E-commerce businesses have to obtain a call center solution. Tradition solution is not enough. Read this article to know whether they need an omnichannel contact center solution or multichannel call center software.
Any eCommerce business requires a call center solution; not only to handle customer care cases, but also to generate more sales. As we know, nowadays, consumers use their smart devices along with computers, laptops, etc. To cater to a smart buyer base, the traditional mode of communication is not enough. Implementing communication channels such as WhatsApp, live chat, Twitter, Facebook, etc. is necessary.
If not omnichannel, multichannel communication is mandatory. Using different tools to handle multichannel communication would be difficult. Having a centralized solution to control and log communication in an eCommerce business is mandatory. It gives a clear picture of customer concerns, new sales, and of course, customer productivity.
Call center solutions have started offering omnichannel and multichannel options along with the traditional communication channel.
When we talk about multichannel communication, often, online businesses like to invest either in call center software development or obtaining a tailored solution, which can cater to the business needs of an eCommerce store. In both instances, the initial expense is huge and so is the cost of ongoing software maintenance. Software customization is likely to generate the coveted deliverables and it is more likely to be time-intensive. Ecommerce businesses should go for adequately packed features and perpetual multichannel call center solutions.
One can choose to get open source call center software and integrate other communication channels into it as per the need. However, integrating the latest communication channel into the open source software would be highly expensive compared to a perpetual system.
Along with multiple or unified communication channels your software needs to have the following features:
- Smart call routing
- ACD
- Skill-based call mapping
- Voice broadcasting
- Predictive dialing
- Auto dialing
- Call logs
All these are standard features, usually, available in all call center solutions nowadays. Along with all these features, to aid the administration, your multichannel or omnichannel call center software should incorporate live dashboards and reports. On the other hand, agents need personalization features and quick access to multiple communication channels. The fundamental separator to a modernized call center solution is if it includes WebRTC or not.
WebRTC in the call center solutions can be a game-changer for ecommerce businesses in giving a truly personalized agent experience and greater job satisfaction. It further helps in reducing expenses related to hardware and mobile SIP dialer or a PC dialer.
Live chat on the eCommerce website is really important for eCommerce businesses. It has been one of the most popular communication channels. It can be integrated into the open source call center solutions. Therefore, if you choose an open source solution, you can acquire it. Unlike traditional web chat solution, the chat widget made available in the call center software usually has more features and functionalities such as transfer chat, email transcript, etc.
WhatsApp is one of the rapidly used communication channels. Every day approximately 6 billion messages are exchanged on WhatsApp. It proves the popularity of WhatsApp. It makes it one of the unavoidable communication channels. Call center WhatsApp integration provides WhatsApp web features within a call center solution. However, remember, it is not available in open source software.
Obtaining an omnichannel call center solution would be a great deal for a call center, but it is not a necessity. For example, SMS is hardly used these days by customers. Therefore, instead of omnichannel, eCommerce store owners can also obtain a multichannel call center solution.

