History of integration - Call center, now with the future
Song Junde, Director CTi Technology Research Center
Call center and CRM
Since 1999, my country's call center research, development, and use a wave of high waves. Call Center (CC: Call Center) is sometimes called customer service center (CCC: Customer Care Center) in China. In foreign countries, people summarize all customer service in CRM (Customer Relationship Management, Customer Relationship Management). The content, reflected techniques, and a big difference in the problem to be solved.
my country's call center is first started from China Telecom and China Mobile. The purpose of this technology at that time was to improve service quality and attitude, closely related to customers, so mainly information, consultation, complaints, inquiry and other services, of course, some call check, even some charge, sales of mobile phones. It can be said that mainly stays on "service".
In Western countries, a few years ago has extended the service of this front desk to the background. That is, the customer information management we said, that is, the large amount of data obtained from the front desk has been used to the background, and uses some practical proven algorithms to extract the noble user data into valuable resources for decision-making.
These data from the front desk seem to contain oil in the underground, and cannot be used directly before processing, and after fine processing, it can become a variety of useful materials, semi-finished products and finished products. The CRM itself is a factory that processes information from various input information and organizes. These data will eventually be provided to the company's high-level management and decision makers as a basis for decision-making. Therefore, people also call it decision support system.
In fact, the call center (not a traditional, modern), should include the CRM part, because only the CRM section, the call center or customer service center can really submit to a new level, will be truly from Fundamentally improve service quality and improve competitiveness. Without CRM help, you can say that all competition methods are thick and surface, or even subjective.
It can be seen that the background based data storage and mining, and the corresponding application and algorithm design are for data finishing and analysis. Customer information management is the accumulation and utilization of the majority of individuals or enterprise users within the scope of the law. At present, my country is studying, developing and applying more to the front part.
Features
Call center is a comprehensive information service system based on CTI technology. Some people divide it into several generations of history, if they want to separate the call center, it should be considered from the technology, performance, structure and application of the technology, performance, structure and application (these issues will be discussed later) . It should be noted that the early telephone hotline service that is only composed of telephone and agents cannot be seen as a modern call center.
The meaning of modern call center itself should be: it is a CTI technology, and continuously integrates the latest technology integration of communication network, computer network and information field, and integrated information service system integrating business. It will gradually develop into a complete e-commerce system. The maximum role is that it can provide a variety of services to users at high speed, and minimize the cost of enterprises and maximize profits.
On the surface, the call center is a service layer in the outermost layer. In fact, it is not only a service function of the external users of the company, but also plays a very important coordination of management, service, scheduling and value-added internal management, service, scheduling.
The modern call center should have the following functions:
● All-weather service should be available 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day. Allow customers to select voice (transmission mode to choose cable or wireless) when communicating with the business representative, IP phone, email (can implement voice to text, text to voice conversion), fax, IP access, text conversation, video information Wait for any communication.
● Intelligent seaters should be able to understand various information about customers, different users have arranged different business representatives and conversations, and allow the business representative to have a number in mind, and gradually turn into customer-centric service systems. ● The profit center call center is not an "expenditure center." It not only has good social benefits, but also a "profit center" with good economic benefits.
● Inside and outside, the call center is associated with the user, and the entire enterprise is integrated with the entire enterprise. It can store all the information obtained from the user, and the data is stored in a large data warehouse, for the purpose of corporate leaders to analyze and decision-making.
● Technical Management and Re-Call Center uses modern technology, high-efficiency management systems, ready to understand the operating conditions of call center and business representatives to provide users with optimal services.
● Following the technology development call center to constantly integrate various new technologies, from the continuous improvement, the application coverage is getting wider and wider.
Scale classification
Corporate establish call centers can choose different systems based on how much users, the number of calls, and business nature, business income, etc. The size of the system is generally used to measure how many services represent agents or access to how much relay lines.
