Unified Agent Desktops Connect Reps to Essential Apps
AN OLD IDEOLOGY
While the market for unified agent desktops is just starting to emerge and traction is slowly building, these systems aren't really a new concept.
"If you go back to the very beginnings of CRM, this is what it was supposed to be all along," says Donna Fluss, founder and president of DMG Consulting. "This was the promise of CRM as we envisioned it 25 or 30 years ago."
That original vision, though, was far different than what the technology at the time would allow, and even today, adoption isn't where it needs to be.
"It's still the holy grail," Kothari says.
"While the concept of a single view of customer data has been discussed for many years now, there is more talk about the need for this capability than actual adoption," says Omer Minkara, research director for contact center and customer experience management at Aberdeen Group.
According to Aberdeen's research, only about a third of companies have integrated their customer service applications with other business applications and processes. "This is an area where we recommend companies to focus more on through 2016 and beyond," Minkara adds.
Adoption has been slow, according to Jeff Foley, director of product marketing at Pegasystems, "because contact centers traditionally have been viewed as cost centers, and so companies tried to put as little investment into them as possible."
"Many contact centers are still using sticky notes," he points out.
Also contributing to the slower adoption was the fact that companies were reluctant to invest in unified agent desktop tools that required a lot of expensive professional services engagements and lengthy deployments.
Vendors today have largely addressed this issue by reducing the services needed to deploy their tools and providing additional capabilities, such as process monitoring and intelligent guidance for agents.
As a result, companies' interest in unified desktops has perked up. "Companies are demanding this capability now," Minkara maintains, noting that in the process, companies are also getting closer to accomplishing the true purpose behind their omnichannel customer service efforts.
"A lot of contact centers now are streamlining operations, and that is driving a lot of process improvements," Kothari says.
Adoption is also on the rise as application vendors of all kinds are making integrations easier. "You can now even tailor apps to very specific customer scenarios," Kothari says.
Still, there are definite leaders and laggards, according to Foley. Industries that have seen higher adoption include financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail, hospitality, government, telecommunications, and utilities.
That list is going to expand, he says, as a unified desktop becomes "table stakes for everyone."
"You have to bring data from multiple sources into one place where it can be viewed. There's no way around it," Foley says.
GETTING STARTED
Organizations in need of a new unified agent desktop application have plenty of options. But before you explore them, experts say, you should assess your needs. For example, identify the information and applications to bring into the desktop. "That's really the first step," Fluss says. To make that determination, Kothari suggests that companies identify their "call drivers"—why customers are reaching out to them in the first place.
Then organizations must decide which systems and data sources to integrate. This effort will likely increase in complexity over time as the Internet of Things becomes more prevalent. "With the Internet of Things, there will be so much more data about the customer that will be coming in," Foley says. At that point, "it's not just about what data you pull into the system, but what you plan to do with it," he adds. "Getting a 360-degree view of the customer is only the start. You need to turn that into action."