Face it – companies are facing a perfect storm of increasing customer requests, talent shortages, hybrid operations and rising customer expectations.
To be successful, customer service organizations must curate a range of technologies that support their operations. To find out which ones are most important, we asked technology decision-makers, suppliers and other subject matter experts their opinions on which ones really matter. We narrowed our search to technologies that 1) are most critical to customer operations; 2) commercially available at enterprise scale and 3) solve key challenges for self-service and digital engagement, request routing, agent operations, collaboration and workforce management.
We have published our findings in our “Contact Center for Customer Service Tech Tide”.
Key insights from Forrester’s Tech Tide
Here are some highlights from our report:
- Technology experts now work better together. CCaaS, workforce management and ticketing form the backbone of customer operations. Even though they have been around for decades, providers still use them today. Vendors also recognize that these technologies must work together to achieve maximum benefit. They provide guidance and reference architectures to do just that.
- GenAI increases the value of a wide range of technologies. Knowledge management, agent augmentation and automated quality monitoring (AQM) have been on the market for years. Yet they have not generated the expected value because they are simply too difficult to use. GenAI's personalization and aggregation features have given them new life and made their ROI potential finally attainable.
- With newer technologies there is a balance between risk and benefit. There are many exciting ones today. Examples include agent augmentation technologies that relieve repetitive work from agents; conversational AI that simulates human conversations; and Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs), which guide agents through onboarding flows and complex processes. They often show great potential in pilot projects, but do not always deliver results when scaled because companies do not pay enough attention to their implementation, change management and governance.
- Some long-established technologies are finally being abandoned. AI, coupled with a focus on fluid, continuous and personal customer engagement, has disrupted some categories. For example, there are no standalone options for Touch Tone and Directed Dialog IVRs as they are now part of broader CCaaS solutions. Today, sophisticated conversational experiences built on large language models (LLMs) are replacing these basic solutions. This will put an end to one of the oldest technologies in customer service.
In our report, we highlight 20 of the top technologies for customer service. We highlight their maturity and business value. We'll guide you on whether you should experiment with, invest in, maintain, or divest from these technologies. Let us know what you think and contact me or one of my colleagues via inquiry to discuss further questions.