● Large call center
Generally, people think that the call center representative of more than 100 seats is called a large call center. For example, they can be global, serving multinational companies and large enterprises. Some seats are high, this call center is generally configured, and investing is high. It requires at least: Sufficient large switches, automatic call distributor (ACD), automatic voice response system, CTI system, call management system, service representative agent and terminal, data warehouse or database.
● Medium call center
The agent represents a call center between 50 and 100 is called a medium system. According to professional data statistics, the demand for medium system is the largest. So many call center soft, hardware developers develop this goal. These call center system structures are relatively simple, and there is less investment. It is easy to be accepted by middle and small businesses. At present, there is more systems developed by some non-exchangers producers in my country.
The medium-sized call center can save investments of large switches, and use PBX to connect directly to CTI servers and business representative agents, and the business representative is connected to the application server and obtain various information in time. Customer data is also stored in the application server, which will automatically pop up the customer name of the call to the computer on the computer screen.
The CTI server is generally composed of a board and PC of the CTI hardware developer. Its expansion and increased function is relatively convenient, low cost, so it is a small investment, fast, and flexible and flexible. Because of this, this system market situation is best, demand is rising. Therefore, the manufacturer of this system is developed most.
Because the entry threshold is not high, the developer is mixed, and the company chooses the developer of such systems to fully investigate its development history, experience, and completed the function, reliability of the system, etc., so as not to configure the low level, quality and poor system.
● Small call center
The number of seats in 50 or less is similar to the medium call center, but the main parts such as PBX (can also be replaced by board), the CTI server (the number of main board lines can be selected), the business representative The agent, the application server (determined according to the database size) can be reduced in quantity. It is primarily suitable for small, small businesses. Choosing appropriate input output ratio can be obtained. Selecting this system, it is important to pay attention to scalability, because with the development of enterprises, call traffic will increase rapidly, such as unable to expand, will cause investment waste.
It should be noted that some manufacturers in the background of the production switch also have different sizes of switches for small and medium-sized call center systems. Since they are designing production, it is more convenient to develop their call center with CTI technology. Most of the majority of CTI companies dominated by software development uses open board technology, less use of switches to save investment. Now, there are another solution at home and abroad to solve some of the needs of the call center. This approach refers to a third-party enterprise-call center operator that provides call service - call center operators complete the call service. Operators can choose to build large call centers and take centralized services to serve all corporate signing protocols. The operator call center system is connected to the application servers and related personnel of each company. General calls are processed directly by operators, and special issues are transferred to the corresponding company to solve them accordingly. The advantage of this is to mitigate the burden of enterprise, and the call center can adopt the most advanced communication technology, computer network technology and management operation technology, and provide 24 hours a day, 24 hours a day. It will provide high-quality external services to all enterprises, so that users of each enterprise are satisfactory. This carrier engaged in calling center is called an outsourcing call center.
On the one hand, the outsourcing call center should face the company on the other hand, in the face of the majority of users of these enterprises, therefore, its call system performance and agent business representatives have high requirements. It requires a complete set of management specifications, whether it is a recent business representative or a back table manager, and even higher leaders and experts must follow strict procedures and require training before the job.
Application classification
From the perspective of features and applications, the development history of the call center has experienced three phases:
The first generation: Call center based on providing information service. my country's 160 information desk is a representative. There are still many call centers in this current.
The second generation: not only provides information services, but also forms a transaction, and there is a distribution system and a financial payment system. It has become part of e-commerce. my country has currently has this type of call center, and its functional configuration is much more perfect than 160.
The third generation: The above two generations are the "call center", or is called "I". Whether it is an information service or forming a transaction, it is a service after the user calls. The third generation is the user as "master", the user is the core, so that users become real "God". As a call center, we must fully understand the hobby of users. What do he need? What kind of help does he needed? The call center should actively "garre" service to provide customers with "personalized" service. Therefore, it requires a huge database of user detailed information (these data must be legal), legitimate), and use powerful data warehouses, analyzes, judgments for various needs of different users, for company leaders For decision-making, in order to make the company get more input to output. In addition, it needs a variety of convenient access technology (wired, wireless), with flexible voice-text mutual conversion function, etc., provides users with a full range of services.
