Business Wave surveyed over 1,000 global contact center decision-makers in the 2020 NICE inContact Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Benchmark and noticed a trend among businesses heading towards self-service vs. agent-assisted channels. Now 43 percent of them choose to deliver self-service channels, a 15 percentage point rise from 2019 with a corresponding decrease in those who adopt a self-service channel.
Paul Jarman, NICE inContact CEO, said they saw tremendous growth in CXone adoption with a record number of interactions in 2020.
“The trajectory of digital channel support has continued upwards for several years and has become more urgent than ever. As a complete, unified cloud customer experience platform, CXone blends all types of interactions including self-service and agent-assisted channels. This ensures the best combination of automation, efficiency, and service excellence as agents continue to handle more complex interactions,” he asserted.
During the global pandemic, 62 percent of contact centers reported a rise in digital interaction volumes, according to the 2020 Benchmark study. Furthermore, as a result of the situation, 66 percent of survey respondents not using the cloud today suggested that they are preparing to accelerate their shift.
There is substantial growth in contact centers providing online chat (73 percent) and smartphone applications (56 percent) in the 2020 survey results, up 6 and 8 percentage points, respectively, since 2019. The text message was up 11 percentage points to 49 percent, while chatbots stayed at 46 percent of contact centers using them flat year-over-year.
Jarman concurred that digital is a fundamental part of customers’ lives. Customers will know if a business is not available in those channels and offering effective and efficient service in them.
“That said, creating differentiation and value requires more than checking the box, but rather using digital as a launchpad to build exceptionally memorable experiences. This year’s CX Transformation Benchmark shows that contact centers aren’t willing to be left behind, and they see new opportunities in improving acquisition, retention, and growth,” said Jarman.
