srini.katta3

    March 2011 Previous month Next month

    Before getting started, I think it’s important to set a context for what I will refer to as a “contact center” throughout this blog.  When one first thinks of a contact center, huge centers dedicated to customer service operations come to mind.  Contact centers do not just refer to these robust call centers.  For purposes of this blog, a contact center is any base of operations used to manage inbound customer communication.  Thus, contact center solutions are relevant for both the large company with multiple call centers as well and the small or midsized business with far fewer resources to dedicate to such operations.      

    iServiceGlobe recently unveiled a multichannel cloud based contact center solution. We are excited about this latest development because it is a natural extension of our already existing CRM solutions. Based upon SAP BCM (Business Communication Manager) Rapid Deployment Edition, this cloud based solution includes integration with SAP CRM 7.0 and is available in a subscription model. 

    We can get into the details of this integration later, but for now, I thought it would help to shed light on BCM.  Towards the end of last year, in an effort to refine our solution offerings, we surveyed a variety of customers to get a better idea of some of their existing customer service issues.  What we found was that many of our customers were struggling with their contact center operations.  Below is a brief list of a few of the items that continually arose as difficulties:

    ·         Routing calls to the proper agent or manager

    ·         Managing contact center personnel

    ·         Variability in service quality depending on service agent

    ·         Failed call transfers

    ·         Confused service agents from multiple user interfaces

    To address these issues, we searched for a simple and easy to implement solution that could address these concerns.         

    After a few months of research and testing various contact center solutions, we landed on SAP BCM, an all software based contact center solution that comes with native integration to SAP business applications such as SAP ERP and CRM.  SAP BCM proved to be a natural extension of our SAP CRM solution.  To complement our cloud based SAP CRM offering, we developed a cloud based SAP BCM offering as well.

    So it all sounds great, but how will this solution actually help your business?

    ·         Intelligent routing of customer calls

    ·         Email based Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and self-service

    ·         Screen pop-ups providing a 360-degree view of customer to call

              center agent (when integrated with an SAP business 

              application)

    ·         Directory and presence services of onsite/remote/at home

              based call center agents

    ·         Real time recording, supervision and coaching of call center

              agents by supervisors

    ·         Centralized management, administration and monitoring

    ·         Blended analytics

    ·         Supports virtual contact center with diverse users (onsite

              agents, remote agents and automated services)

    ·         Supports a range of terminals such as IP desk phone, PC

              desktops, and mobile terminals

    As you can see, BCM provides a diverse set of functionalities that are useful for almost any organization.  The benefit to our cloud based offering is that it integrates seamlessly with other SAP business applications and can scale with your business.     

    Be sure to check back in tomorrow and I’ll provide some additional details into the solution.

    Yesterday, I provided a broad overview of a few of the functional benefits to our cloud based SAP BCM solution.  Today, we’ll get into the solution details.  I will not only explain the functional tools but also the operational benefits.  It will look like a bit of a laundry list but that is mainly because the functional tools within BCM are vast.  At the conclusion of the blog I will highlight some of the actual business benefits from this solution.

    SAP BCM rapid deployment solution provides a variety of tools to help any organization that is looking to streamline the manner in which it handles both inbound and outbound customer interactions. I will focus on the following:

    ·         Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

    ·         Inbound contact center

    ·         Click to dial for outbound calls

    ·         Supervisor and manager tools

    ·         Operations and system management

    ·         Monitoring and reporting

    Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

    ·         Caller recognition service – Allows you to identify the customer

              by the incoming phone number or by asking the customer to

              enter the registered phone number via key pad (if that phone #

              is already a part of the customer/contact person profile)

    ·         Performs the CRM database search based on the customer id

    ·         Allows you to provide voice menus for caller such as press 1 for

              sales and press 2 for service etc...

    ·         Voice self-service – Allows caller to do such things as check

              their account balance via phone banking

    ·         Info and off-hour services will allow you to play service

              interruption messages to customers when dialing in

    In-bound contact center

    ·         Intelligent routing that increases first call resolution

    ·         Routs calls to an appropriate agent based on skillset required

              and agent availability (Ex: to resolve the customer problem

              based on requested service type during IVR process)

    ·         Provides special call handling tools such as recording the

              conference, call back etc...

