Skype for Business offers contact centres the potential to provide a more personalised service, one that includes video and shared screen/desktop as part of the customer service experience. Through Skype, contact centre agents can answer customers queries via voice or chat, personalise the communication through video chat, demonstrate visually how to solve their problem and, if necessary, share desktops and screens. Just as with any other customer communication channel, such as phone, email and social, interactions with customers via Skype offer a wealth of information that can significantly impact business decisions, improve operations and promote customer loyalty.
By recording customer interactions taking place over Skype, organisations are able to capture valuable information that can improve their understanding of customer pain points and reason for contact, consequently addressing these to improve customer satisfaction and reduce call volumes. For instance, recordings can be utilised to identify reoccurring customer issues, such as a faulty product or complex process, and take the necessary steps to ensure these are resolved.
Skype recordings also provide valuable data for quality monitoring and agent training. Just as with call recordings, contact centre managers can use Skype recordings as training material to practically demonstrate good and bad Skype call practices as well as review individual agent-customer interactions and provide feedback on how to best handle different types of callers and situations. With the addition of video to the customer interaction mix, agents will require additional training to ensure they are comfortable not only with Skype’s user interface, but also when dealing with customers in face to face communications.
Finally, by recording Skype interactions, organisations are able to monitor and demonstrate adherence to compliance regulations as well as company policies. This is particularly important in heavily regulated industries, such as banking, health care and government. As with the recordings of every other channel, recording and monitoring skype interactions for potential compliance breaches will significantly reduce the risks of fines and reputational loss as organisations can resolve issues before they escalate and, if need to, have proof to demonstrate adherence. It is important to note that when it comes to PCI compliance, while there is no definitive guidance yet on how to ensure PCI compliance with Skype for business, Skype uses the standard internationally recognised and accepted encryption algorithms (Read the full testimonial here) to ensure privacy and integrity of the data.
Skype for business already boasts over 300 million users and is predicted to grow even more. Understanding how available technology can help you safely incorporate it into your communication channel mix, will help you achieve a faster return on your investment in the medium with significant operational and financial benefits.
Companies like Nice Systems, Red Box, Verint all offer Skype recording capabilities. So if you already own a call recording solution from any of these manufacturers, it is worth enquiring as to whether your current system can record your Skype interactions as well as your other customer interaction channels. It is however likely you will need to purchase additional modules or channels.