● Application status
On a period of time, online trading red pole. But very few people know that every large e-commerce operator has a large-scale call center behind its huge Internet online trading system. If Dell is in the forefront of online and telephone sales in the world's PC field, it relies mainly of the call center. Similarly, the large-scale call center in the United States has become its main earnings pillars. However, people see mainly Internet services and transactions, and the huge role from the call center is often neglected by ordinary people.
my country is different from European and America, and the establishment of the call center is still in its infancy. my country first start building a call center is the telecommunications department. In recent days, CTI technology has gradually been deeply rooted, and the call center application has been known by the majority of corporate leaders and experts. It is rapidly acquired extensive applications in all walks of life, banking, aviation, railway, shipping, insurance, stock, real estate, tourism, business building. In addition to large enterprises, some medium-sized companies, and even small companies are planning to build their own call center. In just two years, my country's call center has penetrated into all walks of life, some people have a rough calculation, if the planned big, medium, small call center is all established, at least more than 10 billion investments scale. At present, a large number of call center technologies in China is still at a lower level, and the soul of the call center - decision support system has not been placed, developed and applied. Technology evolution
The call center is integrated with some of the latest technologies, such as IP, WAP, ASR, DW, etc. The "joining" of these technologies will enable future call centers in several ways such as performance, structure and application, which can achieve the current requirements of e-commerce, and become the main, platform of future e-commerce. Core and soul.
1 Based on PSTN Call Center is a regular or traditional call center. It has not been introduced to the Internet, which is the earliest call center. This call center is referred to as CC (Call Center), which is a call center based on the PSTN telephone network.
This service representative of this call center provides information services to customers by answering the phone. The initial user's information cannot be converted between computers on each seat. With the development of computer and telecommunications technology, the speech response system and CTI technique began, but not only manual and automated services, but also allows users to transfer each other between arbitrary business representatives. , Improve the quality of service of the system. A conventional call center is mainly different from the Internet-based call center discussed later in that they have not been integrated with the Internet network. At present, most of the domestic call center belongs to this.
2 With the wide application of Internet, the Internet Network-based call center (ICC, Internet Call Center) begins.
It is not simply provided to the Internet information to the call center, but integrates the call center with the Internet. Users can enter the call center directly from the web site, and implement with the other party in a click button. Of course, remote calls can be used with IP phones, or you can do text interactions (such as whiteboard feature). In this way, all the functions on the Internet can be used together, such as E-mail, IP fax, IP phone, etc.
Due to the low price of IP phones, IP faxes, E-mail, making this call center to establish a global service center for large multinational companies, and users can also call 24/7, and enterprises can save 800 phone bills. burden. Some big companies have tried to establish a global call center, and general address is selected in the third world low salary. This aspect can minimize the cost, and on the other hand, it can make developing countries more employment opportunities.
In the traditional call center, some also introduced IP telephone input, E-mail and other Internet contact information, the company has established a web website, but this does not explain it is the Internet Call Center. The main difference between the two is the Internet network, PSTN network, CTI technology, and various soft and hardware have been real integration.
The introduction of the Internet network causes a revolutionary change in the call center that gives the extensive information resources and powerful functions of the Internet. The core of the Internet Network call center is the transmission of network voice, and it is currently used in H.323 standards. Since the H.323 standard is a technical basis and guarantee for voice, numbers, multimedia communications on the LAN, intranet, and Internet, so all Internet-based call centers use it as integrated standards. At present, companies that are developing ICCs in China are still uncomfortable. The North Post CTI Research and Development Center is developing ICC, ZTE AnyService is also here. 3 Call Center Further Development is combined with WAP technology, ASR technology, since the wireless (mobile) communication is introduced into the call center, and therefore, it can be called a call center with a wireless Internet (WICC-WIRELESS Internet Call Center).
