How to turn ad hoc pandemic solutions into a long-term competitive advantage

THE PANDEMIC HAS BLURRED THE LINES BETWEEN WORK AND HOME

The recurring pandemic waves have had a substantial impact on our lives. In many cases, they have broken the previously clearly defined line between work and home. Even industries where office work is fundamental have had to switch to home working for shorter or longer periods, even several times over. Digitalization is gaining momentum, and even though many of the consequences are largely positive, it also creates some not insignificant challenges.

CONTACT CENTERS ARE STILL FACED WITH FUNDAMENTAL TECHNOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

Just like other areas, contact centers have also had to deal with new challenges and problems on the fly. During the pandemic, there was a much larger amount of customer requests, with appreciably smaller on-site teams due to the pressure to reduce costs. The time required to deal with requests grew along with the anxiety and frustration of customers, operators, and businesses. 

There was a new acute need to set up remote access to internal infrastructure, new tools for team collaboration, a reworking of procedures, and a script for dealing with the most common customer requests or the implementation of ad hoc automation to take the burden off operators. Nevertheless, such unsystematic solutions are often unsustainable in the longer term, especially if they don’t take into account all the challenges and opportunities and are not particularly linked up from a wider perspective. 

And so even today, two years after the first wave of the pandemic, contact centers are working through fundamental technical and technological security problems, which have a significant negative impact on the efficiency of their operations, on the satisfaction of demanding customers, and on the individual operators themselves. 

1. IT problems: The original software was based on the requirements and capabilities of the office environment. It doesn’t reflect the new communication channels which customers started to use heavily due to the pandemic.              
   

Ad hoc solutions are needlessly complicated or insufficient:

The commonly introduced softphone or even new hardware required a complicated setup and adapting to an operator’s home.

Another option companies with a larger number of operators often chose was simply moving the contact center to mobile phones. However, in doing this they only gained a limited amount of functionality. Working from home, an operator can simply pick up the phone, but when they make external calls, the customer only sees an unknown phone number. 

2. Inadequate equipment

Slow home computer, lack of VoIP telephone lines, unreliable internet connection.

3. Lack of quick access to information

Operators don’t have easy access to help from colleagues in the event of sudden issues, which is particularly challenging for new team members.

4. Insufficient means of getting feedback

More challenging conditions to appraise the performance of individual operators and share feedback.

5. Security issues

Limited security measures for the handling of customers’ sensitive data outside the office environment, or more precisely a concrete local site.

THE SPINOCO APPLICATION OFFERS A SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE SOLUTION - FAST AND SUSTAINABLE OVER THE LONG TERM

The Spinoco application is an all-in-one cloud solution for contact centers. A comprehensive tool for managing all external and internal communications, including task management, all presented simply and clearly in one place, based on the most modern, latest technology.

Since Spinoco is able to adapt to specific technological conditions and customer needs, it is an effective response to all the fundamental technological challenges which today’s contact centers are often faced with:

1. Replicates the office environment in a home setting.

Whenever and wherever, for whichever communication channel - telephone, email, live chat, social media, and more. The operator simply signs in and has everything they need at hand.

2. Turns a smartphone into an intelligent contact center with a complete range of services.

No need to buy any additional hardware.

Moreover, it can compensate for a low-quality internet connection - it can receive and transmit data on its own through a GSM signal (SIM card) in the phone.

3. Instant communication between colleagues facilitated by your own internal chat

‍(including group chats). It eliminates conversations about which tool you’re going to use and offers all the functionalities of the office. The easy-to-use interface and smart automation doesn’t just make multichannel communication with customers easier but supports also internal task management, as well as onboarding itself.

4. All interactions are recorded and measurable

All metrics, dashboards, and the automatic feedback feature are easy to customize for the needs of a specific organization.

5. Spinoco is a cloud solution, where security is guaranteed.

It also provides further customization options - such as the setup of additional restrictions or controls as required.

Spinoco doesn’t just allow operators to work from home, it also helps manage customer requirements according to urgency or skills needed and it reduces the amount of task repetition through the appropriate use of AI tools and automation. Customers, therefore, receive immediate feedback, freeing up space for operators to work through more complex requirements, whilst at the same time giving managers a comprehensive view and complete control of the contact center’s operation.

Thanks to its reliability, integrability, and scalability, Spinoco represents a sustainable long-term solution, tailored to your needs. The speed of integration depends on you - you can start using a wide range of services right away, or you can implement individual functionalities gradually, step by step, which is valuable when introducing new communication channels or smart automation.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACT CENTRES USE SPINOCO FOR ITS RELIABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

“Thanks to the folks at Spinoco a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. We already have several large projects behind us. We have implemented multilingual, multi-channel customer service solutions, or remote services for our clients, but 100% operational and with a secure approach for the operators. At Heloo we have also integrated Spinoco with our recruitment software and we use it to look for candidates and evaluate their language and other skills, involving the entire recruitment team and external supervisors.

The guys at Spinoco continually amaze me with their proactivity and availability. As for the technological solution itself, it has surpassed our expectations. It’s extremely simple and user-friendly, yet at the same time robust and powerful, so we’re able to address practically any client requirement. I would also highlight the reporting options, which are completely flexible and versatile too.”

Tomislav Plesa
COO & Managing Partner

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CONTACT CENTRES FROM HOME ARE HERE TO STAY. USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Working from home can be a challenge. This is also true for contact centers. But it also brings with it a raft of benefits, including greater operation satisfaction, lower staff turnover, and easier recruitment of new talent.

If your contact center is still using an outdated technological environment, it might be time for a change.

Spinoco will help you build long-term customer loyalty through a positive user experience and will ensure the flexible yet professional management of your contact center, which can become a fundamental pillar of your commercial success.

Get in touch today, we’ll gladly show you how.