SAN RAMON, November 06 2012 – VentanaResearch has released its latest Benchmark Research, The Unified Agent Desktop and the Customer Experience. Ventana Research commenced this research to gain insight into current agent desktop practices, as well as efforts to manage customerinteractions and improve customer service.
The new research shows that the primary channel for customer service remains interaction with agents in contact centers. Acquiring and maintaining customer loyalty requires consistency at every touchpoint and continuous improvement in customer interactions. Currently, fewer than half (47%) of participating organizations said that their customers are satisfied with their customer service or how their contact centers handle interactions. This has led nearly three-quarters (74%) of participants to say that improving customer service is very important while just over one-half(53%) feel that improving contact center performance is equally as important.
Ultimately, the research highlights the importance of the customer experience in an increasingly competitive business environment.The real challenge lies in providing every agent with a unified view of customer data. If an agent has to scour multiple sources of data to resolve conflicts or provide service, they risk the loss of the customer’s confidence, or worse the loss of the customer altogether. As technologies continue to advance, the need to implement a unified desktop becomes increasingly more important. Participants hoping to improve response time while enabling customers to communicate through more channels will need to better align their planned technology investments with these goals. Based on the research a unified desktop is currently used in just 28% of participant’s contact centers.While 23% plan to implement within the next 12 months, another 23% have no intention of investing in a unified agent desktop.
“Improving customer satisfaction should remain priority number one. Companies need the right technology to support the customer experience”, said Richard Snow, VP and Research Director at Ventana Research, “Our research shows that companies who provide a unified customer view to their agents, can achieve dramatic improvements to customer service. Our research has created a foundation of best practices and education to help organizations manage and retain their customer while encouraging loyalty.”
Key highlights fromthe research will be presented at the Ventana Research Technology Innovation Summit on November 8, 2012. To find out more or register for the summit, go to:www.ventanaresearch.com/InnovationsSummit. Ventana Research will also expand on Key findings from the research during a live webinar with Richard Snow, VP and Research Director Customer Contact Center practice, on December 5, 2012 at 10 am PT. To participate in the webinar, or view it after it hastaken place, visit: www.ventanaresearch.com/AgentDesktopWebinar.
Ventana Research thanks our research sponsors Cicero, ICMI and NICE Systems, as well as those that participated in the benchmark, helping to make this industry benchmark research a reality. Those interested in learning more about this benchmark research can find additional information on Agent Desktop here:http://www.ventanaresearch.com/agentdesktop/. As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from Ventana Research on using technology effectively inbusiness. Ventana Research provides guidance to organizations in business andIT in information technology through its Ventana On-Demand and with its assessment and educational services offerings.
About VentanaResearch
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