A Business Consulting White Paper

Deploying an intelligent
Customer Front Door™
for Exceptional
Customer Service
July 2008
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service

Table of Contents

3 Executive Summary
3 Early Solutions were not Customer-Centric
4 A New Generation of Contact Center Solutions
From the Customer’s Perspective
Behind the Scenes

7 Planning for Deployment

Identify Ideal Situations
Determine the Requirements
Build the Business Case

11 Conclusion
11 About the Genesys Dynamic Contact Center
12 About Genesys Business Consulting
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 3 of 12

Executive Summary
Customer service automation solutions are quickly evolving, and with its Dynamic
Contact Center capabilities, Genesys is at the leading edge. While previous generations
of self-service and routing automation often left customers feeling frustrated, the latest
innovation is driving customer service quality to new heights.

The Genesys Dynamic Contact Center helps companies unlock the full potential of their
contact center, and the intelligent Customer Front Door™ (iCFD™) — a transformative self-
service solution that revolutionizes the experience of entering a company’s “telephone front
door” — is an integral part. Unlike traditional interactive voice response systems (IVRs), the
iCFD reshapes call answering by applying business logic to consider caller identity, intent,
preferences, and context in order to determine the most appropriate and personalized next step.

By combining iCFD capabilities with existing enterprise applications in new and

innovative ways, companies can now deliver exceptional self-service and assisted
service that improves customer satisfaction and loyalty by providing a highly optimized
experience that significantly reduces customer frustration.

This white paper delivers insight into how an iCFD works, the benefits it can bring, and
how companies can begin planning for deployment. Furthermore, the paper provides
those considering an intelligent Customer Front Door with better understanding of the
underlying requirements necessary to achieve this giant step forward in customer service.

Early Solutions were not Customer-Centric

The first generation of customer service automation was the switchboard and later the
PBX. These solutions enabled customers to contact companies by phone and be routed to
a particular person or department to resolve their issue. Both these early technologies were
breakthrough advancements, but ultimately could not scale to meet the pace and needs of
modern customer service communications.

To solve these challenges, technologies such as Automatic Call Distributors (ACDs) and IVRs
were introduced, with features such as pre-routing, music on hold, and even self-service. IVRs
are typically deployed with a focus on cost containment — a way to reduce the number of calls
requiring agent assistance by forcing callers through complex menu trees, options, and questions.
IVRs helped reduce call volumes, but provided no assurance that customers solved their problem
or reached an agent.Within this paradigm, there was no telling how many hung up in frustration.

While these solutions alleviated many drawbacks of early phone system technology, they
did not improve the customer experience and, in fact, often served to exasperate customers.
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 4 of 12

In contrast, an iCFD combines self-service, speech, and interaction routing technologies

with business rules to determine the most effective way to interact with customers
and resolve their requests. Rather than forcing customers into frustrating IVR menus
and “voice mail jail,” the iCFD leverages data and systems to efficiently interpret each
interaction, shifting from an operational model to a customer-centric one.

A New Generation of Contact Center Solutions

The iCFD not only addresses the shortcomings of previous solutions, it enables a holistic,
customer-centric approach to help companies take customer service to a higher level
of quality and effectiveness. Instead of focusing on cost containment, this new approach
not only drives customer satisfaction, but delivers efficiency gains and improved selling
opportunities that translate into real bottom-line benefits.

The iCFD consists of a unique combination of Dynamic Contact Center capabilities and advanced
self-service applications.The result is a transformative intelligent routing solution that leverages
a business rules engine to apply context to self-service calls to determine the most appropriate
next step — self-service or assisted service — to deliver faster call resolution and superior service.
The iCFD delivers a branded, personalized, and effective customer experience that:

• Discerns the identity and intent of callers in the fewest steps

• Gathers relevant information from back-end data or workflow to under-
stand the context of their calls
• Determines how to treat callers based on preferences, resource availability,
and business rules
• Matches the most relevant and available resource, including self-service,
proactive notification, automatic callback, or assisted service

The iCFD can co-exist within multi-vendor environments, operate in multiple languages
with any speech recognition software, and include business processes tailored to the unique
needs of any customer service organization.

The core principle behind the iCFD is to deliver a superior customer experience by
automatically responding in a personalized way to the caller’s needs.

