Here’s a look at how each of the tools contributes
to first call resolution.
* Interactive Voice Response. We’ve all had encounters with IVR. In fact, it’s rare to call a contact center and not encounter IVR. Before you speak with a human operator, a recorded voice collects your account number or ID and asks a series of questions to qualify your issue: “If you want to place a new order, press 1. If you want to change an existing order, press 2.” And so on. It may seem as if IVR was invented just to annoy callers. But done correctly, IVR speeds the issue resolution process.
One alternative to IVR is live agents who ask the qualifying questions and then have a specialist call you back—no chance of first call resolution with that approach. Another alternative is live agents who handle entire calls themselves. But agents are expensive, and each agent can handle only one call at time. When all the agents are busy, additional callers are put on hold—not a good way to start a customer transaction. By front-ending live-agent interactions, IVR technology accelerates issue resolution and reduces contact center operating costs. Well designed IVR doesn’t put you on hold or funnel you through a series of agents until you finally reach one with answers. Instead, it collects your
information accurately, just once, and takes you directly to the most appropriate agent—a big step toward first call resolution.
* Knowledge Management Systems. Of course, even the most knowledgeable agents can use help now and then. No one can be expected to know everything about every product that a company sells or supports. Still, customers want quick, accurate resolution of their problems. If they have to sit on hold while a service representative sifts through support documentation, or worse yet, if the agent cannot find the answer at all, the company can lose a customer.
Knowledge management systems organize both structured and unstructured information and then return relevant extracts in response to agents’ questions. Information may be stored as databases, text files, slide presentations and other formats. According to Sarath Jarugula, senior product manager at Knova Software, a provider of “intelligent customer experience applications,” knowledge management systems are not Google-like search engines. They are more like Ask.com—expert systems that analyze questions and return the most likely answers.
Jarugula described a typical knowledge management application: A contact center agent collects information from a caller under the guidance of a customer relationship management (CRM) system. The CRM system passes the information—installing product X; having trouble on step 10, etc.—to the knowledge management system. If the problem statement is specific enough, the knowledge management system returns the one document with the answers. Otherwise, it may return a list of possible answers or may ask questions to further refine the issue. By supplementing agents’ own knowledge, knowledge management systems ensure that callers’ issues are resolved quickly and reliably.
* Agent Scripting. To get the right answers, with or without the help of a knowledge management system, you have to ask the right questions. That’s where agent scripting comes in. Scripting software puts a structure around the agent-customer conversation. The scripting system guides the agent to ask questions and gather information in the proper sequence. Without this guidance, an agent may waste time asking irrelevant questions or exploring blind alleys.
Once the information is gathered, some scripting systems pass it to a knowledge management system or wiki automatically; others require agent intervention. By automating the agent-customer dialogue, scripting ensures that agents follow a correct and thorough path to first call resolution. Agent scripting is particularly popular in outbound environments, where agents are calling customers to promote products or services, followup on previous calls, collect on overdue bills, etc.
