News
By Michael Meredith
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the ATA, the peak body for the contact centre industry in Australia, and this occasion has provided an opportunity to reflect on the role contact centres have played over the years, to celebrate the position the sector now holds within Australia, and to forecast the industry’s future within Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
CHANGING THE FACE OF BUSINESS
The past 20 years have seen the contact centre industry really take off in Australia, a result of innovation and dedication in terms of people, process, and technology, and an increasingly close relationship with the business community.
In 1989, the industry was made up of a handful of contact centres and employed approximately 8,000 people nationwide. However it was still evident, even early on, that the seeds of the industry as we know it today were being sewn, and over the past two decades, the contact centre has served as a breeding ground for business innovation in a range of areas including technology, information management, workplace training, and customer relationship management.
The innovations of the past 20 years and the influence these changes have had across the entire business landscape has transformed the contact centre industry from playing a peripheral role in customer service to being a business critical function for organisations that need to stay connected and informed about all aspects of their operations. The industry is now worth more than $15 billion per annum, is comprised of some 3,820 contact centres and is directly responsible for the employment of over 250,000 Australians.
Not only has the contact centre space proven to be robust in the face of numerous challenges, the health of the industry has also caused a ripple effect upon associated sectors such as human resources, business IT, and telecommunications. Through the application of contact centre technologies and procedures, these sectors have gained increased relevance within organisations and have helped to enhance the overall performance of businesses.
However the greatest benefit that the modern contact centre delivers to business is in its role as an increasingly valuable communication channel between organisations and customers. The industry is responsible for approximately 77% of all customer interaction in Australia meaning contact centres are almost solely responsible for communication between a company and its customers. As well as being responsible for upholding and enhancing the reputation of organisations, contact centres have also become vast repositories of business intelligence, which is fed back through the business in real time.
THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY
While the achievements of the contact centre industry over the past two decades deserve to be recognised, the industry needs to continue to push for further performance improvements, a closer relationship with the business market, and an increased role as a sector leader both within the Asia Pacific region and globally.
Given the important role contact centres play in business, and the high expectations of customers, the future of the contact centre industry lies in using current and emerging resources to better understand businesses and their customers, and deliver value to both parties.
Contact centres are moving towards a holistic approach to handling customers across all communication channels, such as phone, fax, Internet, email, or SMS. There is now a need for contact centres to develop the capacity to communicate with customers across these mediums and at a time that suits them.
The goal for Australian contact centres needs to be the implementation of process and technology to ensure that every interaction between centres and customers, regardless of the channel, is personalised in order to maximise customer contact and enhance the business-consumer relationship.
While the original objective of contact centres in 1989 may have been to ensure successful transactions, today the industry is focusing on sophisticated customer management. The role of contact centres in the years to come will be less about acquiring new customers and more about developing stronger relationships with existing customers.
An example of technology already available that is helping contact centres to personalise customer communication is demographic matching through intelligent call routing. Some major Australian businesses are trialling call routing practices that will direct calls to an agent best suited to the customer’s demographics, whether that be based on physical location, age or sex, in order to provide the customer with a more satisfying experience and help build a more valuable relationship.
Other technologies, such as biometric recognition are also likely to play an increasingly important role in the contact centre space – allowing for the simple and yet highly secure and automated recognition of an individual, reducing call duration.
In order for the industry to improve customer relationships and derive more value from every interaction, contact centres need to be willing to implement both sophisticated technologies and the processes required to harness the potential of these systems. At the same time, in order for technology to be implemented and adopted across contact centres it needs to be simple to integrate and use.
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
Beyond the need for a regular review and update of process and technology in order to deliver world-leading service, there are a number of challenges that the contact centre will need to address if it is to continue its successes both within the Australian market and internationally.
As customer expectations grow, contact centres need to continually raise the bar. Encouragement will come from both within organisations and increasingly, from the industry as a whole. Contact centres need to have a formal evaluation and recognition process in place for strong performers at the agent, team leader, and manager level. This recognition process, supported by industry-wide acknowledgement, plays an important role in boosting morale amongst staff, improve performance within centres, and strengthen the entire industry.
Offshoring is, and will remain a concern for Australian based contact centre operators and its customers, although the threat posed should not be overstated. Currently, it is only large Australian organisations that consider offshoring contact centre operations, rather than small business or Government, and this is unlikely to change. The most likely scenario that would evolve should offshoring occur is that large organisations will have a blend of Australian and offshore seats, with offshore centres handling simple and probable back end transactions and local operations being responsible for complex customer interactions. There is also a trend for businesses that have gone offshore to reconsider the move given the important role contact centres play in the relationship a company has with its customers.
There are signs of a growing influence by Government, with some legislation already in place, such as the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) and Anti-offshoring Bill. There are also other Bills and amendments in the pipeline including a proposal for Government to set service level benchmarks.
While the DNCR has been generally well received within the contact centre industry, and has been adhered to by the vast majority of operators, Government proposals for the expansion of the Register to include business numbers has caused concern amongst industry leaders. This expansion threatens to undermine the strength of not only the contact centre industry but also business communication in general and is an issue that will need to be addressed if the proposal is put to Parliament.
The Federal Government has recently proposed an overhaul of the telecommunications industry and as part of this has suggested Government should have a role in setting service level benchmarks. This is unlikely to have the desired outcome of improving customer service, and instead will stifle growth and innovation within the industry. A more viable alternative would be industry self-regulation via industry developed and accepted standards, such as the Contact Centre Standard and Accreditation (CCSA) program.
The ATA’s Contact Centre Standards and Accreditation (CCSA) program is gaining momentum within Australia, and is rapidly being recognised as perhaps the best quality call centre Standard in the world, with interest in adopting it already being expressed throughout the Asia Pacific region. This interest is supported by the increasing use of Australian contact centres by internationally based companies. However, in order for the CCSA to help improve service levels and meet business, customer, and government expectations, there needs to be a concerted effort within the industry to make the program a standard for all contact centres.
Australian contact centres represent a strong and vibrant industry, and there is enormous value to be gained by harnessing the knowledge, sophistication and experience of these operations. The Australian contact centre industry has worked hard over the past 20 years to position itself as the regional leader, with centres demonstrating higher skills levels, improved adaptability, and customer service levels that are second to none. By working with our Asia Pacific neighbours, adopting new technology and process to improve performance, and channelling the skills embedded within the industry, Australia can become the centre of a thriving regional industry in years to come.
About the Author
Michael Meredith is the CEO of the ATA, the peak professional body and voice for the Australian Contact Centre Industry.
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