Tealeaf Puts Customer View on Agents' Desktops

Last year, SAP (NYSE: SAP) spin-off company Tealeaf introduced software that allows call center agents and other customer service representatives to view what customers see through their Web browsers through an application called "cxReveal." Now, the company has announced an upgrade to that software that integrates that package with any Web-based CRM (customer relations management) software.

A "big disconnect" happens between self-service tools on the Web and service provided through call centers, Geoff Galat, vice president of marketing and technology for Tealeaf, told CRM Buyer. Software that allows call center personnel to see what's happening from the Web customer's perspective seeks to bridge that gap.

Resolving Customer Issues

Customers who make orders or acquire services online tend to try to resolve any issues with Web transactions on their own, Galat said. They might use an online contact form or try to search on an order history, for example, before phoning the company to ask for help. Thus, by the time a customer who has initiated a transaction online actually dials the contact center , the call center agent is the second or perhaps third point of contact the customer has made. With each point of contact, chances that the customer will abandon the transaction altogether increase dramatically.

However, call center agents generally do not have access to the screens that the customer viewed or the data that the customer already has input through the Web self-service channel. Thus, the call gets escalated to a Web service team -- creating another contact point in the process and requiring that the call be addressed through through resources more expensive for the company.

With the cxReveal upgrade, a first-level call center agent can click on a button within whichever Web-interface-based CRM software the company uses and see in a pop-up window the screens that the customer saw during the transaction. The agent might be able to point out that the customer entered an incorrect user ID, for example, or tried to order a product that is not available in a particular size or color.

Simpler Call Center Deployment

Such software has been available for some time, but adding it to a call center's inventory of applications offers another layer of complexity to the call center agent's desktop, Galat noted. The upgrades of cxReveal and its partner application that allows call center agents to see customers' past Web sessions, cxVerify, puts the applications' windows inside the browser window already used by the agent in a primary CRM application.

A major pharmaceutical company reported that its resolution time for call center contacts made by customers who had experienced trouble with a Web transaction was reduced from one hour of agent time to 30 seconds, said Galat. In addition, a large proportion of calls that once were escalated to second-tier agents now can be handled by the call center's front line.

The enhanced cxReveal and cxVerify applications are available immediately, Tealeaf said.