Chat-based customer service is growing quickly. But there’s one central question that I think is not being addressed as critically as it should: Is chat acting as a substitute for phone calls? This is a harder question to answer than you might think.
First, to be clear, I’m not talking about chat-bots, i.e. automated self-service, I’m talking about a conversation with a human agent via some form of text-based channel. (Chatbots are an important topic too, which we’ve covered separately here and here, and will revisit shortly.)
If it is proven that a significant amount of conversations that would have been voice are moving to chat, that has huge implications for the 40,000 US call centers and the $25 billion BPO industry. But note the italicized part of the sentence; That crucial point is often glossed over by analysis of this topic. Why is it hard to get a definitive answer?
Every time a customer comes in contact with your brand, whether it’s in-store or online, each interaction is a touch point that contributes to the customer experience. Consumers are demanding more, and their choices are ever expanding, which means that better service will lead to greater customer loyalty.
Live chat is an essential tool for contact centers aiming to improve customer engagement with an active online presence. Chat has been around for over a decade, but only in the last few years have companies realized its true potential. According to 
As a channel for customer support, social media has numerous differences which set it apart from the more traditional voice channel. Accordingly, it often requires the kind of agent who is more in tune with the nuances that social media brings to the table. Simply asking phone-based agents to handle social media interactions can be a recipe for poor customer service.