The convergence of WAP and ICC allows mobile phones to access ICC directly through the PSTN network, which is not different from the general fixed telephone access call center. Really substantive changes are to obtain a variety of different forms of information directly with mobile phones. The call center of the Internet Network can accept direct access to all IPs, so mobile phones with IP access functions can get rich text and data information directly from the call center. This feature is impossible for traditional TACS, GSM, and CDMA standards.
In order to achieve mobile phones (terminals) can access the Internet, people jointly develop WAP (Wireless Application Protocol-Wireless Applications). It modifies existing network technologies for the characteristics of mobile communication networks, and references new technologies to implement the WAP phones directly access the contents and their data on the Internet.
Due to the rich online content, the interface is large and complicated, people have developed a "filter" or "compressor" between the WAP mobile phone and ICC with XML language, simplifying the more complex content, and "refining" with the main information "Compression", make it displayed all of the main information content on a limited mobile phone screen. The result of doing this is to expand the call center user to a mobile subscriber group with WAP mobile phone (this user group spends a call fee and access fee, which belongs to the upper consumption crowd, which is the most frequent access to ICC).
Mobile phone users have become a new user of call center, so that ICC has gains a greater amount of access and makes business revenue increase. The problem now is whether you can use the WAP phone directly accessed the ICC's text, data information (also simple graphics information), and use voice to listen to E-mail and other text data information. The answer is yes! Automatic Language Recognition (ASR) technology is rapid, and one of its research branches is called text - TTS-TEXT To Speech, which will affect people using the call center.
For example, if you are driving on the highway, and it is accessing the ICC's Internet text information, it can smoothly convert the text into a paragraph. Conversely, due to the advancement of ASR technology, you can also use the ICC's service to send a passage (ASR technology) to the call center, or pass the waiter to the call center. . In terms of these conversion technologies, many companies at home and abroad have made achievements.
4 Another technical aspect of the call center is the convergence of multimedia technology and ICC.
At present, some companies have provided call centers with some multimedia functions. However, these call centers cannot be considered a powerful and comprehensive multimedia call center in the future. Since the call center is based on CTI technology, the early main quotation is mainly speech and data integration, so people have long eager to introduce video information. The future development of CTI is inevitably integrated with voice data and video information. Since 70% of the human reception information comes from video, the call center will definitely introduce video technology, and multimedia technology will make the call center there is a leap. Of course, interactive video communications puts a higher requirement to the client and communication network, that is, there is enough access bandwidth. At present, users in most parts of the country do not have this condition, so it remains in the future call center. At the same time, since the ICC itself has a wealth of video image information and the penetration of network construction, a comprehensive multimedia call center also refers to the day.
5 The introduction of CRM technology will make the value of the call center greatly increase.
The CRM includes two main parts of the user information management system and decision support system according to its content.
The user information management system is mainly accumulated with a large amount of subtle information, and the basic data of enterprise customers and individual users and the accumulation of business-related data are constantly updated and expanded. The amount of data of these data is quite large, and the valuable data set can be obtained by analyzing, summarizing. The use of data warehouses will make the way the data is multi-dimensional, which is very convenient to use, thereby creating advantageous conditions for data extraction, mining creates favorable conditions.
Decision support systems include data mining, analysis, and decision, CRM decision-making depends on the accuracy of data integrity and decision algorithm. CRM data not only comes from user information management, but also from different systems depending on the industry. For example, the communication industry has a large number of user data, and the data of competitors, etc. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Netcom now attaches great importance to CRM research and development and application work. They have placed CRM in the network management system, and some after the Call Center (Customer Service Center), some will be placed after the billing system.
In order to obtain more accurate conclusions, the best way is to put decision support systems (including data mining, analysis, and decision-making algorithms) above three or all of the information systems that produce useful data, so that creativity can be obtained. Conclusion of sex, competitiveness and success. The decision support system must have high-level management personnel, mathematicians, engineers to discuss research, through high-speed calculation, massive data, and correct algorithms to know themselves, insight, in the future, provide the necessary guarantee for enterprise development.
