This article was originally published on the 8x8 blog.
Chat, email, phone, slack, text, tweet. The communications preferences of individuals are as diverse as the tools themselves. And while I run a business dedicated to helping organizations and people communicate more efficiently, I am also a user. Which means I know how painful it is to manage the ever-increasing volume of channels. I also know the productivity impact on businesses that don’t help their workers manage these channels efficiently.
Today, the ability to efficiently communicate is directly linked to the ability to deliver outstanding customer experiences. Take for example what typically happens when you call into a contact center. You speak to a service operative, they try and find the right person and succeed in resolving your problem efficiently perhaps half the time. They don’t have the data to find the right person let alone the tools to reach them – be it via chat, email, phone or text – efficiently. It’s a communications problem that leads to a poor customer experience. And in a world where customer-driven initiatives are a number one priority for business, it’s a problem that can directly impact the bottom line.
Customers expect the speedy resolution of problems which leads to satisfaction. Satisfied customers stay loyal to you and will drive your bottom line. Dissatisfied customers share their disappointment and cost you more money. This is fact, and it should be the absolute priority of every organization to empower their employees to deliver outstanding customer experience. Communications is paramount to that.
With that in mind, we’ve launched a new integrated communications solution we call the X Series Platform. The technology is unique, yes, but the real innovation is how the platform helps companies integrate communication, collaboration, and contact center solutions—all on one platform—to help businesses improve productivity and resolve customer queries more quickly and intelligently.
We believe this represents the next phase of enterprise communications, where the world of siloed tools and poor time to resolution is a thing of the past. A world where the convergence of tools simplifies and improves communication while opening up exciting new possibilities.
Backed by rich data and analytics, X Series helps businesses deliver a new level of customer service because all forms of communication are stored together, ready to be analyzed and leveraged for better insights to drive the business forward. Employees, customers, and applications all work together, efficiently, and intelligently.
More than ever before the customer experience will be defined by the technology brands use to connect with their audiences. Platforms like X Series will sit at the heart of superior experience delivery and whether it’s chat, email, phone or text, users will have the power to communicate on their terms.
Learn more about the changing user needs that many are calling the “Third Wave of Enterprise Communication” in the video from the recent Industry Vision Address at Enterprise Connect 2018.
Watch the X Series Video.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vik Verma is the CEO of 8x8, Inc. A former engineer and self-proclaimed nerd, Vik is a strong believer in building cutting-edge products and solutions that solve real-world customer problems in a cost effective manner. Vik holds degrees in Engineering from Stanford; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Florida Institute of Technology.
Five-time Gartner Magic Quadrant leader, 8x8, is the World’s First Communications Cloud that easily and seamlessly connects employees, customers and applications to improve business performance for organizations anywhere in the world. The 8x8 Communications Cloud replaces costly and complex legacy products with a simple, integrated solution that combines unified communications, team collaboration, interoperability, contact center and analytics in a single, open and real-time platform to help companies improve productivity and overall customer experience.
