INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ), a global leader of cloud services for customer engagement, communications and collaboration, has shared its predictions for the five trends that will disrupt customer service in 2016.
A massive 89 percent of companies plan to compete primarily on the basis of the customer experience by 2016, which is a dramatic increase since 2014 (36 percent) and 2015 (58 percent).1
“It’s clear that companies are making customer interaction experiences a priority, and the trends we’ve identified will be critical if businesses want to stay competitive,” said Dr. Donald E. Brown, Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO. “Of note is that all these trends rely heavily on the cloud, analytics and big data. These now form the underpinnings of nearly all things customer experience-related and will continue to be key components of any successful customer engagement strategy.”
1. Customer-Centricity Breaks Down Silos Between the
Contact Center, Enterprise and External Stakeholders
In
today’s customer-centric world, customer relationships are becoming
everyone’s responsibility. One of the biggest challenges companies face
in this new shared responsibility is the number of employees involved in
handling customer interactions.2 This challenge will drive
the need for digital workstreams powered by converged systems that
support customer engagement, communications and collaboration, and the
cloud will play a key role. These digital workstreams will not only help
break down the barriers between the contact center and enterprise, but
also between organizations and their partners, suppliers and customers
for faster response times and greater knowledge sharing.
2. IoT Expands the Omnichannel Experience
The
explosive growth of device connectivity, wireless technology, cloud
computing, and advanced analytics has driven the Internet of Things from
vision to reality. Today, a full one-third of companies report using
IoT, with another third planning to do so in 2016.3 But how
do companies use IoT to improve customer service without creating yet
another siloed channel? Best practices for connecting IoT platforms to
the contact center will be critical if companies want to create a
seamless customer experience across all interaction channels.
3. Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning Hits
Prime Time
Artificial intelligence has seen explosive
growth. Advanced speech analytics, which relies heavily on AI, has been
used in the contact center for years to monitor interactions and trigger
alerts for intervention. More recent AI advancements have fueled the
growth of machine learning. In fact, the global market for smart
machines is set to grow to nearly $15.3 billion by 2019 at a 19.7
percent growth rate (2014-2019 CAGR).4 Machine learning can
help companies identify patterns and predict customer behavior.
Companies will increasingly use machine learning to proactively engage
with customers and manage the contact center in far more effective and
intuitive ways, including the use of conversational bots that serve as
virtual agents and supervisors.
4. Digital Natives Finally Get Sophisticated DIY
Customer Service
As the influence of millennials on the
purchase process increases, the demand for DIY customer service has
skyrocketed. This need for more sophisticated self-service options
(think Web, SMS and mobile) has left many companies scrambling to give
millennials a true multimodal experience. Despite these challenges,
opportunities abound, especially for start-ups and small to mid-size
companies. These companies are typically more nimble than their larger
counterparts – and many foster cultures that naturally embrace DIY --
thus can adopt these strategies faster.
5. Mobile Everything
The topic of
mobility is nothing new in 2016, but customers, members and citizens are
fast anticipating the ability to do everything via a mobile device. In
fact, nearly half of all inbound calls now come from mobile devices.5
In 2016, developing apps for mobile devices will no longer be an
afterthought but a mandate up front. The challenge will be to create an
experience that ensures the context of the interaction is transferred as
customers move from mobile apps to live interactions.
1 Sorofman, Jake; McLellan, Laura. Gartner Finds Importance of Customer Experience on the Rise — Marketing Is on the Hook, Gartner, Sept. 29, 2014.
2 Snow, Richard. Next Generation Customer Engagement Benchmark Research, Ventana Research, 2014.
3 Gillett, Frank E.; Pelino, Michele; Shields, Tyler. Predictions 2016: IoT’s Impact Inside Companies, Forrester Research, Nov. 16, 2015.
4 Smart Machines: Technologies and Global Markets, BCC Research, May 2014.
5 Dawson, Keith. 2016 Trends to Watch: Contact Centers, Ovum, Oct. 20, 2015.
About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence
Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global leader of cloud services for
customer engagement, communications and collaboration designed to help
businesses worldwide improve service, increase productivity and reduce
costs. Backed by a 21-year history of industry firsts, 100-plus patent
applications, and more than 6,000 global customer deployments,
Interactive offers customers fast return on investment, along with
robust reliability, scalability and security. It's also the only company
recognized by the top global industry analyst firm as a leader in both
the cloud and on-premises customer engagement markets. The company is
headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and has more than 2,000 employees
worldwide. For more information, visit www.inin.com.
Interactive Intelligence is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
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