Dimension Data is predicting an increase in headcount in the global contact centre industry in the next two years. This announcement follows the Group’s forecast that, over the next 24 months, organisations will introduce more digital self-service channels into their businesses to deliver a greater customer experience.
The findings of Dimension Data’s annual Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report(GCCBR) which surveyed 901 organisations in 72 countries across Asia Pacific, Australia, the Americas, Middle East & Africa, and Europe, were published March 5th. The GCCBR is the only report of its kind that researches both the strategic, and the operational performance trends of the contact centre industry.
Adam Foster, Dimension Data’s Group Executive – Communications said, “Digital, which is anything that doesn’t involve a live agent speaking to a customer, is fast becoming the consumer’s preference. Today, consumers want to engage with organisation over multiple digital and social media channels to achieve the results they want. And they’re happy to move effortlessly from one digital channel such as web chat, email, SMS – and even video – to another using a range of devices including mobile and smartphones, tablets, and TV.”
According to this year’s GCCBR findings, 87% (percentages rounded to the nearest decimal point) of the contact centre industry will see an increase in the use of non-voice (digital) channels; while 74% of those organisations that were polled predicted an increase in overall interactions. Furthermore, smart apps in contact centres will more than double to 55% in 2016 from 26% in 2014, with web chat hiking from 33% rising to an impressive 70% in the next two years.
Foster explains: “Our findings indicate that around 50% of this year’s participants can already cancel or amend an order via their smart apps, and 39% can update personal information. The interaction mix in the contact centre is changing as the complexity of contacts and the channels themselves increase.
This means organisations will need to adjust their resource models for the reshaped modern contact centre. We know from this year’s findings that 21% of role skills and competency profiles are not aligned to the actual role, and more than a quarter (26%) of those skills required to perform the role are not regularly assessed. Added to this, the industry will see seven digital channels come on stream by the end of this year.
“Based on these statistics, the number of employees and their skills will need to be increased, and those agents will require an increase in management and support levels. This is good news for the contact centre industry.”
Jay Reddy, Dimension Data Middle East and Africa Executive for Communications says: “Despite digital being the top choice channel for Gen Y, just 43% of contact centres have some form of social media capability in place. However, the good news is that this figure is forecast to grow to around 68% by end-2015. Of those organisations that do have a social media-based service in place, almost three quarters (74%) already have a dedicated team of agents monitoring social media and proactively responding to customer queries, complaints, comments and requests.
Other key highlights in the 2015 GCCBR include:
- 42% of contact centres predict a decrease in telephone interactions by 2016, but 26% also forecast an increase
- 41% of contact centres forecast a rise in employee headcount in the next two years; while 25% expect to see a decrease
- Outsourcing needs are also set to grow
- The need to offshore contact centres is forecast to grow at more than double the rate of those reshoring
