Every year companies spend millions of dollars on technology in hopes of improving customer satisfaction, their competitive position and their operational performance, while reducing costs. Until now, there has never been a statistically valid research study, with data from companies across a diverse set of vertical industries, that clearly indicates whether a relationship truly exists between more advanced technology and better company performance. This report entitled, "The Impact of Technology on Contact Center Performance," can be found here:http://www.benchmarkportal.com/store/call-center-white-papers/impact-technology-contact-center-performance-bruce-belfiore-john-chat
Bruce L. Belfiore, Senior Research Executive at BenchmarkPortal and co-author of the study states, “The key findings in The Impact of Technology on Contact Center Performance report are that advanced technologies are potent enablers of superior performance. By looking at validated data sets from 143 contact centers, we are able to provide CEO’s and senior executives with evidence that investments in advanced contact center technologies reduce costs and increase the quality of service. For instance, we found that a contact center that handles 2 million calls a year could save $707,000 annually by using the right technology to improve an important key performance indicator: First Contact Resolution (FCR).”
The study did not ask contact center managers for their opinions, feelings, plans or experiences regarding technology. Rather, states John Chatterley, Director of Research, BenchmarkPortal and co-author, “We asked them only for their data - data on their center's technology and data on their center's performance. The team used a Contact Center Maturity Model™, co-developed by Cisco (which sponsored the research) and BenchmarkPortal. The model places technologies into six silos corresponding to the flow and management of contacts from beginning to end: Receive, Recognize, Route, Queue, Resolve and Review. The sophistication and advanced capabilities of technology were analyzed for each silo vs. contact center performance.”
Dr. Natalie L. Petouhoff, also a co-author of the study, said, “While most companies still think of the contact center as a cost center, this study finally proves that adoption of more sophisticated technology results in not only improved customer and customer service agent satisfaction, but also in contact center efficiencies and effectiveness. For executives looking to justify management decisions regarding technology acquisition, they now have scientifically‐supported evidence that satisfying customers and enhancing financial performance are not at odds.”
Using a correlation analysis and t‐tests, the study found that technologies that ensure proper staffing, connection and recognition of inquiries; that promote proper routing, queuing and resolution / escalation of contacts; and that provide reporting and analytics to both agents and management are statistically related to superior performance. The study showed that among the many key performance indicators studied, more advanced technologies provide higher FCR, lower Cost per Call, increased Calls Handled per Agent per Hour and reduced Queue Time.
The full report can be purchased here: http://www.benchmarkportal.com/store/call-center-white-papers/impact-technology-contact-center-performance-bruce-belfiore-john-chat