From the Customer’s Perspective

When callers contact a company, the iCFD answers the call and assesses existing customer
information. For each caller, the iCFD creates a unique interaction based on the contextual
view of why the caller is making contact. By using all the information resources available
about the customer, the iCFD can proactively guide them to the most effective and
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 5 of 12

expedient solution, provide self-service, or route the call directly to the best available agent
and offer the most relevant services. Further, the caller experiences a common voice for the
company — one that reinforces the company’s brand personality and promise.

Customers can also experience the iCFD in other innovative ways — through call backs,
notifications and alerts, surveys, and other services that help further personalize and improve
the experience. For instance, the iCFD can offer bill payment options when bills are overdue,
route the caller to a ‘collections expert’, offer cross-selling suggestions after recent purchases,
or suggest other highly relevant offers in anticipation of the individual caller’s needs

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Through the innovative use of business rules, existing customer information, and
a contextual view of the caller’s intention, the iCFD avoids the pitfalls of previous
self-service and automation efforts. The iCFD ensures that the interaction is:
• Timely – The offers and messages presented are based on the most up-to-
date customer information and/or business promotions
• Relevant – The information used to guide the call is based on advanced analysis
and actual contextual understanding of the caller’s intent and the current situation
• Non-intrusive – Any messages and offers are structured to not impact the call flow
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 6 of 12

Behind the Scenes

The iCFD combines an industry-leading, speech-enabled application server with powerful
interaction management technology. By utilizing media resources such as speech recognition
and text-to-speech, the iCFD delivers state-of-the-art capabilities to guide the machine-to-
human interaction in the most compelling, effective way for the caller. Tight integration with
customer data, corporate data, and content management systems delivers the detailed, up-
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Using an iCFD, companies gain an integrated set of capabilities to enable faster, more
effective customer service, enhanced efficiencies, and greater opportunity for incremental
revenue through cross- and up-selling. The iCFD delivers:

• Access via a single number, instead of multiple toll-free numbers, which

can be combined for better customer service and reduced costs
• Customer/caller identification using speech recognition
• An integrated (middleware) layer that brings together the information
gathered about customers and their reasons for calling. This view is made up
from data collected from ‘back-end’ systems (CRM, billing, etc.) from other
channels (e.g. the Web) and from the customers themselves during the call.
• Intelligent determination of how to treat the caller based on the caller’s
responses and customer data, tailoring the experience based on this information
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 7 of 12

• Ability to automatically assist the caller without the need for an agent
• Identification of opportunities to offer new products and services to
customers based on their intentions and past customer data
• Intelligent, proactive call routing within self-service or to an agent with
the associated screen-pop of key customer data collected through the iCFD
• A consistent experience across all channels, enabled by the underlying
Web-based technologies of the iCFD
• A complete end-to-end view of the call and caller’s interactions, in real
time and historically

Planning for Deployment

The broad-ranging benefits of an iCFD make it a customer service automation solution
that is applicable across nearly every industry. Today, shrewd companies in sectors such as
communications, financial services, utilities, airlines, and others are implementing iCFD solutions
to differentiate their businesses through an exceptional, personalized customer experience.

Organizations ready to begin planning for an iCFD deployment should first identify
where the solution would deliver the greatest benefit to the company, evaluate what the
impacts and requirements would be, and determine the potential return on investment.

Identify Ideal Situations

An iCFD is particularly appropriate in complex customer service and sales situations, where
traditional IVRs cannot satisfactorily handle customer segmentation, a variety of options,
call volume spikes, multiple languages, and other factors. In these types of customer service
environments, an IVR is likely to require complicated menus that frustrate customers and
result in a high number of misroutes. In addition, complex environments may suffer from
low first call resolution rates that an iCFD, with its access to comprehensive customer and
company information, can significantly improve.
THE iCFD IS JUST THE TICKET FOR AIRLINES
Companies with many contact numbers are
A major European airline had 11 different customer also ideal candidates for an iCFD. Numerous
service phone numbers with multiple IVR systems. The phone numbers often have separate IVR systems
number of misroutes was high, impacting the opportunity
to convert calls to sales.
— multiplying the cost and effort to provide
customer service across disparate environments. An
The airline implemented an intelligent Customer Front iCFD can consolidate these systems, streamlining
Door from Genesys, consolidating all eleven numbers
into one. The iCFD reduced the number of misroutes by
administration and reducing operational costs
40% and shortened average call duration by 40 seconds. while improving customer satisfaction. Additionally,
Through more effective customer service and highly an iCFD can better address large fluctuations in
relevant messages and offers delivered by the iCFD, the call volume — for example, during emergencies
airline also experienced a large increase in the number
of sales conversions.
or network outages — through more effective,
centralized call management.
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 8 of 12

