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Published
June 6, 2022

How to use video calling in contact centers

Learn how businesses can use a call center or contact center with video call support. Explore all the pros and cons of video contact centers here.

Video chat is a new component in customer service that provides a personalized approach. In 2021, video chat for call centers has gained tremendous momentum across all customer service channels. Traditionally, phone calls for customer service were made on cell phones, but now more and more organizations have video calling capabilities in their contact support.

The reason is simple - it improves the customer experience, personalizes it, and rapidly drives business growth.

The video calling feature allows an agent to communicate with customers face-to-face or solve customer problems more effectively than through a chat or a regular phone call.

What video calling software is the most effective and can be used in any organization? When should video calls be used? What are the benefits of using video call systems? Let's get into all of that in this article.

What is video chat?

Video chat is a type of chat, an online service that allows Internet users to communicate in audio and video format (via camera) in addition to text correspondence.

Video chat allows your users to get visual navigation from your customer support team.

Video chat is easily integrated with websites, chat widgets. Video chat centers are also compatible with most CRM systems. This makes them easy to integrate with your online contact center.

This means that your digital customer service systems are now easily linked together.

What is a video contact center?

A video contact center is a hardware and software system that allows customers to make video calls to a company's support team. Video contact centers allow agents to interact with clients in real-time by performing direct interaction via video chat. The main purpose is to speed up the processing of incoming inquiries and improve the quality of communication with each individual customer.

Focusing on a digital customer engagement model and using a contact center with video helps reduce agent workload and the profitability of your contact center. 

Interact with clients in real-time by performing direct interaction via video chat.

How is video calling done?

Video calls can be made from any device that supports an Internet connection and is equipped with a camera.

The ability to communicate via video can be available to all users or to a limited number of people. For example, only your premium customers.

Video calls can also be initiated by both customers and agents by sending them a link to a video call or business card. At the same time, when you make the call, the customer can be linked to your CRM system and you can see all the information about them and their request.

When to use video calls for customer support?

First of all, it's not always easy to express a complex problem or technical difficulty in a chat or e-mail. Likewise if you need to convey confidential information. Video calls are very helpful in these situations because they provide a visual and more accurate way to convey information.

Video is also a fantastic resource for expensive purchases or issues that require a more hands-on approach on the part of the buyer. Video meetings can be useful in medical or counseling settings, for example.  Video calls are best used when your customers have complex questions or to provide the quickest and most personalized experience for your most exclusive buyers.

When Not to use video calls for customer support

There are some situations in which you should not prefer video calls. First of all, for answers to frequent common questions. They're simple, and customers can find ways to answer the question, such as checking your knowledge base, website, and social media.

Alternatively, a chatbot can easily handle customer interactions to avoid wasting your customers' time. Chatbots can be used to answer short, simple questions. However, for complex customer questions, you can always use a video call, share the screen, and solve problems by exchanging documents as needed. 

Also, video calls should not be offered for initial inquiries. Video calls may be too uncomfortable for first-time callers, discouraging customers from interacting with you. While they are useful for long-term customer interactions, they can be too intrusive for first-time callers. Also, until your agents know what kind of help you need, you won't be able to determine if video chatting is right for you.

Benefits of Video Call Support Centers

Video calls have many different advantages over regular calls.

Here are six of the most notable benefits of video contact centers:

1. Personalised customer experience

Video chat, a relatively new feature in customer service, can bridge the gap between an organization and its customers, providing a personalized customer experience.

Lack of visual contact has always been one of the main problems when interacting with call centers. For this reason, industries such as healthcare, telecommunications, and banking have found it particularly difficult to provide excellent customer support. 

Direct interaction with customers gives brands the ability to offer a more personalized experience and keep the conversation in line with business standards.

Because customers can see your contact center agents face-to-face via live video, they can connect with your brand. Contact center executives and managers can even use video calls as a criterion for routing customers to specific agents based on the customer's personal communication preferences and the agent's personal skills.

2. Faster resolution time

Customers often don't like to spend time explaining a problem, and agents waste time trying to identify the problem. With video, customers will be able to show their problem to an agent, which increases the likelihood of a first-call resolution (FCR) and reduces average handling time (AHT), hence leading to an overall increase in customer satisfaction. In turn, it also greatly improves agent productivity, shortens the caller queue, and helps prevent customer churn.

3. Fewer touchpoints

Implementing video-enabled call center solutions in your contact center enables employees to identify the root cause of a problem and offer an effective solution faster, thereby reducing the number of digital touch points with the customer.

4. Reduced customer service costs

Typically, contact centers equipped with video save more than 50% in support costs compared to other methods. This helps provide immediate assistance and significantly reduces the number of support requests. 

A video contact center allows you to handle customer inquiries with less likelihood of repeat contact. This reduces the cost of hiring additional agents, the infrastructure to manage calls.

Available contact center video solutions, such as SnapCall, mean affordable and easy installation, as well as seamless connectivity to all other contact channels. 

No additional services or plug-ins are required, no limits on making calls.

Implementing video in the contact center can also have a direct impact on sales by allowing contact center agents to identify new opportunities to increase sales and cross-sell. During a typical inbound phone call, it's not easy to move beyond the initial customer question. But video allows your agents to establish a strong rapport, spot contextual cues, and even showcase new products as a natural part of the conversation.

