Most people start out the New Year with a resolution to get fit. By this time in February, we’ve either given up or we’re just hitting our stride. When we’re hitting our stride, it’s because of dedication, training, and tools. The same can be said at work. Getting your contact center in shape needs dedication, training, and tools, just like your body.

Let’s take tools as an example. I ride my bike for fitness. It improves my focus and lifts my mood, even when I get the occasional blown tire or broken chain. That’s because all my tools—spare tubes, and patch kit—are easily accessed under my seat. So, when I encounter trouble on the road, it’s resolved quickly. I’m on my way again in nothing flat. Pun intended.

It would be different story if the tools weren’t right within my reach. Think of how much easier any job becomes when everything you need is at your fingertips. When your contact center agents don’t have all the necessary tools at their disposal, they’re acutely aware of gaps in their toolkit.

Customers Know When They Get Taken for a Ride

People—customers—expect timely, relevant, and personalized services. And they won’t hesitate to abandon your brand for one that delivers on that promise. According to MarketingCharts, not only do 72% of customers switch to a competitor due to poor experience, it’s their main reason for switching.

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. It’s pretty clear why they’re voting with their wallets and their feet. Over time, customers interact with your company multiple times in multiple ways. They’re in touch by phone call, chat, email, mobile app, or social channels. If your agents don’t have the context from past interactions, or if they’re forced to switch between multiple systems to get it, the customer’s journey turns into a series of disjointed experiences. This leads to frustration—for customers and agents.

Is a Breakdown Waiting to Happen?

According to a DestinationCRM article on unified desktops, Ventana Research reports that 44% of contact center agents need to access three or more applications to resolve a single customer issue. Adding more customer issues could increase the applications they need to 20. Numbers like these reinforce the idea that an omnichannel desktop is no longer an option, but a requirement.

Problem is, contact centers want their agents to act as human supercomputers. Agents are expected to understand everything, navigate multiple systems, and join all processes together. The same DestinationCRM article cites Aberdeen Group research indicating only a third of companies have integrated their customer service applications with other business applications and processes.

Expecting a human to act like a computer is unrealistic. You end up with silos of information that are difficult or impossible to share and distribute. Here’s your challenge: instead of relying on a human supercomputer, why not empower those super people who manage your support channels with the tools to do the job right?

An Omnichannel Desktop Eliminates Obstacles

Awkward support experiences are eliminated when your agents have a single managed desktop to use to offer your customers a better—more integrated, holistic, and timely—experience. With this single desktop workspace, agents can see an entire customer journey, manage all interactions from any channel, and collaborate with others to address any outstanding issues.

But before your pour money and manpower into just any omnichannel desktop solution, be sure to choose one that is robust enough in these three areas.

Orchestrate interactions between agents and customers, and enable collaboration between internal experts:

  • Choose a technology that’s intelligent enough to match customer attributes and employee skills smoothly.
  • Give agents the ability to manage all interactions and work items from a single desktop application.
  • Leverage enterprise-wide knowledge by selecting an overall solution that supports real-time collaboration across the organization.

Provide agents with enough context and knowledge to manage each customer interaction:

  • Give your agents a holistic view of customer context and history so that they “see” the entire journey.
  • Provide seamless access to your knowledge base so your agents can offer standard responses.
  • Empower your agents with solutions that support their conversations through dynamic scripting.

Automate your CRM workflow and simplify your agent desktop strategy:

  • Automate customer identification and verification to get the speed that’s critical.
  • Help drive faster resolution times with solutions that accelerate business process execution.
  • Keep things running smoothly with a solution that simplifies development, delivery, and maintenance.

Get up to Speed by Watching Our Omnichannel Desktop Video

It’s a lot to think about. It’s almost like choosing the right bike for the right terrain and application. You want something comfortable for long distance riding, something that folds for commuting, and something sturdy for riding off road.

To help you make the right choice, we’ve put together a video demonstration: Genesys Omnichannel Desktop. It shows how to:

  • Equip your agents to personalize every interaction
  • Integrate CRM, Microsoft Skype for Business and other systems to deliver effortless omnichannel experiences
  • Transform your agent experience and build lasting customer relationships

Be sure to watch the video today.