Skype for Business is tailor made for contact centres. Easy to deploy and highly scalable, it combines voice, video, presence and chat in a single user friendly platform and encourages ‘connect from anywhere’ communications.
As fully a integrated software app, it helps to lower TCO on comms infrastructure, a major overhead for contact centres. It is cloud-ready, supportive of hybrid deployments and meets enterprise-level security and resilience standards.
The only problem is, Microsoft did not make Skype for Business as a contact centre solution. Specifically, it lacks the multichannel routing capabilities required to control resources in a modern contact centre, nor does it have any in-built monitoring or reporting capabilities.
That is where Enghouse Interactive steps in. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Enghouse has taken up the challenge of harnessing Skype for Business as a customer contact platform. Its three native Skype for Business solutions – Contact Centre, Attendant Operator Console and Quality Management Suite – are deployed across more than 450 contact centres worldwide just two years after launch.
Enghouse passionately believes that Skype for Business helps contact centres raise the bar on customer relations while improving productivity and efficiency. Here we dig into its portfolio to find 10 reasons why.
Resolve more queries first time
Skype for Business connects everyone in your organisation, from back office specialists to front-line customer service agents. Enghouse Interactive Contact Centre includes skills-based routing, which diverts customer queries to the people most likely to be able to resolve them quickly and efficiently.
Share knowledge to improve the customer experience
Transforming a whole-business UC solution into a contact centre platform means everyone can get stuck in with customer service. If one colleague talking to a customer encounters a query or issue they cannot deal with, they can seamlessly transfer to someone who can, escalate to a group conversation to include the specialist, or quickly fire off an IM to check for an answer as they talk.
Unify all customer contact points
Skype for Business already handles voice, video, IM and conferencing pretty well. Enghouse Interactive Contact Centre adds SMS, email and social media, so however your customers prefer to contact you, it is all being picked up within the Skype for Business platform, for convenience and efficiency.
Personalise the customer journey
Enghouse Interactive Contact Centre integrates with Microsoft Dynamics CRM to help provide a smooth, personalised experience for the customer. When a call, email or contact via any channel comes in, screen pops alert the agent to background information about the customer, and any relevant contact history so they can pick up the thread quickly. Enghouse estimates this saves an estimated 15 seconds on calls.
Create novel new experiences for customers
How many customers would expect to be able to video call a company with a sales or service query from their own Skype app, or even from a dedicated platform on your own website? Video is booming in popularity as a mainstream comms channel, yet its possibilities in B2C – or C2B – settings are still largely unexplored. As a familiar video-ready platform, Skype for Business can give you the edge of being an early adopter of this and other disruptive contact options. The best customer experiences are those driven by their preferences, so use the flexibility of Skype for Business to meet their demands.
Deal with queries through multiple channels
It is far from unusual nowadays for someone to be watching their favourite show on one screen while talking to a friend on another device while looking up cinema or gig listings on a third. This kind of multichannel flexibility can be adopted in customer service, too. Enghouse Interactive Contact Centre allows all of Skype for Business’ multichannel capabilities to be put to use like this. As a voice conversation unfolds, an agent could send promotional offers via SMS or to a customer’s social media feed, with a direct link to a sales platform. Or they could send a form via IM which they then talk the customer through filling in using screen sharing.
Prioritise high-value customers
Integration with CRM also allows your organisation to identify when high-value customers are making contact and prioritise the service given to them. This is all part of the intelligent routing and queue management capabilities built into Contact Centre and Attendant Operator Console. By combining customer information, queue-based routing and the availability of agents based on skills and capabilities, you can ensure your highest value customers get the swiftest, highest quality service possible.
Reduce lost and abandoned calls
The Enghouse Attendant Operator Console provides a full call management interface built to contact centre specifications which plugs into a Skype for Business phone system. It includes detailed contact, presence and calendar status so agents, operators or receptionists know exactly who is available when they transfer a call, helping to cut the number of calls lost in transfer or abandoned while on hold.
Boost revenues and satisfaction with self-service
The Enghouse Attendant Operator Console includes a range of professional self-service tools such as IVR, touchtone, mobile navigator and corporate web directories. It also includes a developer platform for creating customised self-service options for voice, video, SMS and email which are deployed from within Skype for Business. These options allow you to continue to provide service out of hours, and ensure customers can find a service option even during busy periods when agent availability is low.
Raise the bar on training
As a highly intuitive interface which is already familiar to millions of people worldwide, Skype for Business will in itself reduce the need for routine systems skills training in your contact centre, allowing you to focus instead on service. The Enghouse Interactive Quality Management Suite is a Skype for Business native recording and agent evaluation solution. It records customer interactions across all channels for quality assurance and training purposes, helping to improve overall performance in meeting customer expectations.
