Contact Center Executives Weigh in on Their Tech Goals for 2022

With customer expectations continually evolving, companies have taken noticeable steps toward optimizing and innovating their contact centers. But, after two years of the pandemic, this excitement for sophisticated technology has started to stagnate. CCW Digital Principal Analyst Brian Cantor touches on this phenomenon in the latest State of Contact Center Technology Market Study. He states there is a difference between being prepared and being ecstatic about technology. 

Today’s companies generally feel prepared to identify emerging trends and address obstacles throughout the customer journey, but they aren’t quite ready to go beyond the ‘safety’ of standard technology to reap the benefits of advanced and innovative solutions. 

When asked about their ability to address trends like the rise of remote work, self-service and omnichannel support, more than half of companies stated they felt somewhat prepared. But, we know there is room for growth once companies do finally embrace modern technology and CCW Digital’s latest market study aims to highlight these imminent goals for contact center technology in 2022.

Here are a few takeaways: 

The leader of contact center technology priorities, with 66% of contact center leaders in agreement, was to reduce costs and boost productivity. This isn’t a surprise, when implementing new technology companies expect at least some reduction in cost with efficiency gains. Brian Cantor notes that companies now must feel confident in their ability to empower their agents to seamlessly support customers. This strategy is also evident from the 47% who stated that reducing agent effort is a major consideration. By optimizing efficiency and improving the agent’s workflow, companies can not only reduce unnecessary operating costs but meet sky-high customer expectations for instant, streamlined service.

The next goal that 61% of contact center executives are prioritizing, is a reduction in customer effort. This speaks to the need for simplified, convenient support. After two years in the ‘remote world,’ customers have become accustomed to receiving support anytime and anywhere. They want on-demand service experiences simplified on any device. With the rise of digital, customers now pay attention to both the service they’re provided and the journey they take to get there, so creating a seamless low-effort interaction is critical.

Improving real-time e-learning to improve training and performance was important for 47% of contact center executives. This is key to ensure agents feel fulfilled in their role, satisfied with their workflow and confident in their ability to support customers. With so many individuals remaining remote for the indefinite future, companies must work to enhance e-learning and virtual training opportunities. The contact center agent of the future will likely be accustomed to the digital learning environment, so creating opportunities for consistent growth and development in the remote world is critical for retaining top talent.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, only 22% of companies are prioritizing technology with single or streamlined dashboards and interfaces — which seems like a surprising miss, especially considering the fact that 91% of companies stated their agents have to look at multiple screens each day. If companies truly want to reduce agent effort and alleviate points of friction across their daily workflow, this kind of technology is invaluable. Similarly, only 23% stated that low-code/no-code interfaces were important features in their technology decisions. Low-code technology allows the user to seamlessly add-on or improve processes with little to no coding experience. It’s technology like this that will truly help optimize the experience for agents over the long term. Companies must open their eyes to innovative features like low-code if they want to enhance their agent experience in a more meaningful way.

For more statistics and insight on contact center technology, check out the latest CCW Digital Market Study here.

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