During the course of making their decisions, consumers are confronted with an immense diversity of products and services whose quality standards are becoming simultaneously both ­higher and more homogeneous. As a consequence, expectations and demands on the customer service departments are also ­rising. The parallel individualization means that companies are increasingly unable to predict behavior and to take right ­actions.   

Internet and cell phones have greatly simplified the interactions with companies as well as made it possible at any time. Parallel to the technically improved access to the companies, customers expect high service level and fast solutions to problems. At the same time, the number of different requests which are processed on the telephone is growing steadily. Today’s standards include provision of information, orders, complaints, and often outbound acquisition. Shorter innovation cycles in conjunction with higher investment costs and declining profit margins ­increase cost pressures in customer service.    

General conditions put pressure on customer service   

The above-mentioned general conditions inexorably lead to a demand for high flexibility and innovation capability from the customer service responsibilities. These skills are more than just a significant differentiation factor in competition on saturated markets with the highest quality standards. Customer satisfaction must be raised through excellent service while also achieving high productivity and economic efficiency. This cannot function unless cost efficiency and the exploitation of synergy potential have first been realized.   

These challenges are in contrast to contact center operations, many of which have grown organically so that their ­structure, ­organization, and technology have developed as stop-gap ­measures in response to past demands; as a result, they appear today as a colorful patchwork of organizational units, responsibilities, and technical components. Moreover, customer service – ­especially in large service sectors – traditionally is personnel-intensive owing to a high-volume operating business. The decentralized location landscapes are most frequently a consequence of extreme ranges in personnel capacities, which  requires corres­pondingly complex management system.