June 20, 2016
We’ve all heard the old adage, “time is money,” and in the contact/call center, streamlining the call process often has a significant impact on the overall operation. Shaving just a couple seconds off the average call length can translate into more satisfied customers, more closed deals, and millions of dollars in extra revenue.
Of course, the goal shouldn’t be to rush the agents off the phone; however, if we can trim down excess time spent fumbling for information or looking up accounts, increased productivity is sure to follow.
Some companies distribute call scripts to keep a conversation focused on the topic at hand, and others train their agents to be subject matter experts capable of responding on the spot. Yet, neither of these strategies will be as effective as the Cisco Finesse Agent Desktop for Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) and Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE).
Here’s how it works.
Streamlining the Agent Experience
The Finesse desktop strives to make the agent experience as painless and productive as possible, which will in turn lead to a better customer experience overall.
Finesse is a thin-client (accessed through any web browser) portal that provides the agent with a container. From there, the agent can fill that container with any relevant and helpful gadgets they may require. Cisco’s software development team has designed some basic gadgets for the desktop. That core collection of tools is supplemented by third-party gadgets as well.
In effect, this positions Finesse as a blank slate, completely customized to fit the varied needs of the operation. Here are just a few gadgets that we find to be helpful in most environments.
- Jabber Gadget: The unified communications and collaboration application, Cisco Jabber, can also be integrated into the Finesse Desktop. It gives the agent the ability to quickly text chat, screenshare, and connect via voice and video with any other agent or supervisor in the contact/call center. This is the perfect tool to quickly submit a question to another agent, rope management into the call, or assist a fellow agent.
- SocialMiner: SocialMiner is your social media customer service hub. Plugged right into your Finesse agent desktop, SocialMiner will search the top social media channels, blogs, and forums for references to your organization and display them on the screen. Then, agents can reply right through the Finesse desktop and SocialMiner will post the response on whatever social media channel the commenter originally mentioned the company.
- Google Maps: Using a Google Maps integration, Finesse can automatically display the location from which the customer is calling using their caller ID. The agent can then use this information to look up the customer’s account without asking the caller for their account number.
Cisco DevNet for Everything Else
Part of Cisco’s strategy for the Finesse desktop is to open it up to agents, developers, and companies that use it every day. The Cisco Developer network (DevNet) achieves that goal. In it, Cisco offers sample Finesse gadgets to provide the community with the framework they need to design their own gadgets. Every company is different, and through the developer network, the contact/call center can either locate the perfect gadget for their needs, or find the tools to create their own.
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About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We have one of the largest expert-level engineering teams delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from cloud to infrastructure, collaboration to contact center. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for an emerging business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.
