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Using Desktop Automation to Improve the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Your Contact Center

by Francis Carden, Founder and Chief Evangelist, OpenSpan - July 31, 2014

Using Desktop Automation to Improve the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Your Contact Center

By Francis Carden, Founder and Chief Evangelist for OpenSpan

If you look over the shoulders of most contact center agents while they are assisting customers, you will see that they are doing a lot of manual work. Despite the fact that they are sitting in front of expensive computers with expensive software, most contact center agents spend an inordinate amount of time writing things down on paper, re-entering data and searching for information that should already be at their fingertips.

Most contact center computer systems are a collection of disparate applications that have been modified to work together. The typical contact center desktop consists of three or more applications that present an agent with multiple options for providing information to customers and updating their data. When agents are assisting customers, they often have to jump from application to application in order to respond to even the most basic requests. As a result, agents must have deep knowledge of keyboard commands and fast mouse skills in order to navigate these complex systems. Unfortunately, many agents abandon their computer systems and develop “work-around” manual processes to be able to capture information and respond to customer requests in a reasonable amount of time.

When was the last time you dialed all the digits on your mobile phone to call a friend or family member? More than likely, you have them in a speed dial list and can reach them by pressing one key. You probably have most of these numbers memorized and could easily key them in manually, but setting them up in a speed dial list saves you time and effort in calling the numbers that you dial most often.

If you can do this with a $300 smartphone, why can’t you automate the myriad of applications your agents rely on to service your customers?

If a customer calls to get details of their last month’s phone bill, why does it take ten mouse clicks, two alt-tabs, and 20 keystrokes to give them an answer? All of these actions might add 20 seconds to every call. This may not sound like much, but even a savings of five seconds can reap big rewards when spread out over a large call center.

Why can’t your agents just press a button on a toolbar that automates those same steps? The computer can do them almost instantly and without error.

Why even have these expensive computer systems if everything is being done manually? Wasn’t advanced automation and rapid information delivery the reason you purchased these systems?

Desktop automation technology can bring everything together and solve these issues. It can dramatically reduce the time it takes for your agents to do their jobs by having the computer do more of the repetitive work for your agents. This leads to reduced call times, elimination of keying errors and allows agents to put more of their focus on customer satisfaction.

Thousands of agents in some of the world’s largest call centers are using desktop automation to save tens of millions of dollars by automating billions of transactions. Typical call times are cut by 20 percent and upsell success is increased by between 15 and 18 percent. Using desktop automation solutions, contact centers have taken a ten-minute order process down to three, and a mortgage application process from 30 minutes down to five. They simply did this by having the computer perform the identical steps the agent was previously doing manually.

The uses for desktop automation in contact centers are almost limitless. Here are a few of the typical starting points:

· Automating call wrap up by annotating 90 percent of the notes;

· Automatically signing into all your systems (i.e., single sign on);

· Consolidating screens and creating new information dashboards;

· Automating the multiple screen pops, lookups, searches and caller verification steps, new account openings, and transferring accounts;

· Adding guidance for the agents on complicated processes; and

· Automating access to knowledge bases and support systems.

Desktop automation can automate manual steps across all of your systems for simple or complex transactions. Once automated, you don’t need to train the agent on those functions. The computer will usher them through each step of the process.

Desktop automation doesn’t take years to implement. Far from it. Projects have been implemented in weeks and typically provide a return on investment in just a few months.

If these results sound intriguing and you would like to implement a desktop automation solution, here are a few tips:

1. Pick the Right Automations First – Don’t jump in and try and automate hundreds of processes at the beginning. Pick between five and ten automations that will affect the widest number of agents immediately and then build upon the efficiencies you will gain.

2. Create a New Agile Desktop – Provide complimentary dashboards that provide consolidated views of customer information in a pop-up toolbar. Help the agents initiate automated tasks through clear, easy-to-understand icons. By giving agents a single, 360-degree view of the customer information, you are providing them with all the tools they need to be successful on every call and they will thank you for it.

3. Spend Your Saved Time Wisely – Once you start eliminating the manual steps each agent utilizes, you have the opportunity to choose how the time saved is spent. Shorter call times give agents upsell/cross-sell opportunities at the end of the call. By the way, desktop automation can improve upsell/cross-sell performance as well. Instead of the agent trying to recall the latest upsell offer and then manually navigating the systems to see if the offer is relevant, you can use desktop automation to deliver the right offers to the agent at exactly the right time and then walk them through the order process if the upsell is accepted!

As you can see, desktop automation solutions can be the lead technology for solving contact center business problems quickly. It can also be the key to new transformation strategies, whether you are cleaning up existing systems or implementing a new CRM system.

You have gone to great lengths to hire and train the best people you can find. You have researched the best computer systems and applications, and purchased the one that best fits your business needs. If your contact center is not working to its peak efficiency, it is probably because your agents, the computer system and the associated business processes are not in perfect harmony. Desktop automation solutions can bring them all into alignment and make your contact center run more efficiently than ever.

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About the Author: Francis Carden, Founder and Chief Evangelist for OpenSpan

With more than 20 years of experience in running multinational technology companies, Francis Carden joined the executive leadership team at OpenSpan in 2005. OpenSpan (www.openspan.com) is a provider of activity intelligence and desktop automation solutions that improve performance, drive revenue and increase efficiencies in contact center, back office and retail storefront environments. Read his blog at http://franciscarden.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FrancisCarden. Francis can be reached via email at info@openspan.com or phone at (678) 527-5400.

 
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