Over the last few years, businesses have gone from trying to provide customer service everywhere - from phones to chat to email to Facebook to Twitter and on and on - to focusing on a few strategic channels. Many companies who have been focusing on the omnichannel approach for several years have done so with only mediocre results. Because of this, this omnichannel approach is beginning to fall by the wayside.
So, what comes after omnichannel? The next step seems to be the adoption of a strategic, integrated approach that focuses on consumers and how companies can be relevant and different in consumers’ eyes.
What is an integrated approach?
By trying to be everywhere, companies have lost touch with what it is their customers want. Integration involves getting back to the fundamentals of your consumers’ behavior and then choosing channels based on what your consumers want. The integrated approach involves selecting the most efficient channels based on demonstrated consumer behavior. This will be different for every company and it’s certainly not about trying to be everywhere. It’s about getting focused on your target customers and determining which channels they are using and for what purposes they are using the channel.
How can you be relevant?
Being relevant is all about meeting your customers’ needs. In the eyes of your customer, if you have the best solution to their problem, then your solution is the most relevant to that customer and you will earn their business. The best way to find out if you are meeting your customers’ needs better than your competition is to ask your customers. What problems do they have? How are the products or services you are offering solving those problems? It doesn’t hurt to ask consumers about your competition too. You can learn a lot by finding out how well your competition is meeting the needs of consumers.
How can you be different?
Customers care about the experiences they have with companies, not necessarily the channel used to achieve that experience. Your customer service experience is one way you can differentiate yourself from your competition. If you can optimize your company’s customer service experience, you will be miles ahead of your competitors.
Whether or not you choose to stick with your omnichannel strategy or try a fully integrated approach, your customer service should span both the physical and virtual worlds in order to be the most effective. Enterprise Feedback Management Software from KOVA helps your company get a complete view into what people think about your company, your products and your services. To learn more about how Enterprise Feedback Management can help you improve your sales, contact us today.
Technology enables us to capture more data than we ever have before, but the key to taking advantage of so much data is knowing how to analyze it and apply that analysis in a useful way. Public safety agencies can use data capture programs to analyze data in order to find patterns that will enable them to prevent disasters before they happen.
There are four main ways public safety agencies use data: social media monitoring, drawing connections between cases, creating crime prediction models, and cybersecurity. In order to see how data analytics help prevent disasters, it’s important to also understand what data capture programs and analytics are.
Data Capture Programs
Data capture programs record data in the form of videos, photos, and sound on your smartphone. Once you have the data on your phone, the data capture program allows you to quickly label, categorize, store, and transmit the data securely and easily.
This is important in the public safety industry because emergency workers don’t always have the time to get back to the office before they’re called out to the next emergency. A data capture program that allows them to upload and securely send photos or videos while still at the scene of an accident is a huge time saver.
Data Analytics
Data analytics involves taking the data that’s been captured and cataloged and giving it structure. The data is analyzed to find patterns by sorting it, searching it, and making it more usable. The key to obtaining actionable data is knowing what you want to use the data for. Applying data analytics can help keep us safe from threats, but the key is knowing what to do with the results of the analysis and then taking action.
How Data Capture and Data Analytics Transform Business
Data analytics has the potential to transform businesses by finding patterns in large volumes of data. A good example of this is credit card fraud. By detecting patterns in the data and observing how rampant identity theft was in the form of credit card fraud, the banking industry implemented PIN and chip technology as well as new ways of identifying fraudulent charges.
By providing more information to businesses, data capture and analytics allows for more informed and better decision making when it comes to making policies and protecting the public but nothing changes if no action is taken so make sure you have a plan.
Data capture programs can completely revolutionize the way your public safety employees do their jobs. It will make them more efficient and provide better and more accurate data that can be used for future decision making.
KOVA’s public safety solutions allow emergency responders to share vital information quickly and easily, making it possible to record and analyze data gathered. The Silent Partner App is cell phone and mobile recording software that can capture text messages, video, phone, and photos as well as catalog and upload them easily and efficiently.
