On the Scene: G-Force 2006--Model Maturity

Many organizations struggle to communicate with customers across channels and departments. Determining where the business stands--that is, looking at metrics--is essential to improving performance. At Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories' G-Force Las Vegas 2006 user conference, Wes Hayden, president and CEO of Genesys, highlighted the contact center capability maturity model: Establishment phase. Companies at this phase usually rely on simple processes and systems. They also use several nonintegrated applications. Genesys urges companies to develop goals to unify service operations across product divisions, and unify customer-facing systems and service communication channels. Companies must also measure current operations. Deploy some basic contact center technologies like CTI and self-service. Consolidating phase Companies either have or plan to implement systems that route calls by customer segment and agent skill, according to Genesys. It also marks the beginning of integrating product, customer, and business operations. This phase includes automated scheduling, ad-hoc outbound campaigns, multichannel operations, and tracking trends and measuring efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. Genesys recommends an XML-based speech recognition system for smoother integration with other contact center applications. Most companies are either in the establishment phase or consolidation phase, according to Hayden. Performing phase. These companies have integrated channels (including multichannel self-service), along with processes and systems that manage and track customer interactions. Segmentation is now done across channels, while agents are further segmented by their proficiency in each channel. Optimizing phase. Customer service operations are unified across divisions and globally, and managed in real-time. "Here, you're firing on all cylinders," Hayden said, "extending enterprise communication around the customer throughout the enterprise and integrating your business processes with those interactions."