A disgruntled caller could one day take revenge by posting their contact centre encounter on popular Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube. It’s a scenario that companies will need to prepare for with the advent of IPTV-based customer interaction.
Alcatel-Lucent representative Matt Bostwick outlined the commercial benefits of IP-enabled video conferencing during the TUANZ After 5s presentation yesterday evening. Among the uses he discussed for IPTV was the opportunity for clients to initiate a video conference with a contact centre agent online, rather than making a simple voice call.
Bostwick presented compelling examples of IPTV currently in action around the world, including a health organisation in Italy which provides virtual medical examinations to 2,000 patients. He suggested a similar service might be offered by a variety of organisations to customers who want to see, as well as hear, the contact centre agent.
So how long before IPTV becomes 'mission critical' to effective business practice? Bostwick said Alcatel Lucent surveyed major users in the US last year and found that 73 per cent of CIOs have IP-enabled video conferencing in their sights. And he pointed out that AT&T is delivering IPTV to 18 million homes in America via a fibre network capable of speeds of 20 Mbps.
When you consider the relatively dismal broadband speeds attained by the average New Zealand user, it suggests IPTV interaction between customers and CSRs is a long way off in this country.
However after the presentation I spoke to Julian Smith, a former CEO of DataSquirt and contact centre manager for Restaurant Brands and Coca Cola. He told me that a company with a “grunty” internal network and a desire to be a leader in this space could enable IP-enabled video contact with their customers despite the current broadband climate.
“The first players to get into this market will win the hearts of the customers,” he said.
He suggests that many contact centres will simply have to make the leap from a PABX system to a full IP environment that includes the ability to video conference with customers.
And when that happens, a CSR may never again get away with a bad hair day.