Silent Partner will truly change the way your team does their jobs. To learn more about how KOVA can help you implement a data capture program in your public safety agency, contact us today.
Public safety is a big concern to everyone. Technology plays a major role in keeping public safety workers and citizens safe. Whether it’s an app on your phone that keeps you safe while you are walking alone at night or data encryption on your computer to protect your personal information, technology works hard for you everyday.
Technology continues to grow by leaps and bounds and this is no different in the public safety sector. Some of the latest developments in public safety technology are focusing on things like data analytics, cybercrime, and Ambient UX. Here’s what’s happening in public safety tech in 2018.
Data Analytics
Technology has made it relatively easy to obtain information on just about anything. An important consideration in public safety is how to use this information to prevent or solve crimes. One way of doing this is to ensure public safety solutions include embedded analytics that provide proactive alerts based on real-time data. By being proactive rather than reactive, more crimes and emergencies will be prevented before they happen. Crimes and emergencies that aren’t prevented will be solved and responded to faster.
Cybercrime
The down side of technological advances is that they allow individuals with ill intentions to progress as well. As a result, cybercrime is a very real concern and new ways of committing cybercrime increase as fast as technology. Public safety agencies will need to come up with new ways of dealing with data theft and data manipulation. As a result, public safety agencies need to make sure their staff are trained to deal with cybercrimes. Having a cybercrime expert in-house is also very beneficial.
Ambient UX
Ambient UX is all about timing. It’s a design approach that allows the user to access the data they need when they need it. It’s not uncommon for employees to access several devices while on the job. This includes smartphones, cameras, desktops, radios, and notebooks, to name a few. With Ambient UX technology, all devices become linked and employees become more efficient. Patterns in the data are detected that enhance job-related skills, improve situational analysis, and solve problems in new ways.
The aim of design technologies like Ambient UX is to keep user safety at the forefront of public safety solutions by considering all emerging technologies in the design process. Whether you’re a public safety professional or just an advocate for public safety technology, it’s important to recognize the role technology plays in the latest public safety trends.
If you’re a public safety professional, the Silent Partner app by KOVA will change the way you work. Silent Partner is a data capture app that lets you to securely take pictures, record video or voice, and send your files wherever you need them to go. It even includes speech analytics and case management features to help you perform tasks more efficiently. If you’re interested in increasing your productivity on the job with KOVA’s Silent Partner app, contact us today.
Technology has enabled consumers to be connected to their various devices 24/7 if they choose to be. Smartphones can do almost every task that was once only available to owners of PC’s. With the invention of apps, smartphone users are able to stay connected to social media, the internet, and email wherever they go. In the age of the connected consumer, businesses risk losing customers by not keeping up with their connectivity.
To provide optimal customer service in 2018, the age of the connected consumer, businesses need to consider all the ways customers are connected. Good and bad experiences can spread very quickly when consumers have so many methods of communication at their fingertips. There are three things businesses need to keep in mind when dealing with connected consumers.
Personal Touch
Connected consumers still want a personal touch even though they aren’t dealing with you face-to-face. This can be achieved through personal offers based on consumers’ past buying or browsing history. In order to provide personal experiences for your consumers, you must have reliable and relevant data on which to base the offers. You can use data to obtain actionable intelligence.
Need for Immediate Attention
When you are connected 24/7, you get used to instant gratification. Companies need to prepare their customer contact centers for this by intermingling the channels through which their customers can find them. Integrate social media into your customer service center offerings, for example. Connected consumers have higher expectations of timely interactions and social media is a convenient way of connecting to your consumers quickly.
Connected consumers don’t like to wait for a response from the customer contact center. They are also more likely to leave a review because they are so connected. Aim to make their experience a positive one by applying measures to make contact center response time as quick as possible.
Attention to Detail
Customers like it when you focus on their needs rather than your desire to make a sale. A connected consumer has likely done a lot of research regarding their purchases simply because they are connected and it’s easy. This doesn’t mean they don’t need further information. The five stages of listening can also be applied to conversations that don’t involve speaking. Receive the information, understand and remember it, then evaluate and respond.
