Radical Shake-Up Expected as Popularity of Mobile Channel Soars

Related Articles

• IDC Take on Google/Motorola Acquisition: Not as Dramatic as the Headlines
• IDC Offers Insights into SMBs, Unified Communication and Collaboration
• BYOD's Downside: Higher IT Costs, Data Security and Compliance Concerns

Subscription Options

Subscribe Newswire

Widgets & RSS Feeds

The proliferation of smart devices and mobile apps is expected to give rise to a more sophisticated and interactive customer service experience over the next four years. Analysts are predicting that more than half of inbound customer service calls in key countries will to be made from a mobile device by 2016, and 30 percent of these from smartphones. But is the enterprise ready for mobile customer care?

A recent study on the subject entitled “The Future of Customer Service in a Mobile World: Smart, Connected Interactions” published by Ovum and co-written by lead analyst Daniel Hong, principal analyst Keith Dawson, and ServeLab’s Mike Bergelson and Colin Schiller explore the impact expected by the mobile trend.

“The rise of smart devices and the incessant focus on customer loyalty has created the proverbial ‘perfect storm’ for enterprises that want to reinvent the customer experience around smartphones and tablets,” explains Hong. “We expect a dramatic shift in customer engagement as more consumers use mobile apps as their primary gateway to customer service. When you take into account the multiple pathways supported via the smart device and combine those with context relay then you have a game changer in the industry. This is what we call smart, connected interactions (SCI).”

Although mobile is clearly a “hot initiative” in many organizations today, Ovum’s research reveals that the biggest challenge to the rapid implementation of SCI is for customer care teams to collaborate effectively with other areas of the business, especially those that own the mobile strategy.

“There’s no doubt that mobility will fundamentally change the way companies approach customer care,” states Schiller. “While many of its capabilities have yet to develop, the smart device is a powerful connected tool that enables multiple channels of communication, so the possibilities for thoughtful, informed customer engagement are boundless. This is a rich new area for innovation and we can’t wait to see the solutions that are sure to start rolling out over the next couple of years.”