How Contact Center Analytics Unlocks the Value of Customer Interactions

How Contact Center Analytics Unlocks the Value of Customer Interactions

Today’s consumers are no longer satisfied with receiving the right product at the right price at the right time. When they have a question or a problem, they expect the question answered or problem resolved quickly, with clarity, through the communications channel of their choosing.

Since the pandemic, more consumers are using automated chatbots and voice apps, as well as text and video chat with live agents, and they expect to be able to move seamlessly from one channel to another if necessary.

The contact center is the focal point of these interactions. Agents need current, reliable data to navigate these interactions effectively. At the same time, the data generated by customer interactions can be analyzed to improve everything from agent performance and customer retention to operational efficiency and product development.

Given the tremendous value of contact center data to the organization, contact center analytics tools are quickly becoming a business imperative.

What Are Contact Center Analytics?

Contact center analytics consists of the technologies and processes used to collect, measure, and analyze data gathered through customer interactions. These tools can calculate hard metrics such as call handle time, hold time, call volume, first-call resolution and customer retention, as well as more subjective metrics such as the quality of human interactions.

For example, how effectively are agents dealing with customers? Which agents need training or coaching? Are customers satisfied or showing frustration? What events or behaviors are triggering negative customer reactions?

Analysis of this data provides insights that can be implied to improve the performance of not only the contact center, but the organization as a whole.

Hard Numbers and the Human Element

Contact center analytics tools have pros and cons. On the positive side, many numbers are easy to measure, quantify and interpret. Applying the insights gained is fairly straightforward. On the negative side, some numbers can be manipulated.

For example, you can shorten calls to decrease handle time and serve more customers, but are issues being properly resolved? In this case, improvements in these metrics could come at the expense of the customer experience.

The human element is more difficult to measure. Understanding an agent’s attitude or a customer’s frustration requires the use of advanced technology, such as speech analytics. Speech analytics can identify positive and negative keywords, changes in volume and inflection, periods of silence, and other nuances of human speech, and assess the impact on the customer experience.

Start Small and Build

To get the best results from contact center analytics, identify the metrics that are most important, striking the right balance between hard numbers and the human element. Enterprise-class contact center solutions have built-in contact center analytics with templates to help you get started. There are also third-party tools that can be integrated with an existing contact center platform.

To avoid becoming overwhelmed with data, start with the basics. Generate reports on easily understood metrics such as hold times and take steps to improve those numbers. As you become more comfortable with the process, incorporate more advanced metrics and customize your reports in a way that helps you address specific challenges.

Verteks Can Help

Verteks has a long history of helping organizations use contact center and analytics solutions effectively. Contact us to discuss what can be achieved with contact center analytics and how to maximize the return on your contact center investment.


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