Contact centres are ubiquitous across the retail industry. The phone is the preferred method of interaction by customers with their retail establishments. Often phones are a company's first and primary point of contact with the public; a company carries a large part of its public image through its phone interactions. Contact centres are expensive to run and keep staffed with fully trained employees.

The majority of calls concern routine matters - branch location or stock enquiries, for example, or change of address information - simple things that are an inefficient and costly use of an agent's time. A distinct advantage of our automated response solutions is that they consistently maintain the high levels of service that customers expect regardless of the many conditions which might affect the service levels of live agents.

Until recently, retailers were conservative in their approach to technology, preferring to limp along with legacy applications instead of adopting leading-edge solutions. Retailers are faced with surviving the remainder of the recession while simultaneously preparing their infrastructure for the return of the customer.

The shift from a product-centric to customer-centric focus is driving tactical and strategic initiatives in the retailing vertical market, and customer relationship management is key to these efforts. As retailers continue to grapple with uncertain economic times, the focus is on projects with a near-term ROI and strategic new initiatives that offer cost reduction and/or increased revenue opportunities.

Both touch-tone based and advanced, voice-enabled IVR systems are the obvious, cost-effective answer for retail contact centres. Solutions incorporating Speech Recognition systems can automate the routine calls that comprise the bulk of any contact centre's volume.

Voice-driven solutions with natural language understanding capabilities allow for flexibility of caller response, making interactions easy and complete, while the software is able to handle many calls simultaneously - both necessities for any contact centre. Using IPI Speaker Verification, a voice authentication system that works simply from an individual's unique voiceprint and offers the highest levels of accuracy, transactions can be securely managed.

Voice-driven automation results in greatly reduced hold times for callers, who don't have to wait for "the next available agent" and shorter call durations, which translate into drastically reduced operating costs for contact centres, bringing about a rapid return on investment for companies.

Additionally, callers experience increased customer satisfaction, as their problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Agents are freed up to deal with more complex tasks. Depending on the level of automation implemented, fewer agents are needed, slashing bottom line costs for the centre and freeing up valuable personnel to concentrate on more complex, revenue generating tasks.

Speech offers retailers a compelling value proposition - growth, premium customer service and customer care, and operational efficiency. Speech recognition enables retail companies to expand their reach to include the vast market of subscribers to the high performance and mobile commerce channel that is the telephone.

Busy consumers rely on catalogue and online shopping to conveniently acquire goods and services. With speech-activated product ordering and personalized account information, customers get self-service access from any telephone, anytime, 24-hours a day. From order information and account profiles to store locators and event notifications, retailers can increase customer satisfaction by automating routine calls while delivering a branded, interactive customer experience.

Contact us and find out how speech and IP Integration can help your businesses or organisation to improve efficiency while providing first class customer service. We can help you to find a voice for your business.

For an introductory meeting or quotations please contact IP Integration direct
on 0118 918 4600 or email us at contact@ipintegration.com