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"Exceptions Are Where the Costs Live"

I just read that sentence on a slide from Global Crossing for VoiceCon San Francisco, and, more than anything else I've seen, it sums up what I think everyone's been trying to get at when it comes to the importance of communications.

I just read that sentence on a slide from Global Crossing for VoiceCon San Francisco, and, more than anything else I've seen, it sums up what I think everyone's been trying to get at when it comes to the importance of communications.Here's the context for the comment about exceptions:

Enterprise applications are fine for executing normal transactions, but exceptions need Unified Communication capabilities. * Exceptions are where the costs live. * Handling exceptions has a exponential effect on efficiency and customer satisfaction.

We've been talking around this point as we discuss UC. When Avaya describes Whirlpool's implementation of Communications Enabled Business Processes, they spend most of their time talking about exception handling--how communications come into play when something needs to be resolved. Global Crossing is making the same point here.

Note also in that second bullet point, how the line blurs between contact center and unified communications. A couple of years back, we had a presentation at VoiceCon that pointed out that customers are actually more likely to do business with a company if they've had a problem with that company which has been successfully resolved, more so even than the likelihood of doing business with a company with whom you've never had a problem. The idea is, everyone knows that problems happen and things go wrong, but if you feel confident that the company will address and resolve your concern to your satisfaction, that's a company you'll build a long-term relationship with.

It's the same thing with Global Crossing and exception handling. Everyone knows exceptions happen, but as an enterprise you need to have efficient systems for dealing with these internally, and your customers need to be confident in your externally-facing exception handling processes--which are generally embodied in your contact center.

So as enterprises cast about for Unified Communications cost justifications, they should look at how building communications into exception handling processes can save costs--by hitting them where they live.