Artificial intelligence (AI) has been changing the contact centre landscape for several years, with many organisations recognising its potential to improve customer service. Despite the growing enthusiasm, some companies are hesitant to adopt AI due to the high costs associated with advanced models. However, the contact centre industry appears poised to buck this trend. It is an exciting time to see the impact of AI in contact centres across the world.
Microsoft has officially launched its highly anticipated Dynamics 365 Contact Centre, offering businesses a powerful solution to enhance customer service operations. This release marks a significant milestone, providing an advanced platform designed to meet the changing needs of modern contact centres.
The Dynamics 365 Contact Centre is equipped with a suite of features aimed at improving customer interactions and streamlining service processes. With integrated AI and automation capabilities, businesses can now deliver more personalised and efficient customer experiences. The platform enables seamless communication across multiple channels, including voice, chat, email and social media, ensuring customers receive timely support through their preferred medium.
One of the standout features of the Dynamics 365 Contact Centre is its ability to unify customer data. By consolidating information from various touchpoints, the platform provides agents with a comprehensive view of customer history and interactions. This holistic approach allows for more informed decision-making and personalised service, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
In addition to its robust feature set, the Dynamics 365 Contact Centre is designed for scalability and flexibility. Businesses can easily customise the platform to suit their unique needs and scale operations as they grow. The solution also integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications, providing a cohesive ecosystem for managing various aspects of business operations.
Microsoft’s commitment to security and compliance is evident in the Dynamics 365 Contact Centre. The platform adheres to stringent security standards, ensuring that customer data is protected at all times. This focus on security helps businesses build trust with their customers while maintaining regulatory compliance.
The launch of the Dynamics 365 Contact Centre represents an awakening in the contact centre industry with the tight grip that flagship contact centre vendors have been able to sustain for decades. In the APAC region, Alvaria, NICE, Genesys and Verint have a strong hold, with other companies competing including Cisco Webex, Salesforce, Zendesk, Amazon Connect, Five9 and Avaya.
It will be interesting to see whether or not Microsoft invests in increasing its profile in the APAC region in the contact centre space over the upcoming months.
For more information on the new Dynamics 365 Contact Centre and its features, visit the official Microsoft Dynamics 365 blog.
Network Groups are a fantastic way to connect with other like-minded professionals, working in the same field. They are a great place to ask questions and to get an understanding of how others solve some of the same challenges.
At the core of Call Design’s WFM Network Groups is the “learn & share” initiative. This isn’t just a platform for passive learning; it’s an active space where professionals are both learners and contributors.
Take, for instance, a session where a scheduler shares a breakthrough in managing overstaffing during peak hours. Such insights, based on real-world experience, can be invaluable to peers facing similar challenges. In turn, others might contribute their own strategies for improving forecast accuracy or managing team morale during high-pressure periods. This reciprocal exchange of knowledge creates a rich learning environment that benefits everyone involved.
Whether you’re in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland or Wellington, there’s a local WFM Network Group waiting for you.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals, learn from their experiences and contribute your own insights to the WFM community. Your next big idea could be just one conversation away. Register today
The success of peer learning lies in its adaptability, and this is where Call Design’s WFM Network Groups truly stand apart. By focusing on localised groups across various cities in Australia and New Zealand, Call Design is ensuring that the content and discussions are highly relevant to the participants.
For example, a workforce planner in Sydney might face different regulatory and market challenges compared to someone in Wellington. By bringing together professionals from the same city, these Network Groups allow for discussions that are not only industry-specific but also geographically relevant. From a practical point of view, this local focus enhances the credibility of the shared knowledge, making it easier for participants to apply what they’ve learned to their daily operations.