When providing the best customer service in the age of the connected consumer, you need to make sure you pay attention to what the customer’s wants and needs are, respond to them as quickly as possible and provide service that is as customized to their needs as possible.
If you’re not sure how consumers feel about the customer experience you are providing, check out KOVA’s Customer Experience Survey Software. With a longstanding history of excellent customer service and expert applications of systems and software, KOVA can help with customer experience and retention. Our Customer Experience Survey Software lets you know what customers truly believe about their experience with your company. To learn more about how you can gather valuable feedback from your customers, contact us today.
To maximize the impact of your customer service department, there are a number of training programs available which focus on a variety of different areas. There’s emotional intelligence training, team-building, and conflict management training, just to name a few. There are also multiple options available for the delivery of these programs: online, lecture, workshop, full day, half day, etc.
There’s no question that customer service training is a worthwhile investment for your organization, but how do you know if you have chosen the right kind of customer service training? Here are a few tips to help you make your decision.
Regardless of the type and format of customer service training you want to provide, you can use these six steps to ensure you’re investing in the right kind of training to meet your goals. KOVA provides Enterprise Feedback Management software to help you keep track of all the important customer service metrics in your business. With Enterprise Feedback Management software you can share and customize data, analyze customer responses, evaluate employee performance, and protect customer data. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you start tracking the key metrics you need to improve customer service in your business.
Customer service will always be a priority regardless of what industry or business you’re in. It’s even more important now in 2018, when customers can easily share their views for the whole world to see on social media. A bad customer review will spread like wildfire. Many experts believe customer service is more important than products and pricing when it comes to setting up your business strategy. Here are a few customer service trends to keep your eye on in 2018.
More Ways to Communicate With Customers
The integration of social media with customer service is not new. In 2017 we saw the introduction of the Messenger bot through Facebook. You can now order your Starbucks coffee through the Facebook Messenger bot and be notified when it is ready for you to pick up. In 2018, the bot will become even more prevalent as a way for customers to communicate with their favorite companies.
With so many methods available to communicate with customers, organizations will need to make sure they are providing the same level of service across all channels in order to remain competitive. This may mean hiring more customer service agents or assigning agents to be responsible for certain channels.
Service Continues to Matter
You can probably remember a few times when the customer service you received caused you to stop patronizing certain businesses. Regardless of advances in technology, the customer experience is still key. Customers want to be treated like humans, and this is an important consideration when deciding what technology to incorporate into your customer experience. Customers still want human interactions, therefore, a good balance between personal service provided by a real person and automation through technology is key.
Comprehensive Customer Data
With information coming from so many sources in 2018, it’s important to consolidate it to create a comprehensive view of your customer. Having a centralized data dashboard will allow you to serve your customers more completely and efficiently. This will help you determine the necessary steps to provide your customers with the best experience.
Regardless of the type of business you run, optimizing your company’s customer experience must be a priority if you’re going to achieve your goals. Continue to focus on your customer experience by taking advantage of the comprehensive customer data available to you and maintaining a genuine customer service approach that uses people and technology in cooperation. Make sure you have a clear and consistent plan for managing all the communication channels your customers use.
If you’re not sure how your customers feel about your business, KOVA has the solution. Our Customer Experience Survey software can help you gather valuable customer feedback at the end of your calls through IVR or email. The software is browser-based and allows you to collect data on everything from products and processes to staff performance and customer loyalty. To learn more about how you can use our Customer Experience Survey software in your business, contact us today.
Job-related health issues are a concern for many people in our country and around the world. Public safety officers have one of the most stressful jobs around. They need to remain calm in some of the most terrifying situations and they often work long shifts or shifts that last overnight. It’s not surprising that almost fifty percent of public safety officers report having mental health symptoms. Here are some of the health issues affecting public safety officers.
Stress
Public safety officers risk their lives everyday to protect our citizens. They are exposed to extremely high levels of stress. Stress can cause a number of symptoms including headaches, stomach aches, low energy, chest pain, sore muscles, insomnia, and frequent colds and infections.
