As Middle Eastern enterprises adopt Western customer service behaviors, having the right technology to respond to queries and requests will become important. Vendors must understand that the technology in the contact center will sometimes be the back-seat passenger; it is the business culture that will drive purchases.
Scope
There is room for non-traditional call center technology in Middle Eastern greenfield sites IVR roars into action but may not be successful if cultural sensitivities can not be resolved A groundswell in system convergence will impact contact centers Workforce optimization applications will gain traction in the Middle East
Highlights
The adoption of text messaging in all sectors of the Middle East presents an opportunity for enterprises to gain significant commercial advantage by using SMS alerts to inform customers of service notifications, specific offers and promotions. SMS is a vehicle which enterprises in the Middle East cannot afford to ignore. E-mail is very much a business solution. It is deeply integrated in an organizations process and is a strategic form of communication for most enterprises. Outside of the business community, email has become an increasingly useful communication channel for households in the Middle East. However, the largest issue for Middle Eastern enterprises with many smaller contact centers is handling multiple systems and platforms that are unable to interoperate with each other. An example can be seen with the retail banking industry in Saudi Arabia.
Reasons to Purchase
Vendors should not be fooled into thinking that the Middle East will adopt multi-channels - discover why this is. Learn about the challenges vendors will face if they do not understand how business and technology is critical to execute a reliable contact center.
