Real-time online customer service communication encompasses many channels these days - live chat, SMS chat, instant messaging, and social networking applications such as Twitter. In each of these channels, representatives can engage customers in active, real-time conversation. Companies need a solution that allows simultaneous staffing of each channel in real-time. When comparing real-time online multichannel customer service solutions, it is easy to get lost in the myriad of features and to get frustrated comparing apples to oranges. A better approach is to focus on the fundamental benefits a solution can provide, cull the competitors according to those fundamentals, and then compare features between the remaining competitors taking into account the cost/benefit ratio. The following list covers the 5 must haves for a real-time online multichannel customer service solution.
1) The solution must appear seamless and be transparent to the customer.
Simply put, the software should automatically route customer inquiries to the best resource available to address their issues with minimal fuss. Similarly when resources aren't available, the solution needs to direct customers to an asynchronous alternative, e.g. e-mail. Ideally, the solution should provide mechanisms that allow for transparent redirect based upon resource availability. In other words if Bob is your widget support expert but Sarah knows a little about the widget too, customers wanting widget support should first be routed to Bob and then to Sarah, if Bob is not available. From the customer's point of view, each channel should have the same capability to engage the company in a conversation that will resolve their issues. If a customer needs to be transferred between representatives during a conversation, that should be seamless as well.
2) The solution should seamlessly accommodate a growing customer base.
No one starts a business with the expectation it will not grow. Likewise, a real-time online customer service solution should be built with the expectation that a customer base will only grow in size. An increase in simultaneous customer-representative communication should never adversely affect the overall quality of customer communication. The solution should never place restrictions on the number of allowed concurrent customer conversations. Unless a company plans to grow out of one solution and into another, concurrent customer restrictions are a deal breaker.
3) Adding new concurrent channels should not be a big deal.
Initially, a real-time online multichannel customer service solution must support the communication channels of immediate interest to the company. However as business grows and technologies evolve, companies will want to add more simultaneously staffed channels to best engage their customers. The solution needs to seamlessly integrate new channels without any reduction in capacity or quality. Ideally, the solution should provide a common interface for all channels. A common interface minimizes training as each channel is used in exactly the same way and makes the addition of new channels trivial to a staffing plan.
4) Adding more concurrent representatives should not be a big deal.
As with communications channels as business grows, a real-time multichannel customer service solution must grow to accommodate the staff required to operate it. The solution needs to scale gracefully when concurrent representatives are added without adversely affecting the quality of service to customers. Ideally, the solution should have a simple mechanism for integrating new representatives, making the addition of new staff solely a training process and not a software configuration fight.
5) The solution should integrate inter-representative communication.
Sometimes providing the best answers for and resolutions to customer inquiries requires a group effort. A real-time online multichannel customer service solution needs to provide a simple mechanism for communication between representatives. Ideally, the mechanism should hide the "behind-the-scenes" conversation from the customer unless a conference-like interaction is required.
