Voice V/S. Non-Voice: Customer Care Process!

The modern-day BPO industry has seen great developments in terms of the technology used. The addition of new-generation KPI monitoring, analytics, etc., has allowed every company in the sector to up their service offering and make it more client- and customer-centric. Having said that, a majority of the BPO companies have adopted the non-voice customer care service process too. This is possible through email support and live chats, the latter being the latest development in technology.

However, the question that comes up here is which customer care support campaign, whether voice or non-voice, is more effective for your business.

To get an answer to this, read ahead while we break down the differences between the two.

• Cost

The first aspect to come in the mind while discussing inbound and outbound call center outsourcing is the cost involved. While outsourcing business and customer care support might be more cost-effective than running an in-house team, the voice process will cost more than non-voice.

There are multiple reasons behind this,

The number of agents working on a voice process is higher than non-voice. This is because one agent can take one call at a time, while multiple emails and chats can be handled simultaneously.

Also, the onboarding, IVR, call recording and monitoring, quality assurance, etc., make the voice process more expensive.

• • Response Time

Both voice and non-voice processes are quick in terms of responsiveness and real-time approach. However, the voice process is not as prompt when compared to live chat support. Live chat agents are touted to have the lowest response time compared to the wait time and IVR options for the voice process.

Plus, because every call does not have the same resolution time, the agent can be busy for a long time while the call-in queue could have a longer waiting time. On the other hand, agents working for live chat support outsourcing can address the new query while handling an existing customer.

• Analytics

Both voice and non-voice support processes have analytics and monitoring systems. However, the KPI monitoring and quality assurance are not very different in both. Both the processes follow a similar structure of handling, quality monitoring, customer rating, and KPI monitoring. Plus, the availability of tools is similar in both cases.

• Priority

Now, this is where the voice process comes out on top with excellence. Irrespective of whether you deal with end customers or other businesses, the reliance on calls for complaint handling is more. People instinctively rely on calls when they have urgency with the query or complaint.

On the other hand, non-voice and live chat support aren’t the best when dealing with urgency in customers.

• Customer Satisfaction

While customer satisfaction depends solely on the type of query or complaint in question, the voice process holds a slight edge over non-voice. When it comes to complaint handling over inbound call center outsourcing, both customers and clients rely on it more.

However, live chat support and emails are still relevant for small issues and trivial matters, given the minimal response time.

Summary

Choosing between the voice and non-voice process depends on the type of business you are running and the scale. For an established eCommerce business, having both voice and non-voice would make the most sense.

However, for startups, irrespective of the industry, live chat support outsourcing would be helpful, considering the customer base and budget. The most that a startup can opt for, considering their capital and budget, is answering services outsourcing.

Rest assured, both voice and non-voice are at par in terms of technological advancements and efficiency.