    ·         Provides core call handling tools such as answer, hold, transfer,

              consult, and hang-up

    Click to dial and dialer for outbound calls

    ·         Quickly dial the  customer or prospect by clicking the phone

              hyper link in the customer record without the need of entering 

              the number in the dial pad

    ·         Utilize the dialer to make an outbound call

    Supervisor and manager tools

    ·         Powerful coach and control tools for contact center managers

              and supervisors

    ·         Supervisor tools are embedded in the softphone

    ·         Enables supervisors or managers to control agent queues,

              listen to agent calls, coach agents, barge in, intercept calls,

              hang up calls, record calls, activate callbacks and a variety of

              other administrative functions

    Operations and system management

    ·         Location independent browser based contact center tool

    ·         Manage users and user groups

    ·         Queue routing rules

    ·         Mass update tools to update multiple users at one time

    Monitoring and reporting

    ·         Online monitoring tools provides real time statistics on the

              given business day and at the given time

    ·         Queue specific statistics

    ·         Define thresholds and set alarms

    ·         Compare statistics such as “this week” vs. “last week” or

              “today” vs. “yesterday”

    ·         View agent statistics such as average handling time (AHT)

    ·         Monitor call statistics such as abandoned calls, terminated

              calls, etc.

    SAP BCM’s seamless integration with SAP CRM creates a comprehensive solution that empowers your service agents and managers.  Through this integration, you will be able to utilize existing data within the CRM system to complement the agent and manger tools in BCM.  

    ·         Single user interface to manage incoming customer

              interactions such as phone calls and emails

    ·         Integrated BCM soft phone

    ·         Quickly identify available subject matter experts (SME) and

              transfer the call

    So what does all this mean for your business?  These tools can have an immediate impact on your bottom line and your ability to deliver quality customer service.    

    ·         Improve customer satisfaction - agent has 360 degree view of

              the customer with multiple channels of contacts

    ·         Reduce costs – both infrastructure and transmission

    ·         Streamline resources – provision agents where and when

              needed

    ·         Increase sales – quality customer service results in repeat

              business and referrals

    ·         Quickly realize ROI with a fast deployment timeline of 5 to 8

              weeks

    srini katta

    Mobile CRM Strategy

    Posted by srini katta Mar 11, 2011

    These days, every CRM package available in the market place offers mobile capabilities ranging from simple account & contact management to complex service functionalities.

     However, most of these mobility solutions are simple extensions of the core CRM capabilities on to a mobile device rather than a core mobile application delivered. As a result, companies adopting mobile business strategies often incur steep implementation and enhancement costs. The situation is similar to expensive web strategies companies adopted during the mid to late 90s when web technologies were yet to be consolidated. Now, you can have your web front or web store opened for $19.99 or less per month. I believe similar consolidation will bring down the implementation time and costs of mobile CRM projects. Until then, Mobile CRM remains as an expensive strategy.

    That being said, the looming question remains, what should be the interim mobile strategy of a company?

    My suggestion is that we should look at B2B and B2C Mobile strategies.

    When it comes to a B2B mobile strategy, the answer is simple.  Mobilize the business essential functionality on to the preferred mobile devices and wait for mobile CRM tools to evolve.

    The answer is not as easy when it comes to B2C mobile strategies. Most companies that focus on US consumers can’t wait to adapt a successful B2C mobile strategy since 80% or more of their consumers are equipped with a mobile device. This is even more applicable when it comes to consumers in India and China, where you can reach almost all consumers via cell phone.  With operating systems such as Symbian, iPhone, Android, RIM, Palm and Windows all having a presence on mobile devices, companies have had the difficult task of building apps to work across multiple mobile operating systems.

    The potential game changer is that the mobile operating system space is consolidating with Android estimated to support 50% of the mobile devices used in the US by 2010.  However, it is interesting to note that 50% of VC funding goes to mobile apps developed on iPhone and 20% goes to companies developing applications on RIM.  One possible reason could be that owning an iPhone or BlackBerry is an indicator of the purchasing power of the iPhone/BlackBerry owners vs. other phone owners.

    The B2C segment will continue to develop and deploy standalone mobile marketing, sales, and service strategies without waiting for the industry to deliver easy to deploy tools.