John P. Joseph, VP Corporate Marketing, Envox Worldwide You Asked Video in the contact center sounds really exciting – what can I do with it today?

As customers become more demanding, mobile, and sophisticated, contact centers need to use every weapon in their arsenal to ensure that the service they provide exceeds expectations. Video is the most recent innovation savvy organizations are evaluating today to both enhance service operations and enchant their customers. Consider video for:

• New opportunities for self-service: New Interactive Voice and Video Response (IVVR) solutions offer a visual user interface for menu presentations yielding faster navigation and richer services.

• More effective technical and installation support: Providing video clips for frequently asked technical questions will decrease call time significantly. The caller can replay the video as needed to see what comes next and what if any steps they may have missed.

• New branding and advertising opportunities: Video can enable innovative solutions such as playing targeted ads to callers on hold and the use of avatars in video menus to further reinforce corporate branding.

• Enhanced agent effectiveness for complex sales: Video is also an effective tool that agents can use to better assist customers and speed purchasing decisions. Once the caller has explained their requirements, the agent could provide video clips for the 3-4 products that best suit their needs. The caller would then be able to quickly compare each product’s feature set and price to quickly reach a decision.

Being the first to offer a more engaging and useful customer experience will definitely pay off in future loyalty. And, it may not be as difficult as you think to implement. Today’s more advanced IVR platforms already offer video capabilities and VoIP ensures that applications can seamlessly handle both voice and video in the same call. When considering any new technology, it is important to remember that time is of the essence — today’s competitive advantage will soon become tomorrow’s norm.

John Joseph is vice president of corporate marketing at Envox Worldwide, a voice solutions provider based in Westborough, Mass. Envox Worldwide