2015: An insight into future technology

2015 is a good year to choose because it’s close enough to be imaginable, yet still far enough away for two major technology shifts to have taken place that will significantly impact how the call centres of 2015 operate.

21CN

The first of these is the development of 21CN, BT’s next generation network which will see BT’s multiple analogue networks replaced by a single, end-to-end IP-based network. 21CN will provide the delivery platform for 2015’s growing range of digital services, with consumers expected to replace today’s multiple subscriptions and instead select a single digital service provider to deliver all their communications and media services, including TV, phone, mobile, video-on-demand, Web, e-mail, instant messaging, text, as well as all the relevant digital content.

BT’s plan for 21CN envisages a simple, personalised service for consumers, shaped according to their needs, with ‘self-service’ management wherever possible. This commitment to self-service is likely to have a significant impact on the 2015 contact centre. 21CN services will be primarily delivered by HDTV, with consumers contracting to one of five or six main service providers – from a 2006 perspective, possible contenders could be BT, Sky, Virgin/NTL/Telewest and Talk Talk.

These major communications players will engage with other organisations – banks, insurance companies, travel & holiday firms etc. etc. – in major affinity partnerships, with services delivered across the 21CN. It will be interesting to see how organisations like the major supermarkets - who in 2006 have already extended far beyond their core grocery business providing broadband, mobile phone and financial services products – position themselves to take advantage of the 21CN.

Device convergence

Today we carry what by 2015 will look like a ridiculous variety of electronic devices – laptops, PDA/Blackberries, iPods, mobile phones, Nintendo and portable Playstations, MP3 players, digital cameras - even some CD players and portable DVD players. Each of these all require some kind of mains charger and cables to connect to PCs.

Already in 2006 we’re seeing signs that this technology divergence is slowing down. Standards such as Digital TV, HDD and UMPC are shaping moves towards single devices for Home and Mobile applications. The home device will hook-up to the 21CN and feature local storage for content and personal data. By 2014 we’ll also have completed the switch-off of analogue TV, with TV broadcasts only delivered digitally. In 2015 there will be no requirement for a set-top box, for home PCs, DVD recorders, telephone answering machines and the many other electronic consumer devices that exist around our current domestic TV and PC installations.

This year we’re also seeing the launch of the 1st UMPC devices with Samsung’s upcoming portable device that combines HDTV, PC, mobile phone and Playstation in a single device. This will be the first of many such converged devices, and by 2015 there will be no distinction between home and mobile phones, with the device simply searching for the most appropriate network to carry its traffic.

Growth in self-service

BT’s commitment to self-service as an integral part of the 21CN service offer confirms what Sabio is seeing in today’s marketplace. The majority of organisations now understand that self-service isn’t poor service – it’s increasingly the UK consumer’s preferred way of doing things. By 2015 this will have gone further. The 21CN will include a software console that the consumer will use to manage their own service accounts, process their own connectivity (no more waiting for lines to be activated), and much less requirement for telcos to operate their own major service networks.

With self-service handling the majority of 21CN service requirements, organisations will typically only use live agents to deal with the exceptions and manage more complex interactions. This is going to have an inevitable impact on the make-up of the 2015 contact centre.

What will the call centre of 2015 look like?

Linked directly to the 21CN, handling all interactions – whether telephone, web, IM or e-mail – through the same network. The 2015 call centre will typically be smaller, there will be less of them (that’s less of the 2006-style large centres with hundreds or even thousands of agents), and the agents within them will be more multi-skilled, more educated, more IT-literate and with a greater quality focus.

What will be its main objectives?

Providing expert support for customers who are escalated out of the self-service infrastructure. Agents will evolve to become ‘Service Ambassadors’, empowered to solve issues, compensate the customer where applicable, and with the skills and expertise to handle more complex customer retention or sales opportunities.

What will be the main challenges it faces?

Many of the challenges will be the same as today. Making sure that customers don’t have to wait too long to have their queries answered, that customers are recognised when they call in, and that their customer records are available during the call, that organisations build customer service structures that actually work around customer needs rather than for their own back-office convenience, and that customer calls are quickly routed to the resource that is best able to answer their query. These core challenges will be as equally valid in 2015 as they are now.

It’s also fair to point out that not all contact centres address all these issues well today, so the intervening nine years should see significant further investment in technologies and processes that can help address these key issues.

What technology will be helping it deliver those objectives and meet those challenges?
Self-service applications – primarily speech-based, with customers speaking through their home or mobile devices. Presence technologies such as SIP will determine how and where a customer is, before presenting appropriate dialogues and functions depending whether they’re on the move or not.

Intelligent routing – contact centres may be smaller in 2015, but there may be more people actually engaged in customer service than today. They might not be full-time customer service agents, but their expertise and specialist skills mean that they are ideal resources for dealing with specific customer issues. They might be working at home, or on the move. 2015’s intelligent routing applications will know when and where specialist resources are available and connect them with customers where applicable.

More integrated, standards-based software – organisations will manage all their customer interactions using powerful, software-only CIM Customer Interaction Management solutions from vendors such as Avaya and Genesys that integrate closely with their CRM applications. These will all sit on standardised servers and databases using IP as their standard connection.

Growth in IP, SIP, SOA and Web Services – these will be the core technologies for the next ten years – IP because of its convergence and flexibility, SIP because of its ability to tailor services according to location and its ability to unlock resource within organisations, and SOA/Web Services as the key building blocks for more flexible, customer-facing call centre applications.