data-pass-through

Are you asking your customers to repeat information that the IVR has already asked?

By Chris on June 17, 2011

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One of the great benefits to using Fonolo is that you can fix the “data pass-through” problem. You may not have heard this phrase before, but you have surely experienced it. Whenever you are asked for information by the IVR and then asked for the same information again by the agent, the culprit is broken data pass-through. More info on this in Jason’s post “Fonolo fixes the dreaded…”

Why is still happening?

You’ve probably thought to yourself “surely, we have the technology to make this work! What’s going on here?” Call center commentator Greg Levin writes:

What’s universally aggravating to callers is – after providing the IVR with their name, account number… having to repeat the very same information to the agent to whom their call is transferred… To avoid [this] .. leading contact centers incorporate CTI (computer telephony integration) technology into their IVR system [which] … deliver that information directly to the desktop of the agent handling the call. With today’s technologies, it’s really quite simple (though, granted, not always cheap), and the impact on the customer experience is immense.

Ultimately, a technology problem

So, this thing called CTI should solve the problem. So what’s the hold-up?

Although CTI has been around for a long time, it is often broken in modern call centers because of the multi-site problem. In short, most companies with significant call volume use multiple call centers (their own, or outsourced). Since call centers all run on proprietary technology and there are no standards to exchange data, data pass-through doesn’t work. Read more here: “The ubiquity of multi-site call centers”.

If your company is releasing a mobile app, don’t miss a key opportunity

By Chris on June 10, 2011

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Increasingly, companies are releasing mobile apps for their customers.

More and more mobile apps

In verticals like banking, travel, insurance and retail, the practice is becoming universal. See “Online retail is embracing the smart phone” and “RBC releases mobile app. Now all the banks are in.”

But something is missing from the feature list

We commonly see features that support the cross-channel experience. For example, product info, store info and coupons help support the in-store experience. We think this is just the beginning of making a mobile app part of the cross-channel experience. But when it is time to call the company, the phone is reduce to a plain ‘ole dial tone.

Tremendous opportunity

There is a tremendous opportunity to use the keyboard, screen, data channel and computing power of the smartphone to make those transactions smoother. For example, it can be used to:

Steer their call to the right agent, thus reducing misnavigation.
Trigger virtual queuing which can eliminate hold times.
Enter information like a case number or account number, thus reducing call handle times.
Provide post-call feedback.

You can see some demonstrations of these features here.

Use Fonolo to connect your call center to your mobile app

By adding the Fonolo component to your mobile app, consumers can connect directly with the call center in a smart and cost-effective way. Best of all, no changes are required to the call center infrastructure.

Fonolo fixes the dreaded “data pass-through” problem

By Jason Bigue on May 5, 2011

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Our mission at Fonolo is to fix common aggravations with the call center experience. One common aggravation is the “data pass-through” problem. You may not have heard this phrase before, but you have surely experienced it. Whenever you are asked for information by the IVR and then asked for the same information again by the agent, the culprit is broken data-pass-through.

Why is it so common?

Fixing this integration point seems like an obvious investment for companies to make. Clearly the time required for agents to collect account numbers (or other “call attached” data) has a real cost. As does the aggravation of customers that answer the agent’s request by saying: “I just punched in my number! Why don’t you have that information?”

The problem usually arises because 1) the company is running multiple call centers; 2) it is rare for any two call centers to be built on identical technology; and 3) there are no standards for interoperability between call center equipment. The result is incompatible proprietary systems which means that call centers have to fall back on the lowest common denominator functionality. The following quote says it all:

Most midsize to large contact centers are based on complex and unstable architectures that integrate many disparate technologies into distinct, unique and costly combinations of components … [even] acquiring an IVR system from vendors such as Avaya, Nortel Networks and Genesys does not ensure tight integration with those companies’ ACD or CTI products.

– Yankee Group, “VoIP and Lower TCO will Drive Adoption of Hosted
On-Demand Contact Centers” Yankee Group, April 2006.

Fonolo to the rescue

Fonolo can fix this problem because it lives “outside” the realm of the call center equipment. With our visual interface the caller can enter information before the call and it gets delivered to the agent, regardless of the way the call center is built.