What is omnichannel customer service?

If you've ever found yourself frustrated at having to speak with multiple customer service agents in order to get the help you need for a single issue, then you already know how important omnichannel customer service is. Omnichannel customer service is a system designed to provide customers with a consistent and integrated experience across all channels of communication.

With omnichannel, companies are striving to provide customers with a seamless experience anytime they interact with them; whether that's on social media, email, or phone. In this article, we'll take a deep dive into exactly what is omnichannel customer service and how it can help you provide the best possible experience to your customers. Let's take a look at how your agents can have everything, everywhere, all at once. 

What is Omnichannel customer service?

Omnichannel customer service is the modern way to interact with customers. As the name suggests the core of it is to be present on every channel. It’s the concept of providing seamless interactions across multiple channels, like email, social media, phone calls, and text messages. This means that you’ll have both happier and more satisfied customers and happier agents. 

For customers, this means no repeating themselves. For example, when you contact an ISP with a problem that goes on for a couple of days. You’ll probably contact them again at some point. There is a very high probability that you will have to repeat the majority of information that you have given to an agent. Or, in the middle of everything you have to switch channels. Usually, you would have to repeat what you said on the new channel of communication, but not with omnichannel customer service.

For the agents, it is an even bigger boon. They get calmer, happier customers to deal with, and can be more prepared to help. They see everything that the customer said to another agent in their previous conversation. They get customers that really need their help because of better routing capabilities which save time and effort. Meaning your agents are not overworked and use up their time doing meaningful work. 

In short, omnichannel customer service is a centralized system that provides agents with a 360⁰  view of their customers and their problems that allows for seamless communication on any and all channels.

What’s the difference between multichannel and omnichannel?

At first glance multichannel and omnichannel are quite similar. So what exactly is the difference?

Multichannel customer service is the process of providing customers with a variety of options to access support. It allows customers to reach out via email, phone, live chat, social media, and more – giving them the flexibility to choose what works best for them. With multichannel customer service, you can ensure that your customers’ needs are being met in a way that fits their lifestyle and preferences. So far so good, and so far so similar, right?

The difference is that you can look at multichannel as a one-to-one relationship. One agent on one channel helping one customer. It is there simply to funnel customers into different channels based on their preferences. This is the equivalent of having several single-channel approaches. While it is better than singlechannel, it still creates a disconnected experience and forces the customer and the agent into using that channel, and that channel only, and at that specific time. If there is a break in communication the customer and a different agent will have to start all over again. 

With omnichannel you have all of the different channels working together in order to create a unified, seamless, wide experience for the customer. All the possible ways of communication help each other according to their strengths.

 The customer first calls because they like immediate communication. Then they need to send a photo of a document so they use email. A couple of hours later they need to provide additional information so instead of waiting in line they send it through instant messaging. All without the need to repeat themselves as an extension of the original communication. 

What are the benefits of omnichannel for customer service?

Omnichannel customer service offers customers the ultimate convenience. Seeing as almost all companies can benefit in some way from omnichannel for customer service it's the closest we're going to get to a on-size-fits-all solution in CX. 

For agents, it creates an ease of work. Increases productivity. Creates a generally better experience. For the customer, it means less waiting on the line. Not having to repeat things over and over. But what does omnichannel customer service give you as a business?

Increased CSAT.

Omnichannel customer service provides customers with a more seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints, meaning that they don't have to start from scratch whenever they switch channels. By providing prompt responses, personalized treatment, and a unified view of the customer journey regardless of the medium being used, omnichannel customer service helps create a more positive overall experience for customers. 

It also gives them an easy way to switch between channels if they need help in different areas — no waiting around or having to repeat themselves. In short, omnichannel customer service makes it easier than ever for customers to get their questions answered and problems solved which leads to higher levels of satisfaction. By providing customers with round-the-clock access to reliable support from a variety of sources on their terms, companies can deliver an elevated level of customer satisfaction that was previously impossible. After all, when you're able to quickly resolve any issue or query no matter what time or device you’re using – that's when you know your company really has got your back.

Faster handling times.

Imagine an agent that has knowledge of anything that your customer has ever needed from you without the customer saying a word. That’s the sort of power your agents will have when using omnichannel for customer service. As good as that might sound, what if we told you that’s not the end, but rather a tool to a greater goal? 

Our tools can help your agents increase their productivity by over 25% by having them focus on the task at hand and not digging for data and information. That means they can also have an easier time handling complex tasks because they can dedicate themselves fully.

Increased agent satisfaction and better agent experience.