Don’t miss out on this great opportunity of connecting with your peers from WFM industry. Register here
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) of India has made a groundbreaking move by launching a 24/7 contact centre. This initiative marks a significant shift towards enhanced customer service and operational efficiency, but also is a sign for Australian contact centres who may follow suit. For organisations worldwide, especially those managing large customer bases, EPFO’s strategy offers valuable insights into improving customer engagement and satisfaction. Many contact centre operators will be keeping an eye on the success of EPFO’s new strategy with copycat adoption expected globally.
The primary objective behind EPFO’s 24/7 contact centre is to provide uninterrupted support to its expansive membership. The traditional constraints of office hours often led to delays and dissatisfaction among members seeking assistance. By transitioning to a round-the-clock model, EPFO aims to offer timely, accurate and accessible support, enhancing overall experience with the contact centre agents.
At the heart of this initiative is a leveraged technological infrastructure. The contact centre utilises advanced automated response systems for handling routine inquiries, significantly reducing wait times. With wait times in peak hours blowing out for customers around the globe, this is a long-awaited focus. For complex issues, human agents are available to provide personalised assistance. This hybrid model ensures efficiency while maintaining a human touch for more nuanced concerns.
Recognising the linguistic diversity of its members, EPFO’s contact centre offers support in multiple languages. This inclusivity ensures that members can communicate comfortably and effectively, further enhancing the quality of service.
The contact centre is seamlessly integrated with EPFO’s digital platforms, including its website and mobile app. This integration allows members to switch between self-service options and live support effortlessly, ensuring a cohesive and user-friendly experience.
Implementing such a comprehensive system is not without its challenges. Maintaining a reliable technical infrastructure, ensuring continuous training for agents, and upholding stringent data security standards are critical components for success.
EPFO’s approach offers a roadmap for other organisations. By leveraging advanced analytics and AI, contact centres can gain deeper insights into customer needs and optimise service delivery. Expanding service offerings and fostering collaborations with other agencies can further enhance the value proposition.
EPFO’s 24/7 contact centre will be watched closely for companies and organisations that want to invest in customer experience. We say “want” due to the ambiguous nature of large corporates who ignore long wait times in peak hours and do not accommodate. This initiative not only benefits EPFO’s members but also serves as a model for organisations worldwide striving to enhance their customer service capabilities.
In contact centres right now, efficiency, productivity and employee satisfaction are paramount – and we’ve realised that the principles outlined in James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” can truly help calm the waters. This best-selling book emphasises the power of small, incremental changes – referred to as atomic habits – to create significant and lasting improvements.
Here’s how contact centres can apply these principles to enhance their operations and culture.
Atomic Habits are tiny changes, often overlooked, that compound over time leading to significant outcomes. James Clear breaks down habit formation into four key stages: Cue, Craving, Response, and Reward. By mastering these stages, contact centres can foster better habits among their employees, leading to improved performance and morale.
The cue is the trigger that initiates a behavior. In a contact centre, cues can be strategically placed to promote positive habits.
Cravings are the motivational force behind every habit. In the context of a contact centre, creating a positive work environment can stimulate the desire to perform well.
The response is the actual behaviour performed. Making it easy for employees to take the desired actions can lead to the establishment of good habits.
Rewards are the end goals of habits. They provide satisfaction and reinforce the behaviour, making it more likely to be repeated.
To effectively implement atomic habits, contact centres should focus on creating an environment that supports and nurtures these small changes. Here are some steps to get started:
By applying the principles from “Atomic Habits,” contact centres can create an environment where small, positive changes lead to significant improvements in performance, efficiency and employee satisfaction. The key is to focus on the incremental changes that, over time, will compound to produce remarkable results. Implementing these strategies can help contact centres achieve their goals and create a more productive and positive workplace.
For more information on how your contact centre can drive better performance, contact us.
As contact centres in the APAC region undertake digital transformation there is one area that has received limited attention which can significantly impact the bottom line. With the new financial year upon us, contact centres are grappling to ensure that their business and operational plans are in place, but many still have not invested in the roll-out of a marketing strategy and leveraged new features for Chatbots.