Finally, companies seeking to deliver a consistent, effective, and highly differentiated

customer experience through segmentation will discover that an iCFD, with its business
rules and access to customer data, is better equipped to effectively handle customers based
on value, history, and other factors than traditional systems. This maximizes the caller’s
perception of being a valued customer.

Determine the Requirements

An iCFD is not a shrink-wrapped, off-the-shelf solution. It’s a solution specifically
designed around the customer service requirements and internal infrastructure of the
company deploying it. As part of an implementation plan, there are four key areas
companies should consider as they move forward towards an iCFD deployment —
User Experience, Business Processes, Data and Data Security, and Deployment Model.

User Experience
The voice user interface is a critical component of the iCFD. There are two
approaches that can be taken: directed dialog or open question. Directed
dialog, which uses speech recognition to collect information, is better suited
to lower levels of complexity, where a limited number of questions are
needed to determine the caller’s intent. The open question approach is an
extremely powerful way to gather information quickly, while hiding any
company, product, or service complexities from the caller. It uses an open-
ended question such as “How may I help you?” to determine the caller’s
intent and glean information about the caller.

Aside from the style of the voice application, determining the appropriate
persona sets the tone for the entire customer experience. The voice within
the iCFD should reflect the same brand characteristics and qualities that
an advertisement, a Website, and/or an in-store experience do. The voice
selection, scripting styles, and grammar should match the brand “personality.”
For instance, a company whose target market is teenage mobile phone users
will need to have a very different style to one that is aimed at baby boomers.

Business Processes
Next, it’s critical to determine which business processes will be handled by
the iCFD in order to identify key areas of improvement, such as reduced
agent time and increased customer satisfaction. Documenting these areas
requires measurement of call volume, drop-out rates, queue data, and average
handle times. The result is insight into which business processes require full
or partial automation to deliver the greatest benefits to the company.
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 9 of 12

Data and Data Security

Automated customer service, either self-service or assisted service, is
dependent upon data — from both the caller and within the corporation.
Organizations must consider the type of data that needs to be collected
from the caller and any associated data security needs. For instance, when
the customer’s credit card is on file, the iCFD may only require the last
four digits of the card via DTMF — an especially important criteria if the
typical caller is in a public setting where data theft is of concern.

In addition to the data collected from the caller, useful data can be accessed
from existing business systems, including customer relationship management
(CRM) systems, billing, sales data, and other databases. In determining how
the iCFD will be implemented, data sources and access methods must be
fully considered, with answers to key questions such as latency, quality, and
accessibility determining the extent to which automation can be deployed.

Deployment Model
The degree and complexity of telephony and IT systems integration should
be carefully assessed when considering whether to select an externally
hosted or a premise-based solution. The ease of data integration and the
associated data security requirements will be a key factor in this decision, as
this is often more difficult when the solution is not within an organization’s
environment. The contractual arrangements for a hosted solution can be
more complex as well; however, this needs to be offset against the speed
of deployment that can be achieved through hosting.

Build the Business Case

Organizations need to factor in the wide range of potential benefits to be reaped from
implementing an iCFD — from customer satisfaction gains through to technology
advantages. The following are some of the many potential areas of savings and benefits
companies can experience.