When it comes to customer service, omnichannel approaches provide a comprehensive view of the customer journey and all potential touchpoints. By using an integrated system, agents can quickly communicate with customers and resolve their issues more efficiently and effectively. Additionally, when agents are provided with a single platform for sales, support, and customer service across multiple channels (e.g., web, phone, text chat), it creates a better experience for both customers and agents alike because they don't need to switch between different systems or search through long threads of emails to pinpoint where the conversation left off.  

Furthermore, switching from traditional contact centers to omnichannel contact centers also leads to increased agent satisfaction due to higher levels of efficiency since they only have one system to use. This system should also be user-friendly and efficient, so agents are not wasting time trying to navigate multiple systems or systems that are outdated or difficult to use. Omnichannel customer service may require more upfront investment in terms of technology and training, but the long-term benefits for both customers and agents make it well worth the effort

Better routing through technology.

Omnichannel customer service amplifies the power of routing in order to provide a seamless experience for customers. With omnichannel, customers can connect with your business on any platform or medium they prefer – phone, email, chatbot, social media, etc. – and be routed immediately to the best resource to serve their needs. 

Routing can become infinitely more efficient when customers don’t have to repeat themselves from one channel to another. Instead of being asked the same questions over and over again, they are quickly connected to an agent who already has all the necessary information needed to assist them in a prompt and professional manner. It's like having a superpower for customer support.

A 360⁰ view with centralized data.

By combining the power of multiple channels in one place, companies can build a larger picture of their customers’ experience. They can track interactions across multiple channels and gain insights into how customers interact with each touchpoint. This allows them to better understand customer preferences and tailor content accordingly. 

Additionally, centralized data provides an accurate snapshot of customer behavior, allowing companies to quickly respond to problems or inquiries and provide personalized solutions that will leave customers feeling appreciated and satisfied with their interaction. All this adds up to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How does Transcom do it?

Let’s focus more on Transcom’s approach to omnichannel for customer support. As with everything we do, it is characterized by knowing our clients, their needs and their wishes. So, how does omnichannel customer service look with Transcom?

Key features.

There are numerous benefits to Transcom’s omnichannel for customer service. First of all, it’s easy to use. Owing to our logical and user-friendly interface it’s very easy to get used to our solution. That means that your agents will have no problem getting the hang of the solution.

You can automate the process with RDA, RPA, and agent assist which means that your agents will be provided with the best possible experience. Not only that, but they can have it quickly and easily with little to no IT involvement because our solution can be implemented and adjusted in a flash. 

Our platform also enables effortless and powerful work from home. Why? Because your agents can access the platform from anywhere in the world while still maintaining any and all safety precautions with ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certification. We have made security one of our top priorities.

As far as features are concerned, if we’re talking about calls we provide inbound call handling and outbound dialing using three modes. Preview, Power, and Predictive modes to help as much as possible. You can also record calls for quality and training purposes along with interaction history for 360 vision across all channels.

Your agents will also benefit from 95% voicemail detection accuracy, leaving them to worry about talking. Even there there’s room for us to help by using flexible scripts which can be edited easily via a drag-and-drop interface.

Apart from this, we proved email inbox management, instant messaging and social media support, and automatic SMS solutions. All of that with API integration with your own systems in real-time. 

Put into practice.

All of that sounds impressive and it is, but what’s even more impressive are the results it brings. We’d like to illustrate that by showing just some of the many clients our solution has helped.

One of our clients is an online garden center and gardening equipment retailer that wanted a complete transformation of their services. This involved raising customer satisfaction, integrating systems, creating better contact forms, enabling CSAT categorization, and creating a better knowledge base. By building a SaaS solution we helped our client to undergo digital transformation and have an efficient digital operation that can easily be expanded upon so they will never again be found lacking. 

By implementing omnichannel for customer service we reported 71% call deflection resulting in increased customer satisfaction and a better agent experience. Those same agents could then help clients more quickly and efficiently with a 23% reduction in average handling time and an increase in first call resolution by 9%. All of that with a 5% reduction in the total cost of ownership. Pretty good right?

Another client we helped through omnichannel customer service is a big European retail brand. They were looking to breathe some fresh air into their operations and enable digital customer care in order not to fall behind the competition. More specifically they wanted to reduce the total cost of ownership, attain operational excellence and improve customer experience. In the long run, they also wanted to be a data and CX-driven company, and as we said you can have all of the data but not know how to use it without a trusted partner. That’s where we came in. 

We implemented an omnichannel approach to customer service and so gave customers expanded and easier access to their customer service and connected customer service to other systems via Zendesk, thus streamlining e-commerce processes. We also found ways to help customer service agents by implementing an AI bot and self-service. This way a lot of calls were dealt with before the agents even had to step in. When they did have to work with customers we made the interaction easier by redesigning workflows which made their work much easier.