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2020 Contact Center Investment Priorities
DMG’s annual survey of contact center investment priorities
for the year has confirmed the anecdotal data we’ve been hearing from
companies. 2020 is looking to be an outstanding year for contact center
investments.
As it’s difficult to get enterprise executives and managers
to participate in any kind of a survey, this year we decided to ask only 3
questions. As artificial intelligence (AI) is a top investment priority for
most companies, we elected to inquire about a few specific AI-related topics,
as shown in Figure 1. The three survey questions were:
- Do you plan to implement any new or replacement contact
center infrastructure applications in the cloud in the next couple of years?
- Do you plan to implement any automation solutions (e.g.,
IVA, bots, RPA, AQM, self-service, WFM, etc.) in the next couple of years?
- Do you plan or are you engaged in a digital transformation
that includes digital and social media channels?
The findings for the three questions were extremely positive
and reflect the very upbeat attitude of enterprise executive and contact center
leaders toward new technology investments. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Contact Center Technology Investment Priorities for 2020
Source: DMG Consulting LLC, February 2020
Cloud-Based Contact Center Solutions
67.9% of respondents indicated that they were planning to
implement a new or replacement contact center infrastructure solution in the
cloud, such as an automatic call distributor (ACD), self-service solution (interactive
voice response (IVR) or other type of application), workforce management (WFM),
interaction analytics (IA), within the next couple of years. The answer to this
question makes it clear that the future of contact center systems is in the
cloud, although some companies will continue to use premise-based systems. It
also shows that many companies anticipate substantial investments in many types
of contact center systems and applications.
Contact Center Automation Solutions
A strikingly high number of respondents, 81.0%, indicated
that they were planning to invest in technology to automate contact center
activities in the next few years. Systems in which they plan to invest are: intelligent
virtual assistants (IVAs), bots, robotic process automation (RPA), analytics-enabled
quality management (AQM), self-service, WFM and more. The drivers of contact
center technology investments have always been cyclical, but this survey answer
tells us that leaders are going to concentrate on systems and applications to
improve the effectiveness and productivity of their operating environments. This
is interesting given the mega trend to improve the customer experience.
Digital Transformation and Omni-Channel Support
72.3% of respondents are engaged in or plan to invest in a
digital transformation initiative that includes the use of digital and social
media channels. As these, along with self-service, are the preferred channels
for consumers to use to interact with a business, it’s good to see companies moving
in the right direction. DMG hopes that contact center leaders are involved in
these initiatives, as a surprisingly large percentage of customer communications
via digital channels are service-oriented.
Final Thoughts
2020 is expected to be an outstanding year for investments in
new systems and applications for contact centers and customer service
organizations. 2020 is also the year of the customer, as reflected by the mega
trend to enhance the customer experience, and the findings from this survey
make it clear that executives are willing to make new investments that yield quantifiable
benefits.