Commenting on the launch of the new WeQ4U app (“Have your revenge on call centres – make them wait”, Metro 29 February 2012) that allows users to put the phone down and be called back if held in call centre queues, Gordon Young, General Manager at Datapoint says:

“It is great to see technology being used in new ways that can help consumers get through to contact centres in stress-free ways.

“The drive to bring down the costs of call centres has generated a lot of technological innovation that moves people away from the phone and towards other cheaper methods of communication, such as email or social media. However, not all customers want to use these channels and many people prefer to just pick up the phone and talk directly to a human being. It is good to see technology being used in a way that helps customers communicate how they want to, rather coercing them into ways that they are perhaps less comfortable with.”

Such innovative approaches as phone apps are being matched by forward-thinking contact centres.

Young continues: “Contact centres are getting smart. Call-back options, that effectively allow callers to bypass long call waiting times, are fast becoming mainstream, and we are seeing a number of different products hitting the market. The deployment of these new technologies in contact centres has empowered contact centre operators to diversify and tailor their services to best meet the needs of their customer base.

“Many company bosses seem to view contact centres like black holes into which they grudgingly pour their bonuses. This approach is wrong headed. A well-optimised contact centre can be a real asset, leading to greater customer satisfaction and retention, increased efficiency, and, as a result, drive business growth. Key to this is technology that allows contact centre operators to construct and control the type of contact centre that will best meet the needs of the business, and indeed the customer.”