Graceful Contact Transfer via Wait Treatment Exit Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
Contact centers face high customer dropout rates due to lengthy wait times and abrupt interruptions during customized wait treatments, which can lead to customer dissatisfaction and lost feedback opportunities.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that allows customers to engage with meaningful wait treatments featuring predetermined exit points, enabling a graceful transfer to agent connection, allowing agents to review customer information beforehand, and providing personalized service upon connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If customers are placed on hold with generic music-on-hold treatments, then wait time is reduced, but customer satisfaction deteriorates due to boredom and perceived lack of appreciation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by providing customized wait treatments (such as company updates, product information, or personalized messages) to customers before they are connected to agents. This prepares customers for the interaction and maintains their engagement during the wait period, thereby reducing perceived wait time while improving satisfaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of wait treatment from generic music-on-hold to customized content delivery. By varying the type, duration, and personalization level of wait treatments based on customer profiles and queue status, the system maintains customer engagement without extending actual wait time.
2Productivity
If customers are abruptly taken out of wait treatment when an agent is available, then productivity is improved by reducing hold time, but customer satisfaction deteriorates due to haphazard perception and interrupted experiences
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides preliminary customized wait treatments that are designed to be completed or paused gracefully. When an agent becomes available, the system can either complete the current treatment segment before transfer or smoothly transition to agent connection, avoiding abrupt interruptions that harm customer perception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the timing of customer transfer based on multiple factors including current wait treatment progress, customer profile, queue status, and agent availability. This dynamic decision-making allows the system to optimize both productivity and customer satisfaction by choosing the most appropriate transfer moment.
3Reliability
If customized wait treatments with predetermined exit points are implemented, then customer satisfaction is improved through meaningful engagement, but device complexity increases due to additional system components and control logic
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a multi-functional platform that can deliver various types of customized wait treatments (audio, visual, informational) through a single integrated architecture. This universal platform handles different customer profiles, treatment types, and exit point conditions without requiring separate systems, thereby managing complexity while providing rich customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary control layer that manages the complexity of customized wait treatments. This intermediary component handles the logic for selecting treatments, monitoring exit points, coordinating with agent availability, and managing transfers, thereby isolating the complexity from both the customer-facing interface and the core switching system.
4Productivity
If agents are assigned to contacts but connected immediately, then productivity is improved by reducing assignment delay, but service quality deteriorates because agents lack time to review customer information
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by providing agents with customer information, interaction history, and relevant data before the actual connection occurs. This preliminary preparation allows agents to review and understand the customer context without extending the overall contact handling time significantly, thereby improving service personalization while maintaining productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a graceful transfer of a contact from a queue to another party. More particularly, exit points are defined within a given wait treatment for the contact. While the contact is in queue waiting for service the initiator of the contact is able provided with the wait treatment. When the contact is ready to be removed from the queue (e.g., because a servicing agent is ready to available to service the contact), the contact is kept in the queue and continues to be provided the wait treatment until an exit point has been reached.