WebRTC + CRM = Better Customer Support
Fluss points to Twilio as just one company that sells additional components that utilize WebRTC.
Flynn describes i-Comm Connect’s TACTAL offering as a secure, customizable WebRTC “call us” button that companies can embed into their websites and configure for their business needs. He says that companies using such a feature can reduce the hoops customers must jump through with typical IVR phone solutions.
Instead of listening for numbers and following audio instructions, customers can navigate visual directories on their mobile devices or the web to get to their desired end point, whether that is a product specialist on the other end or someone in another department or country. The customer can place the call over the computer, granted that person has a functioning microphone and speakers. “We’ve made [the IVR] visual,” Flynn says.
THE FUTURE OF WEBRTC
WebRTC is maturing as a technology. It is reaching the point where it is table stakes for software vendors and is being embedded deeply into their offerings.
Five9, provider of a cloud-based contact center solution, is just one vendor designing its tools with the understanding that WebRTC will be standard for both inbound and outbound customer contacts, says Gaurav Passi, the company’s executive vice president of products and technology.
According to Passi, increasingly, the software will need to be able to handle customers as they hop across devices and channels. Further, agents must also be equipped to proactively reach out to customers and anticipate complications before they happen.
Customer service is “really about matchmaking at the end of the day—making sure that when you reach out to a brand with any questions that you might have, you get the right answer from the right person on the other side, or through self-service, or even proactively,” without having to seek it, Passi says.
Passi adds that in the future customers will also have higher expectations for support within environments that they browse, including mobile apps and social media apps. “People don’t want to have to download anything” or leave their current environments to complete a task, he says.
Avaya’s Hardy agrees, noting that WebRTC is becoming standard today, as customers expect to contact companies quickly without barriers and expect seamless interactions in any channel they choose. Agents, she maintains, must be equipped to prioritize high-value channels and move across them as the customer does.
As hindrances such as poor internet connectivity go away, customers’ expectations for real-time communications will only increase.
As of now, there’s still an opportunity to stand out with WebRTC, Hardy believes. “I think many contact centers are just beginning to touch the surface of feeling comfortable with putting the click-to-call and video to support WebRTC,” she says. “What we’re going to see, probably, over the next couple of years is WebRTC being supported right through, to the agent.”
And WebRTC will become an end-to-end experience.
Associate Editor Oren Smilansky can be reached at osmilansky@infotoday.com.