Akron, Ohio — Nov. 29, 2010 –Now known as Cyber Monday, today is the start of the online holiday shopping season. People shop online for a variety of reasons, but ease of use is always a top reason. But when a customer needs to talk to a company representative, “easy” is often the last word a customer would use to describe the process. Between busy signals, long hold times and disconnections, sometimes it’s easier for a customer to just go somewhere else.
Transitioning from the self-service environment of a website to live customer service can leave customers confused and discouraged, resulting in poor customer experiences, reduced customer loyalty and lost sales.
Customer-focused companies know that customers will always need to speak with them, so they develop ways to bridge the gap between communication channels, and one way is through the Virtual Hold® WebConnect® web application.
“At its heart, WebConnect is an online view into the contact center. Customers can see if there’s any hold time if they call right now. They can then opt to hold virtually,” said Robert Brazier, product manager for Virtual Hold Technology® (VHT®). “WebConnect saves the customer’s place in line and calls them back when it’s their turn to speak with a specialist. It saves an enormous amount of time in a season when it seems like there is none.”
Initially introduced in 2003, WebConnect allows web visitors easy access to company representatives. If a visitor needs to speak to an agent, WebConnect can display the hold time and enable the visitor to enter a telephone number for a callback.
WebConnect is part of VHT’s Platform Toolkit, which is an API that extends virtual queuing to multiple devices. The toolkit is now in beta testing and should be generally available in early 2011.
“We found ourselves often collaborating with customers to expand the use of virtual queuing across multiple communication channels. We wanted to open up the possibilities to all of our customers, and the Platform Toolkit API was born,” Brazier said. “We see the API becoming an important part of a company’s unified communications strategy in order to create consistent, positive experiences, regardless of communication channel.”
Organisations worldwide using WebConnect to improve the customer experience include ScottishPower, CPS Energy, Nike, iiNet and Nationwide.
For more information on WebConnect, please call 0800 878 6000 or email hello@qology.com.
