if other WebRTC options would be more helpful. Once on an audio channel, a customer can move up a step and engage in a cobrowsing session with the agent. The agent can then control the customer's browser, see where the customer is on the Web site, click on the customer's behalf, take the customer to the right section, and enter text on a screen or send the consumer documents such as PDFs.
The last escalation, Goebel says, is video. "If you [the agent] think that you need to see this person, maybe show the customer something or just look them in the eye, that's when you add video. WebRTC allows you to go from channel to channel and can escalate to richer modalities."
While some people may feel that WebRTC technology is being overhyped, Goebel thinks that in this case, it's not a negative. "It means that people believe in something and want to get that into other people's minds and on their radar. That's what's happening and that's a good thing. But if you start with hype you need to get to a more mature way of dealing with this technology."
Aspect's RTC platform can be implemented with any SIP-compliant real-time communications environment. The solution will be available on premises as well as in the Aspect Cloud, a data center and telecommunications infrastructure that provides Aspect's SaaS, hosted, and managed service offerings.
By leveraging the SIP standard, Aspect RTC Platform provides:
- Cost savings: By deflecting calls from the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and having them originate on a Web site or mobile app, companies will be able to avoid PSTN costs and process incoming calls using Internet telephony instead. RTC Platform delivers audio as standard SIP calls.
- Improved customer experience and retention: By giving customers direct access to contact center agents at the point and place where it's needed, avoiding the IVR, and by adding video to provide a human touch, companies will be able to improve customer satisfaction, see an increase in Net Promoter Score, and recover customer relationships that would otherwise be lost.
- Improved agent experience: With video and high-definition audio, agents will now be able to see the people they help and enjoy a better overall experience. This, in turn, has an impact on customer perception.
- Increased first call resolution rates and lowered average handle time: Contacts coming in through Web sites or mobile apps will be 100 percent prequalified before being routed to the appropriate agent. This will significantly reduce average handling time while improving first contact resolution.
Additionally, deployment models include cloud, on-premises licensing, and hybrid implementations. Aspect RTC platform integrates with Aspect Unified IP and Zipwire, Aspect's cloud contact center platform, and third-party contact center solutions such as Genesys and Cisco for access to real-time customer data such as estimated wait times via agent screen pops.
"I think that 2015 will be the year where we see first actual implementations in the enterprise—we've already seen a few in 2014, but I think that it's going to grow, Goebel says. "In 2016 to 2017, it is going to be a mainstream technology. Consumers will start missing it if companies don't offer it."