The increased consumer adoption of smartphones, more pervasive Wi-Fi and dissatisfaction with traditional customer-service channels are all driving customers to web self-service. In addition web tools, such as social media and web chat, are hives for customers to share information. Customers often use more than one channel to find information before calling a customer-service representative. This means customers now call contact centers when they have more complex queries or time-sensitive requests. At the same time, enterprises have been on a cost-cutting tear, tightening IT budgets. They are heavily focused on improving customer retention and upping customer satisfaction. Enterprises need to get a better handle on how customers use different channels and how to optimize the experience across them. The emerging cross-channel analytics market will be key in helping enterprises improve channel disparity and customer service.