What's more, according to SnapCall user statistics, on average the use of video increases conversion by a factor of 4, sometimes reaching the 100% sales conversion rate.

This is proof that video chat is worth the investment in improving customer satisfaction.

5. Higher Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Using video in call centers is a great way to market your brand. During a video call, the customer gets a glimpse into the atmosphere of your organisation. A clean, well-lit backdrop, professionally dressed agents, and clear communication reinforce your brand image.

Combined with quick resolution of issues, this encourages customers to recommend your brand, products, and services to their acquaintances or share their customer service experience on social media. Video chat is a great way to impress your customers.

It's also a fantastic opportunity to extend your brand voice through human-centered interaction. Video can help show your customers the similarities between them and your agents, fostering a friendly atmosphere, and brand trust.

With a video-enabled contact center, you can better understand your customers' problems and needs. Based on this understanding, you will be able to offer better support and align your services with their expectations.

Live video calls using SnapCall resulted in a customer satisfaction rate of 80%, the highest of any customer service channel, and NPS score increased by 20%.

Note: Measure NPS by asking the simple question "How satisfied were you with your experience?" at the end of each conversation.

6. Boost call centers' productivity

Video-based contact centers allow agents to interact with customers in real-time through direct interaction. This increases responsiveness and focuses attention on customer engagement, ensuring a fully effective interaction with customers.

Incorporating video calls as a support option not only gives your contact centre agents the ability to directly observe problems in real time, but also greatly improves customer support efficiency, contributing to boosted agent utilization and the profitability of your entire customer service team.

Using video-based contact center solutions increases the speed at which problems are resolved and agents' time can be used for specific training or other priority tasks that will impact contact center revenue.

How can I call someone using video call?

Video calls can be initiated by both agents and clients. We recommend that video calls are initiated by agents after they have done a preliminary assessment of the request and understand that this is really a case where a video call needs to be applied.

Generally, all you need to make a video call is a device with a video camera and internet access. With SnapCall you don't need any additional devices, microphones or services. A video call is a one-click process, without leaving the chat room with the client, and set-up takes no more than 30 seconds.

Limit the availability of video calls to only a certain customer segment, e.g. only premium customers.

Cons of Video Call Support Centers

Despite all of the benefits we've talked about so far, video chat is not suitable for everyone.

Take a look at the list below and consider whether the disadvantages of video chat might cause problems for your organization.

1. Additional agent training

Adding video calls to your contact center means that your agents will need extra training and time to get used to using them. Just as you need to train agents on phone calls or live chat, you need to train them to use video chat effectively.  

And if you plan to train a large number of new contact agents, this can affect the quality of service during the set-up period.

Of course, improving the quality of your customer service or sales team is never a bad idea - and sooner or later it has to happen.

This is because contact centers will need more highly skilled and trained agents in the future.

This means that it may be better to focus on improving training services sooner rather than later. This will allow you to ensure that you are ahead of time.

2. Could be expensive

Live video chat systems themselves are fairly inexpensive. However, the accompanying transformation of your contact center may be more expensive for you than you expect.

Ultimately, it depends on several factors.

For example, do you need to upgrade your existing systems to be able to handle video?

Do you need to buy new equipment for video cameras?

What about the number of agents you need to attract or the upgrades needed to make their environment more video-friendly?

The answers to these questions reflect the cost of implementing video in a contact center.

In Conclusion: Should You Offer Video Calls to Your Customers?

Businesses recognize the value of exceptional customer service, and developing personal relationships with customers builds trust and credibility. The need for video calling functionality is now greater than ever.

By adopting video technology into your contact center before it reaches general saturation, businesses can gain a competitive advantage over their potential competitors. With the ever-increasing network bandwidth and the ubiquity of mobile devices, now is the right time.

By using video for customer support, businesses can now deliver services faster, improve the customer experience and exceed customer expectations. 

In addition, by using video chat technology, you won't miss the chance to surprise and delight your customers with seamless service and exceptional service.

In conclusion, you should definitely offer video chat support, but mainly for complex issues or for a limited range of people, such as regular or premium customers only.

Enhance Your Video Chat Experience with SnapCall 

Meet SnapCall, an omnichannel customer communication platform that provides a unique customer experience across all digital channels.

SnapCall offers video chat features that provide businesses with enhanced communication capabilities. It is embedded directly into the agent-client chat, thereby providing a seamless customer experience.

It ensures advanced communications solutions worldwide, building and maintaining a reputation for reliable service, customer service, product quality, and technological excellence that other companies simply can't match.

SnapCall equips businesses with advanced communication capabilities ensuring a seamless customer experience.

The operator sends a calling card directly into the chat and the customer joins the call with a single click. The call takes place in another tab and allows you to share screenshots, take snapshots, insert a link to a youtube video and join others in the conversation.

All this makes SnapCall the perfect customer support tool!

Encourage face-to-face virtual conversations to understand exactly what your customer needs and offer them better solutions!

Check this one out in real-time. Book a live demo.

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About SnapCall

SnapCall is revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers. Our suite of products offer a seamless and personalized customer experience. With SnapCall Assist, customers and support teams can easily share photo and videos to explain problems and provide solutions. SnapCall Booking allows for scheduling calls with clients and experts without the need for external conference services. And SnapCall Instant offers audio and video calls with integrated CRM platforms for easy access to customer information.

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