Multichannel & Omnichannel Contact Center: What Are Key Differences

 

The differences are in the names!

 

Customers have vast expectations of how they prefer to communicate with their favorite brands and businesses. Most would rather communicate via the channels they use most often in their daily lives. For many, these options can range from phone calls to email, mobile apps, social media, or even web chats. 

 

Companies, on the other hand, have to meet these expectations. 

Over time, more companies have added more channels via which they render support for their customers and prospects. 

 

Through this, the major challenge has been to ensure that most of these channels are in sync and well linked to each other so clients don’t find it challenging to switch channels as may be convenient. While a multichannel contact center fails at this, switching channels with omnichannel contact centers is much easier and more convenient for customers.  

 

The Multichannel Contact Center

Multi simply means more than one.

 

So, in essence, a multichannel contact center supports its customers via multiple support channels. The channels could range from phone calls to SMS, social media, and more. However, each channel is usually handled separately by different teams. 

 

While customers get to communicate via their preferred channels, having to switch between channels during issue resolutions can be quite frustrating as they often have to start all over, having to repeat questions to multiple service reps. And according to SuperOffice, 89% of customers say this is one of their frustrations with customer support.

 

The Omnichannel Contact Center

In an omnichannel contact center, every support channel works in sync with each other.

 

The channels are unified across the board so there’s greater consistency when customers have to switch channels during issue resolutions. As we do here at OCC, omnichannel contact centers usually work with integrated systems that contain details of every customer’s interactions and activity history. These systems are connected to the backend where call center agents have access to a holistic overview of the entire customer’s journey.

 

Why Choose OCC Omnichannel Contact Center Services?

This might not mean much to you but it can greatly impact your business. 

 

Consistent quality of service is perhaps the biggest benefit here. Customer frustrations will be greatly reduced since they’ll hardly ever have to go back to point zero during issue resolutions. It may not seem obvious but there are statistics to back up how often customers switch between channels to access support services. 

 

OCC's omnichannel contact center helps brands offer personalized and unified support services for highly positive customer experiences. You’ll want to rid the process of any frustrations since up to 74% of consumers will consider switching brands after a poor contact center service experience. With an omnichannel customer support strategy, you can rest assured that the customer experience is much less at risk of frustrations and negativities. 

 

One Contact Center

One Contact Center offers outsourcing services,  call center support, and BPO services for small businesses, startups, and international brands.

If you’re keen on boosting your customer experience with reliable support services, please, contact us today. We’ll be more than happy to help.