Some of the ways that 9-1-1 dispatchers deal with stress are also effective for public safety officers. These include spending quality time with loved ones, talking to a counsellor, and using exercise as a stress reliever.
Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression are often the result of repeated stress. The symptoms of anxiety and depression are similar to those of stress. Sometimes people with depression can end up turning to drugs or alcohol for relief.
There are a few things that can help with anxiety and depression as well as improve the mental health of public safety officers. Instituting an employee wellness plan is key in the process and can include things like counselling services, gym passes, and social activities.
Lack of Sleep
Given the amount of shift work required by public safety officers, it’s not surprising that they suffer from a lack of sleep. Lack of sleep can cause dizziness, mood changes, memory problems, and difficulty concentrating.
Exposure
Public safety officers experience physical health issues as well. They risk being exposed to any number of things depending on what they are dealing with. This can range from toxic chemicals to flying objects and gunfire. Public safety officers have a very real risk of physical injury.
Dangerous people are a big threat to the physical health of public safety officers as well. Sometimes, no matter what the officer does, the other person intends to harm them. But the greatest dangers to the physical health of public safety officers are two things you’d least expect: traffic and training accidents. Traffic accidents have been the leading cause of death for public safety officers over the past several years.
While public safety is a career with high risks to the mental and physical health of those who choose it, Silent Partner can help manage some of these issues for public safety officers by giving them less to worry about on the job. This smartphone recording app provides premium quality recording of audio and video and can capture text messages and photos. It provides added benefits of case management features and speech analytics. Lighten the load of your public safety officers by contacting us today to learn more about Silent Partner.
Social proof is a big thing these days. It allows potential customers to see how you interact with your current customers, and what your customers think of you based on what they say about your products or services. In the information age it’s become extremely easy to obtain social proof, and online communities are one place people can go to see social proof in action. Integrating social media into your contact center’s customer service offerings is one way to easily start your own online community.
Not only do online communities increase social proof for your business, but they also help strengthen your customer experience by acting like an extension of your call center, allowing customers to connect in other ways with your business, providing employees with a place to share ideas, and creating customer-to-customer connections. Let’s examine each of these in a little more detail.
Call Center Extension
Picking up the phone is no longer the only way to reach a contact center. Some might argue that social media and other digital tools will make traditional contact centers obsolete if they choose not to incorporate those tools into their business. By creating an online community through the use of social media, you now have another way for customers to reach you. The online community acts like an extension of your call center, where customers can start or continue conversations with your contact center agents. Many people nowadays prefer communicating online to having a conversation on the phone where they may potentially spend some time waiting on hold.
Another Place to Connect
An online community can provide a place for customers to connect with you and your business. Maybe they don’t have a specific issue that they would normally call the contact center for, but they just have a quick question about your product or service they can post online. In this way, you can provide more value to your customers by sharing helpful information about your products and services, like sharing a link to an article, that might not be shared as easily over the phone.
Customer Connections
Online communities allow customers to connect with each other as well. Here’s where you get into the meat and potatoes of social proof. As your community grows, you will see customers start to answer other customers’ questions and provide honest feedback about your products and services. You can jump into the conversation or simply monitor what customers are saying about you - then use the information to improve your customer experience.
Employee Think Tank
Online communities aren’t just for interacting with customers. Creating an exclusive online community for your employees will help them provide a better experience for your customers by allowing them to share ideas for dealing with certain customer complaints or even quickly ask questions while they are on a call with a customer. Providing a place where employees can share ideas is a valuable way to reduce employee turnover too.
KOVA provides a number of workforce enterprise optimization solutions that can help you improve the customer experience in your contact center. Contact us today to learn more.
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do to start the new year off right. Take note of how your contact center’s performance could be improved going forward and record your goals for 2018. Once you’ve got an idea about your goals, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to reach them.
One way to reach your goals in the new year is to make sure you have all the tools you need. One important tool is workforce optimization software. Workforce optimization software can help you manage your call center’s workload, meet quality standards, find more time for training and coaching, and gain insights from numerous helpful reports.
