OP-ED: Web-Call Center Combo Is Key

<B> OP-ED: Web-Call Center Combo Is Key</B>

By Bob Jones

<i>Bob Jones is vice president, Electronic Commerce Services, AT&T, Basking Ridge, N.J.</i>

Everyone's talking about it. The Internet is booming and companies and consumers alike are clamoring to make the most of this new tool.

Today, there are more than 100 million Internet users, and half of them are female, compared with 23 percent just two years ago. As women are often the primary decision makers for most household purchases, this is great news for businesses. The World Trade Organization estimates that Web-based commerce will reach $300 billion by the Year 2000.

The statistics are heartening, but many companies, especially those selling high-ticket items or "considered purchases," such as travel services, are still waiting for the Internet to show them the money. They're looking for a way to streamline their operations, provide better customer service, complete transactions and increase the spending of existing customers.

Studies indicate that even with the most compelling Websites, most consumers aren't willing to spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars without first speaking to a human being. And the delay between the time a potential customer enters his or her name, address and phone number to receive a follow-up call and the time they actually receive that call can significantly reduce a company's chance of gaining a customer or closing a sale.

A call center, meanwhile, provides the on-the-spot human interaction that's so critical to keeping or acquiring a customer, but usually doesn't offer the visual appeal of a full-color, multimedia Website.

For many companies, the call center and the Website are still two completely separate customer touch points. So, it is left to the customer to decide which route is going to provide the needed information. For those companies looking for leading-edge solutions, using the Web to enhance their call center and telemarketing operations is making it possible for customers to get personalized service regardless of the communications channel they choose.

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts and AAA MidAtlantic, for example, are using a network-based technology--AT&T's InteractiveAnswers-- that allows Website browsers to surf and talk to help them improve and deepen customer relationships. These companies have been using call centers for years to provide their customers with personalized service. They also have Websites that give Internet browsers a way to learn more about their companies. By combining the two vehicles, they can provide customers with the best of both worlds.

Using the latest in click-to-call technology, customers visiting the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts site (www.outrigger.com) can go "surfing" with a live Outrigger service agent who can answer questions and "push" additional information to the caller's computer screen.

Here's how it works. A person visiting the Outrigger site simply clicks on a "call me now" icon and is prompted to enter his or her telephone number. The network places a call to the customer and places a call to Outrigger's call center and alerts an agent that someone visiting the Website needs more information. The Outrigger call center agent also receives information on where the customer is on the Outrigger site. The network then bridges the two parties together so the customer can ask questions. Customers also can request additional information to be sent to his or her computer screen, including, for example, the interior and exterior views of Outrigger Hotels in Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.

To use the service with the page push feature, Web surfers need to have two phone lines: one for Internet browsing and one for the incoming call from the company. The company doesn't need any special equipment to add this feature to its call center operations and agents don't need to have access to the Internet. They can push pages of information to the customer by depressing touch-tone phone keys.

For AAA MidAtlantic (www.aaamidatlantic.com), being able to instantly answer a Web browser's questions about travel packages is helping position the nation's fourth largest AAA club in America as more than a tow-truck company. In just six months, its site received 2.5 million hits and approximately 300,000 page requests. Sales of travel-related products and services have grown 3 percent.

By providing the missing link between electronic and human commerce, companies can offer customers what they want, when and how they want it. Equally important, companies can extend their call center and Website investments by linking the two communications vehicles together.

The Internet clearly has become a highly cost-effective means of reaching an attractive customer segment. When done right, it's a safe, secure channel for sales and can be an important extension of existing call center operations, providing a vehicle for customer service, as well as market research and product development.