RingCentral and UKCCF Unveil Eye-Opening New Research

RingCentral commissioned an eye-opening new survey with UKCCF, which looks at UK contact centres and the theme of omnichannel.

The rise of omnichannel communications is an increasingly important discussion in any contact centre – big or small. In an era where customer experience is everything, companies just can’t afford to ignore the channels that their clients prefer to use. Fail to be active where your customers need you most, and you could end up losing crucial revenue. The Aberdeen Group suggests that organisations with the best omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain around 89% of clients, compared to only 33% retention for brands with weak omnichannel strategies.

RingCentral’s latest survey with UKCCF entitled “The state of omnichannel in the UK Contact centre: a myth or reality?” examines the transformation of the customer communication industry. The survey spoke to 100 UK contact centres to collect insights into the importance of omnichannel, and how it’s redefining the relationship between customers and businesses today.

The truth about omnichannel in the UK

In the new survey, RingCentral wanted to go beyond omnichannel as just another buzzword for the communications industry. The survey aimed to uncover the truth about what’s truly possible in an omnichannel environment, and how contact centres can deliver the experiences that their customers are looking for.

RingCentral examined everything from the process of deciding which supported channels to integrate into the contact centre, through to reconsidering things like human capital and existing technology. The research aimed to answer the complicated question of whether omnichannel in the UK is a reality for most companies, or still something we’re struggling to achieve. The study conducted online between the months of March and May this year (2018) surveyed 100 UK contact centres and found that:

• 60% of customer contact centres support contact via web chat, 41% via SMS, 57% via Twitter, and 20% via LinkedIn
• 30% of organisations can identify who is making contact in the business and automatically route them to the best resource (live or automated)
• 28% of contact centres advisors work across multiple channels for contact
• 15% of contact centres use artificial intelligence to support customer service.

While some companies are moving toward omnichannel at a rapid rate, others are still tied down by integration issues, legacy technology, and a simple lack of training. Click To Tweet

There’s still a long way to go

Though the contact centre certainly seems to be evolving, the RingCentral study suggests that there’s still a long way to go before organisations will be able to confirm that they’re genuinely meeting the needs of today’s digital consumers. The research revealed a number of complex barriers to delivering effective service through multiple channels. For instance, respondents reported problems like an inability to integrate the communications channels they support in the same platform, and a lack of advisor training.

Despite the roadblocks, it’s safe to say that the path to omnichannel is a positive one for many companies. Any company can deliver better support when they’re capable of giving their customers the freedom to choose their preferred channel. However, for the most part, it seems that omnichannel is more of a “goal” than a reality in today’s contact centre space. While some companies are moving toward omnichannel at a rapid rate, others are still tied down by integration issues, legacy technology, and a simple lack of training. RingCentral even discovered that 34% of organisations simply don’t have the technology required to support multiple modes of contact.