Digital support definition

What is digital support — and how does customer support delivered through chat, email, self-service portals, and messaging differ from traditional phone-based support in ways that affect cost structure, data collection, personalization opportunities, and the customer satisfaction levels organizations can achieve?

Digital support: its definition and the technology needed to provide it.

Digital support is customer service delivered via digital channels such as email, chat, mobile apps, social media, and more. This allows consumers to interact with businesses using their smartphones, tablets and computers. Customers consider digital support to be convenient because it provides choices that match their digital lifestyles. Each channel has its own characteristics in terms of speed and level of agent support, so there's a channel for just about every support scenario.

Businesses can choose which digital support channels to offer based on factors like customer demographics and channel maturity. Websites, email, and chat are among the most popular digital channels, while emerging channels such as video chat are still gaining traction. Regardless of the mix of digital support channels, organizations need to implement and take a truly unified omnichannel approach, rather than just bolting on channels in individual silos. To do this, businesses need the right technical solutions.

Features of omnichannel digital support solutions.

Cross-channel reporting

When you add digital support to the mix, the customer journey becomes more complex. Unified cross-channel reporting allows businesses to monitor and optimize the journey as well as the omnichannel contact center performance.

Omnichannel routing

Good digital support solutions include the ability to route all interactions in a unified manner through the same interface according to configurable, intelligent rules established by the business. This helps ensure customer contacts are routed to the right agent at the right time and handled in a timely fashion regardless of what channel the customer used.

Omnichannel workforce management

Providing multiple channels requires smart workforce management software that can forecast volume from all channels and then schedule multi-skilled agents. No small task.

Robust, extensible contact center platform

Foremost, an organization’s contact center software needs to accommodate and integrate multiple digital channels. This includes being flexible enough to easily add other digital channels in the future, even ones that haven't been invented yet.

Unified agent desktop

Multi-skilled agents need tools to make them successful at providing integrated digital support. This means providing them access to contacts from all channels they support in a single, well-designed interface. Additionally, an integrated inbox will ensure that all their contacts are in one convenient location.