Apr 12th, 2011

The social networking phenomenon is sweeping the world, changing the way people interact with one another and with company brands. The nature of the medium has made it vital for organisations to not only use it as a marketing tool but also to monitor what is being said about them, positive or negative, so that issues can be swiftly addressed and reputation maintained.

Monitoring social media can be a complex process as millions of users are continuously saying millions of things about organisations on a variety of sites. This process can however be integrated into existing contact centres, giving companies new means of communicating with the public and the ability to know what is being said about them.

“By integrating social media into the contact centre, organisations can not only better service their customers but also gain an important competitive advantage by being able to respond to praise or complaints quickly and easily,” says Paul Fick, MD of Spescom DataFusion.

Social media is all about sharing, and often pertinent information shared by users on these platforms is never seen by companies. This lack of response leads to missed opportunities either to retain customers or to gain new ones. The information on these myriad of sites will prove to be of value in helping organisations to redesign strategy and improve products and services. Knowing what current and potential customers are saying about a business on social media has become vital to the success and profitability of business.

“By integrating social media into the contact centre, organisations gain the ability to interact in a more instant and flexible way than ever before,” says Araceli Aranda, CEO of Presence Technology. “If organisations want to engage with 2.0 customers, generation C – digital natives and exceptionally tech-savvy people -, they have to reach their customers by interacting with them via the channels they prefer to use. Companies who actually care for their customers can’t afford to miss this train.”

By integrating these new platforms into the existing contact centre solution organisations can manage the new channels through one centralised tool with minimal infrastructure requirements. All of the information related to each customer interaction regardless of channel can be delivered through a single, consolidated interface, and companies can therefore make better decisions based on complete real time information, better servicing customers and enhancing their businesses.

“Social networking is here to stay, and organisations ignore this revolution at their peril. Adapting resources to meet changing needs is an all important aspect of contact centre management, and this next evolution demands nothing less,” Fick concludes.