There are two important factors of workforce optimization that should be considered as you start the new year: employees and technology. By investing in technology like workforce optimization software, you are actually investing in your employees as well, because workforce optimization software allows you to create better employee schedules, train your employees better, and streamline processes which will help your employees do their jobs better.
Understand What Your Workforce Optimization Software Can Do
To get the most out of your workforce optimization software, you’ll want to make sure you’re using the software where you need it most. If staffing is a big concern for you, then use it to create optimal schedules. If your contact center employees’ level of customer service isn’t where you’d like it to be, then use the quality monitoring and recording functions to listen to and analyze customer interactions. You can also use the software to train employees so they are better prepared to serve customers at the level you expect.
Analytics are another feature of workforce optimization software that can help you improve your processes and start the new year off right. Analytics can help boost your call center’s success by improving customer retention rates, predicting whether follow-up calls will be successful, and increasing the quality and efficiency of calls.
Improve Back Office Efficiency
Workforce optimization software isn't just for your call center. The back office is generally tasked with things like remaining compliant and staying on budget. Workforce optimization software can improve back office efficiency by centralizing staffing and workload management, and helping the call center and the back office to communicate more efficiently which also improves customer service.
Start the new year off right with the workforce optimization solution that’s right for you. At KOVA Corp, we provide a number of enterprise workforce optimization solutions to help your contact center be successful. Our workforce optimization solutions are designed to work seamlessly across all areas of your business whether it’s the call center or the back office. Workforce Optimization with Verint Media Recorder offers a number of solutions to help you capture critical data about customers and processes so you can learn where there are opportunities to improve performance. Contact us today, to learn more about how we can help you start the new year off right.
The 9-1-1 emergency services network has been in place for over forty years. Communication takes place by voice using telephone and analog lines. One of the major drawbacks of this technology is the limited ability to handle overflow, which means callers can receive a busy signal - which is, of course, highly undesirable during an emergency situation. There may be times when reporting an emergency using your voice is also not desirable. Enter Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911).
The NG911 initiative was started in 2006 when a need for 9-1-1 service infrastructure updating was identified. The goal of NG911 is to upgrade telephone-based 9-1-1 systems to fully digital IP networks capable of receiving information by text, video, and voice. NG911 will allow public safety answering points (PSAPs) to control congestion by automatically rerouting calls to other PSAPs based on the location of the call.
Converting the 9-1-1 emergency services network to NG911 is no easy undertaking, because the emergency response system cannot allow for downtime. Preparing your PSAP for NG911 compliance is also a daunting task which must be done in incremental steps. A 2014 study conducted by Dr. Walt Magnussen at Texas A&M University for the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies evaluated the progress of the NG911 initiative and found that many states hadn’t started converting their 9-1-1 systems due to a lack of funding for the required capital.
In 2016 the National 911 Progress Report was issued. The National 911 Program was created to help coordinate and promote optimal 911 services, as well as provide federal leadership. Forty-six states provided data for the report which confirms the necessity of NG911. The report indicated PSAPs are receiving an increase of calls from cell phones. About 80% of all incoming calls are from cell phones. Of the states that participated in the survey, 17 have installed and are testing the NG911 infrastructure. This is almost double the number of states that had implemented NG911 in 2013.
Upgrading to NG911 is a large undertaking that must be done over time in order to ensure there are no downtimes in the 9-1-1 system. Information learned from the collection of the data can be used to foster collaboration between individual states and the Federal government, as well as provide information that can be helpful in applying for the resources needed to fully implement NG911.
While the task of converting to NG911 is an extremely large undertaking, both financially and in terms of time commitment, funding is available to help individual PSAPs with the costs associated with optimizing their 911 services. A total of $115 million was set aside for the 911 Grant Program in 2014, and it is anticipated that the grants will be awarded in 2018.
To learn more about how you can prepare your PSAP for NG911, check out our Emergency Communications Training white paper. At KOVA, we specialize in public safety solutions. To learn more about how KOVA can help you with the transition to NG911, contact us today.