Melbourne company, Robotic Marketer, has built a marketing strategy technology platform that helps companies leverage AI to develop marketing strategies, automate internal and external communications and provide valuable reporting with in-built industry best practice.
Robotic Marketer’s platform seamlessly integrates marketing strategy development, execution, management and reporting into a single, automated process. By leveraging sophisticated technology and deep marketing knowledge, it delivers bespoke content at scale, ensuring that contact centres can focus on their core function of customer engagement while maintaining robust and effective marketing strategies.
For contact centres, developing a cohesive marketing strategy that aligns with their unique goals and target audience can be a daunting task. Robotic Marketer simplifies this process by utilising advanced AI algorithms to develop tailored marketing strategies. These strategies are designed to resonate with the specific needs of the contact centre, taking into account their unique value proposition, key messages and strengths.
“Robotic Marketer’s platform allows contact centres to create comprehensive marketing strategies without the usual complexities,” says Mellissah Smith, Founder and CEO of Robotic Marketer. “Our technology ensures that every strategy is customised to the specific requirements of the contact centre, providing a solid foundation for all marketing activities.”
One of the standout features of Robotic Marketer is its ability to generate high-quality, targeted content for both internal and external marketing purposes. Contact centres can benefit from this by streamlining their internal communications and enhancing their external marketing campaigns.
Internal Marketing: Effective internal communication is vital for maintaining employee morale and ensuring that all team members are aligned with the company’s goals and values. Robotic Marketer produces content that aligns with the internal marketing strategy, helping to engage and motivate employees. This includes newsletters, training materials, and internal announcements that are tailored to the unique needs of the contact centre.
“By creating tailored internal content, we help contact centres improve employee engagement and communication,” explains Smith. “Our platform ensures that internal marketing efforts are as effective and impactful as external campaigns.”
External Marketing: For external marketing, Robotic Marketer crafts content that resonates with the target audience of the contact centre. This includes blog posts, social media content, email campaigns, and advertisements that are designed to attract and retain customers. The platform’s deep understanding of the contact centre’s marketing strategy ensures that all content is aligned with the company’s goals and messages.
“Our technology understands the nuances of external marketing, creating content that not only attracts customers but also builds long-term relationships,” says Smith. “This targeted approach ensures that every piece of content serves a purpose and contributes to the overall marketing strategy.”
Robotic Marketer’s platform integrates seamlessly with popular CRM systems, email marketing tools, marketing automation software, social media platforms, advertising networks, and Google applications. This comprehensive integration ensures that all marketing efforts are coherent and maximised for impact.
Additionally, the platform’s sophisticated AI continuously learns and adapts, using machine learning to analyse marketing performance data. This dynamic learning approach refines strategies and content creation processes over time, ensuring that marketing efforts remain at the cutting edge of industry trends and consumer behaviors.
“Our platform doesn’t just automate; it evolves,” emphasises Smith. “By constantly learning from each campaign’s outcomes, we ensure that our marketing strategies and content remain effective and relevant.”
Robotic Marketer’s advanced marketing automation platform offers contact centres an unparalleled solution for driving marketing strategies and producing high-quality content. By streamlining the entire marketing process and delivering bespoke content at scale, Robotic Marketer empowers contact centres to focus on their core function of customer engagement while maintaining robust and effective marketing efforts.
For contact centres looking to optimise their marketing operations and achieve substantial growth, Robotic Marketer presents a transformative tool that combines intelligent automation with deep marketing expertise. With its ability to enhance both internal and external marketing efforts, Robotic Marketer is set to revolutionise the way contact centres approach their marketing strategies.
In a strategic move to modernise its telephony systems, Services Australia is transitioning its contact centre management services from Telstra to Optus in a $578 million deal. This significant change is set to enhance the agency’s customer service capabilities, leveraging Optus’ advanced, cloud-based solutions.
