just one example of how customer journey tracking can help contact centers thrive.
Where are outsourced contact centers going next?
As we’ve hopefully shown, we’ve come a long way since the invention of the automatic call distributor. Technology has told much of that story. So what might it say next? Here are some potential avenues for future evolution for your consideration.
AI Solutions
AI is the hottest technology in the world right now. It has the potential to impact nearly every industry on the planet – even outsourced contact centers. As AI becomes more powerful, it’s extremely likely that it will be implemented in outsourced contact centers.
There are several ways in which this could occur.
For example, AI is already being used to handle simple administrative tasks like routing phone calls and providing basic information to customers. This gives agents more time to handle the trickiest requests and concerns from customers.
AI is also being used to analyze data from past calls. This is making it an incredibly valuable tool for improvement for contact center managers. It’s helping them find the best opportunities for improvements and execution in those areas.
Conversational AI, such as ChatGPT has enormous potential in the outsourced contact center world. It may even serve as a replacement for some agents one day. But only time will tell, as we still need improvements in the technology for that to happen.
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis is another growing trend in the world of outsourced contact centers that is worth looking at if this is a business unit you use. It involves assessing the emotions in a customer’s message for a few key reasons.
First, if negative emotions are noticed, those messages can be flagged and sent directly to a supervisor or manager. This ensures that customers that need the best support always get it.
Additionally, sentiment analysis can help to identify which agents and contact centers have the best and worst performance. This can be helpful for larger companies with multiple outsourced customer support centers.
Predictive Analytics
Finally, we’re also seeing predictive analytics assume a larger role in the outsourced contact center equation. Many companies are using them to identify the most promising opportunities for growth and improvement.
For example, this kind of analysis can show a business what strategies it may be able to use to retain customers more effectively. It can also help to evaluate which offers customers may respond best to.
Business is highly competitive in most industries, and innovations like predictive analytics can help companies find the opportunities for improvement they need in order to stand out. It’s a tool that’s absolutely going to drive some separation and create some winners and losers in most industries over the next decade.
Let Us Help You Embrace the Full Evolution of Outsourced Contact Centers
Outsourced contact centers have come a long way over their dynamic history. But we’ve been there through most of it. Our team at The Cattalyst has decades of outsourcing experience and is very familiar with all of the evolutions and technological innovations this industry has gone through.
If you’re ready to start getting more out of your outsourced contact center, you can count on us to help you do it. We’ll leverage our expertise and decades of experience to help you find the best opportunity for improvement or set up a new outsourced contact center entirely from scratch.
Whatever you need in this space, we have the skills and experience to help you get it. So why wait? Get in touch with us today for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.