Peter Galloway, Sabio, comments on Nuance's "New Year Resolutions"

While Nuance's 'Five New Year Resolutions too Get Your Call Centre Fit for 2009' commendably focuses on the need for optimising efficiency while still delivering superior customer service, it's still important to balance innovative technology solutions with expert consultancy and services skills that can really help solutions such as speech-enabled self-service to deliver on their promise.

For 2009, we believe there will be real enthusiasm for projects that can benefit the customer experience without impacting the bottom line. Attention will be centred on those technologies and solutions that can really deliver a difference within the calendar year – and, not surprisingly, management is routinely questioning those projects with longer ROIs.

1. Let Customers Just Say It – we're the first to acknowledge that some of the latest speech technologies offer incredible performance, however it's also important to remember that the most successful applications are those that find the right interface to support the dialogue that works best for the customer. It's not the touchtone systems that are disliked; it's the poorly designed applications that couldn't ever deliver a positive customer experience – irrespective of the technology being used. At Sabio, we've got extensive experience in designing and implementing successful speech applications, and while speech can deliver compelling results, it isn't always the most appropriate technology.

2. Automate to Alleviate – yes you have to find the right combination of automated and agent-assisted interactions, however that requires a lot more than just technology. Successful speech applications demand in-depth, user-centred design techniques, the right persona and customer engagement strategies, as well as a clear understanding of where they can and can't work well. That's why it's so important to automate the right elements of the interaction, while still leaving the customer feeling in control and confident of the right outcome.

3. Reach out to customers – successful outbound IVR initiatives can generate significant benefits, particularly if they reduce or eliminate the requirement for follow-up customer calls. If you've ordered a new washing machine for delivery on Wednesday morning, then you'll be re-assured to get an automated call letting you know that it's on time for your 11am delivery. Such an automated solution can effectively reduce the cost of non-delivery for both the individual and the supplier. Outbound IVR is an excellent example of a successful call avoidance strategy – for both parties.

4. Know your customer is your customer - fraud is a major financial issue for contact centre operators, potentially accounting for up to three percent of the bottom line for most financial services based companies. 2009 will see the broader take-up of solutions that not only identify customers, but also effectively isolate the critical transactional elements of a call by either transferring customers to secure, speech-enabled credit card payment lines – delivering new levels of protection for customers, agents and operators – or integrating biometric voice verification techniques for enhanced security. Voice verification can also help to remove the complex and expensive password reset procedures that currently account for up to 20 percent of the calls that financial services call centres receive. Here's an excellent example of how enhanced security can also unlock significant productivity benefits. However, the successful applications will be those that strike the right balance between increasing protection and maintaining accessibility.

5. Get ready to differentiate in 2010 - while we agree that the proportion of contact centre interactions that are conducted by mobile phone is increasing, we believe that the differentiation comes not just from the channel used, but through the quality of the experience. Often this comes through removing barriers – taking away the obstacles that can make interactions difficult; by making an organisation easier or safer to do business with. The most successful self-service solutions are those that customers are happy to use, so the focus always needs to be on Performance through Usability.