Contact centers are the key hub for delivering remote customer care. For as long as I have been involved with contact centers they have always been faced by a key ongoing dilemma. How do I improve the customer experience while driving down costs? Contact centers are constantly striving to improve on these two imperatives which are often add odds at each other.

As we are all faced with a common set of challenges, one of the things I have always liked about this industry is the willingness to share information and best practices. One of the best forums for this is the upcoming Customer Contact MindXchange Series, October 17-20, 2010 | Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, La Jolla, CA. This is our third Frost and Sullivan event and it has not only been a valuable networking tool for us, but also a way to learn how the contact center is evolving and what is important to contact center leadership.

Interactions is continuing to make a profound impact on customer care. Contact centers are turning increasingly to self-service and as a means to control costs. However research has shown that voice self-service systems in particular negatively impact the customer experience. Interactions has an innovative approach to voice self-service that dramatically improves the customer experience. To us it’s a simple equation. If you improve their understanding, self-service systems will be easier to use and more effective for consumers. We are proving this out with millions of transactions each month with some of the largest, most well respected brands in the world. We are proud to be delivering solid results for these clients, and I hope I get a chance to share some of the key things we have learned with you at the upcoming MindXchange or somewhere else along the journey to improve the customer experience.