Part 2: India contact centers ready themselves for a surge in demand in the age of hybrid work

In India, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is one of the fastest-growing segments. Like any other industry, the BPO sector has been hugely affected by the pandemic but also shown extraordinary resilience during this time. In this 2-part blog series, Jamie Romanin shares his perspectives on the unique opportunity presented to the India BPO sector through innovation and collaboration as we see industry peers in India navigating through hybrid work.

Hybrid work is the way of the future

The hybrid work environment didn’t just happen overnight. In fact, it took a global pandemic to bring it to the forefront and secure its place and acceptance in the corporate world – and in the history books. Like we revealed in Part 1 of our story, a once-in-a-century event like a global pandemic changes everything. It has impacted societies, families, human health, work-life, entire industries – and is reshaping the ‘way of life or ‘human condition’ for every nation worldwide. The corporate world, in particular, recognizes the need to adopt technology and set up robust processes for this hybrid work model. But while many businesses are slowly reopening offices and implementing new work-from-home policies, the desire for work-life balance and flexibility is now firmly ensconced in our psyche. Let’s face it: The blended work format is here to stay and the way of the future. Welcome to Part-2 of our story, where we quickly touch on some of the hurdles on the pathway to a blended work environment, the importance of elevating the customer experience, and examine the latest contact center functionality helping workers thrive with innovative contact center technology.

Hurdles to overcome and the way forward

But first, let’s remember that remote work and the ‘work-from-anywhere model bring with it a host of challenges around security, productivity, and training. Thankfully, the contact center industry has been quick to adopt solutions to address each of these concerns. Let’s consider some examples. While security spending across industries has increased, collaboration tools such as Webex have enabled access to supervisors and team heads to provide speedy resolutions, apart from ensuring productivity. Contact centers have also adopted software-based training modules to help new agents learn at their convenience. Contact centers have also moved to a distributed model for critical workstreams across locations to de-risk operations.

Elevating customer experiences

But perhaps the biggest takeaway – and the main reason for a boost in the contact center industry – are the benefits on the customer experience (CX) front. In fact, today’s contact center technology is the hub of customer experience management – a ‘relationship hub’ – that delivers more meaningful CX. Technology adoption and automation of repetitive tasks will be key for contact center operations to meet customer expectations and deliver exceptional experiences – a world where ‘super agents’ are empowered with greater intelligence and automation to be able to respond to even the most challenging and complex customer experiences. As I write this blog, I can’t help but reflect on how this innovative technology – particularly call center technology – has aided in the ease of doing business. A large chunk of contact center customer relations officers is based across India. But with faster resolution, enabled by seamless connectivity and cloud-enabled services, companies can deliver exceptional interactions and experiences. Without hampering the quality of service and providing better services, companies are also saving on capital expenditure. At the same time, the industry is upping its spending on technology infrastructure in a bid to enable a superior level of customer service. From incorporating AI to providing a collaboration solution (meeting or video) that integrates with agent desktop, the enhanced contact center technology plays a pivotal role in augmenting high-quality customer experiences. For example, a unified dashboard helps a customer relations executive pinpoint customer challenges and problems in real-time and determine solutions. In short, the dashboard enables a quicker turnaround time to resolve a pending issue, eliminating the need for the client to narrate the problem in detail. Cisco, for its part, knows all too well about the power of delivering meaningful customer experiences. Let’s look at some of Cisco’s Webex Contact Center capabilities, which help businesses connect with the customer across multiple channels, including traditional voice channels and digital channels such as Facebook Messenger, SMS, and chat. The queries can be addressed using AI/ML-powered chatbots, or the call can be passed on to an agent for resolution. Utilizing technology to automate tasks, such as real-time transcripts and intelligent self-service, also improves efficiency and first-call resolution. Additionally, Webex Contact Center’s AI technology also provides live agent assistance and provides capability to bring in a subject matter expert outside the contact center ecosystem using the Webex App. What these and other Webex features point to is a future that’s rich in collaboration and connection. A world that engages customers and delivers personalized services. And at a time when companies are rethinking business process management – and ramping up vital processes like contact center solutions – these types of cloud-based and intuitive technology couldn’t come soon enough – particularly for someone like me, a remote worker like everyone else who needs collaboration and connection to subject matter experts at my fingertips.

To learn more about Webex Contact Center and the platform’s features and benefits, read the showcase brochure or get started with a personalized cloud contact center demo today.