Customer Satisfaction
• Higher levels of customer satisfaction, leading to greater customer loyalty
and higher lifetime value
• Reduced customer defection through targeted outbound campaigns
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 10 of 12

Efficiency and Cost

• Fewer misroutes, reduced cost of call transfers, and increased agent
utilization due to better call routing
• Reduced call center time through higher automation rates
• Improved agent utilization, enabling agents to spend more time with higher
value or more complex customers
• Greater flexibility for increased responsiveness to business changes

Contact Center Performance Management

• Better end-to-end reporting for continuous performance management improvement
• Easy, cost-effective prototyping of new products and services with targeted
segments of customers

Revenue Opportunities
• Reduced time-to-market with new products and services
• Improved opportunity for incremental sales

Technical Benefits
• Lowered cost of development and maintenance
• Reduced acquisition and on-going support costs through the use of open
standards-based technology
• Improved business continuity

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Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 11 of 12

Conclusion
Savvy organizations are embracing the iCFD and gaining a competitive advantage by
delivering a highly differentiated customer experience that reduces frustration and raises
the bar on customer service. To ensure success, organizations would do well to follow
the best practices outlined in this paper for creating a comprehensive deployment plan.
Relying on an experienced partner to assist in developing the plan can enable companies
to speed time-to-benefit and ensure maximum return on investment.

Genesys delivers an end-to-end business consulting solution that helps clients plan for
implementation of an iCFD within the greater scope of a Dynamic Contact Center. Genesys
Business Consulting experts provide a well-crafted business plan that integrates technology
and business processes to align with corporate objectives, initiatives, and desired strategic
outcomes. Using its extensive knowledge of contact center best practices, Genesys Business
Consulting helps enterprises accelerate business innovation and deliver breakthrough results.

NEW iCFD DELIVERS MILLIONS IN SAVINGS

A leading communications provider in the United States needed to create a seamless, customer-centric experience
across a variety of contact centers and call management technologies. It was an extremely complex environment
with more than 150 different products and over 100 different back-end systems to support ordering, billing,
collections, provisioning, and other key services. A Genesys iCFD was implemented with dramatic results.

Deployed in only four months time, the new iCFD processes two million calls per day for six departments — all
from one phone number. The results have been outstanding: self-service selection increased five-fold, enabling the
company to save a significant amount of money in the first six months after deployment.

About the Genesys Dynamic Contact Center

Most contact centers today are static customer service systems that manually react to
external conditions, making it difficult to respond to fluctuating conditions. Traffic may
spike one moment, putting great strain on resources — and then drop unpredictably the
next, forcing customer service agents to sit idle. This model is putting a burden on contact
center operations, as businesses struggle to simultaneously optimize agent availability and
task allocation, control costs, generate revenue, and drive customer satisfaction.

Contact centers are seeking the competitive advantage of a more advanced model that has the
technology and built-in processes to make proactive adjustments in real time. The Genesys
Dynamic Contact Center is designed to automatically manage fluctuating contact center
variables by optimizing and balancing customer traffic, internal resources, and call outcomes.
Deploying an intelligent Customer Front DoorTM for Exceptional Customer Service 12 of 12

The Genesys Dynamic Contact Center helps companies facilitate real-time decision
making by optimizing contact center capabilities to meet ever-changing business
conditions. Ultimately, the Dynamic Contact Center will maximize overall business
performance by ensuring more satisfied customers, strengthening customer loyalty,
fostering cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and improving agent productivity — all
leading to increased revenue growth and profitability.

For more information, visit: www.genesyslab.com/products/dynamic_contact_center.asp

About Genesys Business Consulting

Strategic advantage is won or lost in service delivery, especially in contact centers. Genesys
Business Consulting assists you by closing gaps and achieving improvements that deliver
demonstrable, reportable returns. By using the Genesys Business Consulting methodology,
you can build a customized roadmap that sets the right balance between cost, quality,
and revenue for your business and customers. Genesys Business Consulting recommends
solutions that you can use, taking into consideration available resources, impacts on the
organization, and existing technologies.

Genesys Business Consulting has created repeatable best practices to deliver actionable
solutions to our customers. From white papers to contact center assessments to strategy
creation and validation, we have a variety of services to choose from based on your
business goals.

For more information, visit: www.genesyslab.com/services_support

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Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, is the world’s leading Corporate Headquarters EMEA Headquarters APAC Headquarters
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efficiently use agent resources. Genesys helps organizations Tel: +1 650 466 1100 United Kingdom
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and accelerate business innovation. E-mail: info@genesyslab.com Tel: +44 1276 45 7000 www.genesyslab.com.au
www.genesyslab.com Fax: +44 1276 45 7001
For more information visit: www.genesyslab.com, or call
+1 888 GENESYS or 1-650-466-1100.
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