TOOLS & METHODS

Contact center metrics have really changed over the past 15 years. We now have tools such as screen pops (CTI), workforce management (WFM), speech analytics, desktop analytics, eLearning, Quality Monitoring (QM), Net Promoter Scoring (NPS), Voice of the Customer (VOC) and many others to measure our contact center agents. The return on investment (ROI) for these tools comes in the form of increased revenue per call, reduction in average handle time, increased first call resolution, improved service levels and increased customer satisfaction scores. It’s our job to implement these tools and to ensure the ROI. Now, add PCI compliance which is not necessarily thought of as a ROI tool and as the person in charge of the Care Center, you’re ready to pull your hair out. 

To maintain compliance and lower operating costs, many companies want payments to be made through self-care channels which is great for most consumers. The moving trend when they call and speak with an agent is to eventually send them to the IVR for payment, but that negatively affects customer satisfaction, and for certain, first call resolution. Although it is very efficient and certainly frees up your agents, it's contrary to everything we’re measured on. Additionally, it’s not very customer service centric. Roughly 70% of customers are happy making payments through the IVR, but what about the remaining customers? How do you service them securely, efficiently and in a compliant manner? This is where DTMF secure capture fills in the gap. During agent handled calls customers don’t need to be transferred to an IVR, the customer can use their touch-tones to enter sensitive data while remaining on line with the agent.

A NEW OPTION

DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency) data capture can be used in the contact center to securely capture a customer's credit card number, for example, without the agent ever being exposed to the digits. Furthermore, the data never touches the desktops, PC’s, segments of the company's network or even the call recording system. It is discreetly entered in by the caller through his/her telephone keypad and then securely and directly routed to the payment processor. The agent only sees encrypted symbols on his/her desktop.

This solution changes the ballgame when it comes to effectively handling sensitive information from the callers who require live agent assistance. Companies across the globe are already embracing this technology, and you can too.