Bringing real-time, seamless communications capabilities to a Web browser makes WebRTC a contestant for one of the most disruptive technologies to impact contact centers. In a world of social media, email, self-service tools and multichannel customer support, agents need a way to manage every channel, interaction and customer history record in a single location, as quickly and user-friendly as possible.
WebRTC enables this, bringing real-time communications to the browsers and applications so users have instant access to communicating with customer support or other company representatives.
4COM, a German provider of cloud-based contact center solutions, recently optimized its services with WebRTC integration for direct support. With the integration, users can contact a 4COM Solution Architect or customer service agent directly from a Web browser in real-time – the promise and draw of WebRTC. Customers can embed WebRTC functionality into their own websites and offer video and voice capabilities for any device, such as smartphones and tablets. The future of Web communications is that a separate telephone or special software will no longer be required.
The company has been working with HTML5 and WebRTC technology since mid-2012, but is tweaking and optimizing its cloud-based portfolio, taking multichannel, presence and screensharing capabilities into consideration to offer a seamless and informative experience for both agents and users.
In addition to its WebRTC integration, 4COM also recently introduced a Microsoft Outlook plugin that acts as an extension of the 4COM contact center suite and can be used to manage incoming calls, emails and other customer service channels.
4COM’s product suite includes multichannel ACD, outbound manager, service numbers, email management, reporting and analytics and customer survey tools.
The company’s CEO, Oliver Bohl, explained previously that WebRTC is a “technology of the Internet.” More websites are continuing to integrate WebRTC, including contact centers, to ensure a more seamless communications experience. He also explains the benefits of using the Web as a source for communications – agents immediately have access and insight into customer data, such as what website they were visiting, what information they were searching for and other information that could help an agent best serve a user.
The opportunity of WebRTC in a contact center environment is pretty straightforward – extend the multichannel experience to calling directly from the browser and current website. Many contact center providers are starting to catch on, which is great! But what will it take for these solutions to be innovative and differentiated? It will be interesting to see how this develops as the technology becomes more proliferated in this market. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Edited by
Alisen Downey
