For most people, the prospect of navigating a customer-service call center to find a solution to a problem is an unhappy thought. The waits can be long, the answers unsatisfactory, and the representatives somewhere short of knowledgeable. But IBM thinks it can do better.
In a partnership with Assurant, IBM has developed an algorithm-drive technology that aims to route callers to the service representative with the skills and experience most suited to address the issue. eCRM Guide takes a look.
IBM wants to personalize the customer call center process with the debut of a new service that aims to match a customer with the service representative who has the most knowledge of the particular service issue or product the customer is calling in about.
Using a Real-Time Analytics Matching Platform (RAMP) co-developed by IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Assurant (NYSE: AIZ), the goal is improve efficiency, increase customer and service representative retention and grow sales.
“We’re seeing an increasing opportunity to use available customer information and analytics to find new levels of customer insight to improve performance,” said Michael Schroeck of IBM’s global business services group. “RAMP enables our clients to enhance customer satisfaction, reduce attrition, increase revenue and improve contact-center productivity resulting in better overall company performance.”
Call center software developers have invested a lot of time in money in recent years to improve the overall experience and interaction between service reps and customers, recognizing that this experience can often make the difference between building long-term relationships with consumers or losing them altogether to competitors.