ISG Provider Lens™ report finds contact
centers adopting hybrid work models for agents, embracing more
social media, chat, AI and analytics to meet new customer
demands
Contact center operators worldwide are adopting new technologies
more quickly in response to several business and consumer trends
accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report
published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III),
a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience
Services Global report finds the pandemic disrupted both working
conditions and consumer behavior, leading enterprises to work more
closely with service providers on digital transformations. Annual
contract value for business process outsourcing (BPO) providers
grew by 48 percent from the first half of 2020 to the first half of
2021, according to the ISG Index™.
The pandemic quickly made social media, asynchronous messaging,
conversational AI and analytics essential to enterprise engagement
with customers, while work-from-home mandates changed contact
center operations for good, the report says.
“The changes that have swept the business world over the past 18
months have made companies recognize the need for new technologies
and business models,” said Jim Kane, leader, ISG Contact Center
Solutions. “Many are transforming their customer care in
partnership with outsourcing providers.”
After COVID-19 social distancing rules led many consumers to
spend their days mostly online, social media became a more
important channel for purchases, customer service, feedback and
other interactions, the report says. More companies are now using
social media both to find new customers and to serve their existing
customer base. The benefits of a social media presence come with a
risk of brand damage, so content moderation, community management,
web crawling and other tasks have become essential services.
Asynchronous messaging tools such as chat have grown in
popularity during the pandemic as more consumers sought help online
without long waits, ISG says. These methods allow agents to resolve
more queries while making the process more convenient, mitigating
customer frustration. Companies have also dramatically increased
their adoption of conversational AI, which has matured in recent
years with the ability to answer more complex queries and even
comes preloaded with specialized knowledge about the nuances of
specific industries. Analytics tools that can provide agents with
the right set of information at the right time are also emerging as
a game-changer.
The pandemic has also amplified the trend toward cloud-based
contact centers, the report says. Service providers are expanding
their partnerships with cloud platform companies and investing in
proprietary cloud solutions, helping their enterprise customers
maintain business continuity and accelerate their digital
transformations.
Businesses are now emerging from the home-based work
requirements of the early pandemic with hybrid work models,
according to ISG. For contact centers, which have long had vibrant
in-office environments, this means implementing new approaches to
provide positive employee experiences. These include engagement
hubs, where employees can meet up with colleagues for meetings,
training and fun activities, and platforms for doing the same kinds
of activities virtually.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience
Services Global report evaluates the capabilities of 29 providers
across four quadrants: Digital Operations, AI & Analytics, Work
From Home Services and Social Media CX Services.
The report names Concentrix, HGS, Sitel Group, Sutherland and
Teleperformance as Leaders in all four quadrants. It names Alorica,
Conduent and TTEC as Leaders in three quadrants each and Atento,
Cognizant and CSS Corp. as Leaders in two quadrants each. The
report names [24]7.ai, Genpact, Transcom, Webhelp, Wipro and WNS as
Leaders in one quadrant each.
In addition, Infosys and Startek are named as Rising
Stars—companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future
potential” by ISG’s definition—in two quadrant each. Tech Mahindra
and WNS are named as Rising Stars in one quadrant each.
Customized versions of the report are available from CSS Corp.
and Infosys.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience
Services Global report is available to subscribers or for one-time
purchase on this webpage.
About ISG Provider Lens™ Research
The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only
service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical,
data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world
experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team.
Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis
to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners,
while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market
knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The
research currently covers providers offering their services
globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany,
Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and
Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the
future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research,
please visit this webpage.
A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype
reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the
perspective of specific buyer types.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading
global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business
partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the
world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping
corporations, public sector organizations, and service and
technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster
growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services,
including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory;
managed governance and risk services; network carrier services;
strategy and operations design; change management; market
intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006,
and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300
digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a
global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence,
deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research
and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most
comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit
www.isg-one.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211029005442/en/
Press: Will Thoretz, ISG +1 203 517 3119
will.thoretz@isg-one.com
Erik Arvidson, Matter Communications for ISG +1 617 874 5214
isg@matternow.com
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