Services Australia, known for operating the largest contact centre in the Southern Hemisphere, handles over one billion online transactions and 55 million calls annually. Recognising the need for efficient and effective tools to support its extensive customer base, the agency is treating this transition as a pivotal opportunity for modernisation.
With this change, many contact centre solutions providers will be hot on the tail of this deal to sell services into Services Australia, with a huge change like this signifying the acceptance of new ways of doing things and running such a large-scale contact centre.
According to an article published by itnews.com.au, Optus’s platform will provide Services Australia with a solution that has proven capabilities, flexibility and scalability aligning with their goal to support whole-of-government policy objectives and to modernise our services.
Optus, a leader in integrated communications within Australia, will deliver a contact centre platform and connectivity services for Services Australia’s agents to use, which will be welcomed by the end-users – the public. The decision to switch to Optus was influenced by its performance in other federal government contracts, including partnerships with Home Affairs, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Defence and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) .
A transition can be expected with Services Australia maintaining its existing Telstra-based contact centre platform and connectivity through to the end of 2025. This phased approach aims to provide continuity while Optus deploys its new system .
This shift comes as part of a broader overhaul of Services Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure, marking the first major revamp in 12 years. The agency has initiated a telecommunications services program (TSP) to equip itself and up to 10 other entities with enhanced telecommunications capabilities .
Despite the transition in contact centre management, Telstra will continue to play a role in Services Australia’s telecommunications contracts. The agency has contracted Telstra to deliver corporate telephony services through to 2026 under a $17.7 million agreement and mobile services until the end of 2025 for nearly $8 million .
Victoria University (VU) has enhanced its enrolment process with the introduction of a locally-staffed Student Contact Centre near the University’s flagship Footscray Park campus. Initially outsourced in 2017, this new facility will remain at Footscray Park until its relocation to VU Whitten Oval in July.
The Student Contact Centre is designed to assist prospective and current students with enrolments and inquiries across TAFE, undergraduate, postgraduate, and international programs. The centre, which launched on May 13, employs a dedicated team of 52 staff members focused on delivering an exceptional customer service experience. This includes providing immediate conditional offers to prospective students.
For students, this is critical as the enrolment process is often criticised by students, particularly international students. The need to improve the processes and provide ample support to agents who are requiring professional development investment is key to the success of the contact centre.
During peak periods, the centre handles a high volume of interactions, receiving approximately 7000 calls, 5000 chat messages, and over 2000 emails each week. This substantial capacity ensures that students receive timely and effective support throughout their educational journey.
The establishment of this centre marks an important milestone for Victoria University, reflecting a commitment to enhancing the student experience and streamlining administrative processes. The dedicated team at the Student Contact Centre plays a role in facilitating smooth and efficient transitions for all students enrolling at VU.
When discussing workforce optimisation solutions, the matters of streamlining operations and managing complex data keep coming up. Business owners often share the need for smarter ways of turning large data sets into useful insights for smoother operations. And with work setups changing fast, they need these solutions to be flexible enough to keep up with how their businesses evolve.
Combined forces of workforce optimisation and analytics could be just the answer your business is looking for. And lucky for you, the wait is finally over.
Call Design, an industry leader in workforce optimisation solutions has announced an exciting partnership with ProHance, an esteemed enterprise-grade operations enablement and analytics platform. This partnership doesn’t just promise transformation; it brings in a reset in perspective about how we view back-office operations.
By teaming up together, they are arming organisations like yours with actionable insights that redefine the way decisions at the workplace are made going forward. This collaboration promises to transform back-office operations and equip organisations with actionable insights for smarter decisions. In today’s complex and distributed work environments, we say that is quite an operational advantage to consider.
Call Design, known for its expertise in workforce optimisation, sees this partnership as a game-changer. Nimesh Dhanak, CEO of Call Design, expresses his enthusiasm, stating, “This partnership with ProHance is a transformative step for us in extending our value to a growing customer base.”
If asked about one of the key challenges in back-office operations, most would say obtaining meaningful metrics has been a source of constant stress. Thanks to ProHance’s advanced analytics and operational insights, this challenge has become a thing of the past. The integration of ProHance’s innovative platform into Call Design’s solutions enables back-office leaders to focus on strategic activities that improve customer service outcomes, reducing manual efforts significantly.
ProHance, known for its reliable data and analytics capabilities, offers a holistic view of operations. Brendan Maree, VP & Country Manager ANZ, ProHance, highlights the synergy between the two companies, stating, “Call Design is a natural partner for ProHance with a long and proven track record of helping Australian enterprises successfully improve their enterprise and contact centre effectiveness.”
Together, Call Design and ProHance offer a winning combination of state-of-the-art technology and superior consulting skills. This partnership isn’t just about technology; it’s about delivering service and support to your business, especially if you are seeking to optimise your workforce at an enterprise level.
As a business owner, handling the shift to hybrid workplaces with distributed teams comes with its fair share of challenges. Real-time, actionable insights on your workforce can provide a welcome break from all that. Dhanak emphasises this point, stating, “By harnessing ProHance’s advanced analytics and operational insights, we can deliver more efficient and effective back-office solutions that are critical as our clients adapt to the dynamics of hybrid workplaces with distributed teams”.
With over 370,000 users across 150 enterprises in 25 countries, ProHance’s track record speaks volumes about its global impact. This partnership isn’t just about local solutions; it’s about facilitating operational success for organisations worldwide combined with Call Design’s industry expertise.
The partnership between Call Design and ProHance ushers in a new era of operational efficiency and productivity. By integrating advanced analytics into workforce optimisation solutions, businesses can now realise the full potential of their operations and make data-driven decisions that drive success.
In a world where every decision counts, Call Design and ProHance have teamed up to help enterprises like yours thrive in the face of complexity, ensuring that every action leads to meaningful outcomes. It’s not just about optimising business operations; it’s about shaping the future of work.
Macquarie Bank’s recent decision to ditch cash at all branches, transitioning to a completely digital service model, has sent shockwaves through the Australian banking sector. While this move reflects the undeniable trend towards digital banking, it raises critical questions about customer service and accessibility in a cashless future. This article delves into Macquarie Bank’s gamble, exploring the potential pitfalls and how they can ensure a smooth transition that prioritizes customer experience.
Undoubtedly, digital banking offers undeniable convenience. Customers can manage their finances 24/7, make quick transactions, and access a wider range of financial products online. Macquarie Bank’s decision aligns with this trend, catering to a growing demographic comfortable with digital solutions. However, a significant portion of the population, particularly the elderly and those in regional areas with limited internet access, still rely on traditional banking services. Eliminating cash access entirely could alienate these customers and create a barrier to financial inclusion.
Macquarie Bank’s shift necessitates a robust and well-equipped contact centre to bridge the gap between the digital and the human touch. Here’s why a strong contact centre is more crucial than ever:
While Macquarie Bank emphasises efficiency gains from their digital shift, focusing solely on cost reduction could backfire. Here’s how they can invest strategically in their contact centre to ensure a positive customer experience:
Macquarie Bank’s digital-first approach is a bold move. However, its success hinges on effectively addressing customer service concerns. Striking a balance between digital convenience and human interaction is critical. Here are some additional considerations:
Macquarie Bank’s digital transformation is a microcosm of a broader trend in the banking industry. While digital solutions offer undeniable benefits, neglecting the human element in customer service can have detrimental consequences. By prioritising customer experience, investing in a robust contact centre, and striking a balance between digital convenience and human interaction, Macquarie Bank can ensure a successful transition without alienating its customer base. After all, in a digital world, customer service remains the cornerstone of building trust and loyalty. Many contact centres are at the front-end of the digital transformation but be wary if AI is your contact centre. Customers will drop because of lack of personalised service.