Simply put, a multichannel contact center is a hub where businesses manage customer interactions across various communication channels. That’s it in a nutshell, but there are a few burning questions that organizations often have about multichannel customer support operations—especially when they’re looking to upgrade to something better:
- How are they different from omnichannel contact centers?
- Do all contact center solutions provide multichannel support?
In this blog, we’re revealing the answers to these common queries as we uncover the inner workings of multichannel contact centers, what they are, how they stack up to omnichannel contact centers, and more.
Multichannel vs. omnichannel contact center: What’s the difference?
First, let’s clarify the difference between multichannel and omnichannel. Although these two terms are often used interchangeably in contact centers, they have distinct meanings.
Multichannel
A multichannel contact center includes a wide range of avenues through which customers can communicate with your brand. Each channel is independent, and there isn’t necessarily abundant integration between them in the backend; they run separately.
In a multichannel environment, common channels include:
- Phone (voice)
- Live chat
- Chatbot
- Social media / direct messaging
- SMS/text messaging
While managing customer interaction across each of these channels is necessary, a multichannel contact center requires agents to do so independently.
The value of multichannel contact centers is clear: By providing multiple communication channels, businesses can offer greater convenience and accessibility to their customers, allowing them to choose the channel that best suits their needs.
Multichannel contact center example
Consider this: A customer starts a conversation with your brand via website chat and then decides to switch to email. A multichannel contact center agent can migrate with the customer, but they may not have access to the previous conversation history.
So, while there’s no visible ripple in the water from the customer's perspective, agents may need to ask them to repeat themselves or otherwise be left scrambling to gather customer information. This can slow down the process and frustrate customers.
Omnichannel
An omnichannel contact center offers multichannel capabilities while threading each point of contact together, offering seamless integration between the same channels outlined above.
This means that customers can transition between those channels with minimal—if any—disruption and their interactions are tracked and synchronized across touchpoints.
Furthermore, omnichannel contact centers have integrated tech and software that provide agents with a unified view of the customer's journey, regardless of the channel they use to communicate. This helps your brand offer personalized and consistent support, meeting customers where they’re currently at and being ready to follow them to a new channel if they change course or their problem is better solved elsewhere.
Omnichannel contact center example
In an omnichannel contact center, a customer can initiate a conversation on live chat, continue it over the phone, and then receive follow-up assistance via email. All interactions are seamlessly connected and tracked.
For agents, all integrations are brought into one unified view via cloud contact center software.
In summary, the key distinction between multichannel and omnichannel contact centers is the integration and continuity across channels.
Omnichannel contact centers prioritize a unified and consistent customer experience across all touchpoints, whereas multichannel contact centers manage channels separately with less integration between them.
Valuable support channels your multi or omnichannel contact center should include
No matter how you choose to run your contact center, there are common, popular communication channels through which you should offer support.
That said, each business and audience are different. The channel or channels one group of customers prefers may vastly differ from what another deems their favorite. Knowing your audience is critical to optimizing your contact center, but more on best practices later.
For now, let’s focus on typical channels that are popular today:
Email has existed long enough to become a mainstay in customer service, providing a convenient channel to resolve issues asynchronously.
The benefits of email are plentiful. It makes sending detailed information and explanations easy, allowing customers to explain the breadth of their issues. It also allows for quick documentation and follow-up communication.
Phone (voice)
Phone calls remain a crucial channel for customer service due to their immediacy and ability to help agents resolve complex issues. In fact, 81% of customer service professionals prefer phone calls over other communication methods when solving those more complex problems.
Inversely, many customers still prefer speaking directly with an agent for assistance—88% use a phone to engage with a brand.
Live chat
Live chat support offers real-time assistance directly on a company's website or app. Like a phone call, live chat happens in real-time, but instead of voice, it’s text-based communication. It's become popular among millennials, nearly 60% of whom already use live chat to solve quick inquiries, troubleshoot, and get immediate responses to simple questions.
Social media
Social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit) serve as channels for customers to reach out to companies publicly or find answers on their own. It’s effectively both a direct communication channel and a self-service option, depending on the platform.
For example, agents can interact with customers on X, formerly Twitter, to have public-facing conversations on their way to resolving a problem. Or, they can make it more private by using the direct messaging feature common on most social media sites.
A majority of consumers (63%) agree that their brand loyalty is strongly influenced by the quality of customer support on social channels—so you shouldn’t ignore it!
Conversely, customers use platforms like Reddit to chat with others, share solutions, or discuss their experiences with different brands.
Social media monitoring and engagement are crucial for addressing inquiries, negative or positive feedback, and complaints in a timely manner.
Chatbots and virtual assistants
Chatbots and virtual assistants offer automated support through text-based or voice-based interactions. They can handle routine inquiries, provide basic information and assistance, and escalate complex issues to human agents when needed.
The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled brands to develop better, brighter chatbots to serve customers. In fact, nearly 40% of consumers prefer chatbot interactions over virtual agents.
Self-service portals and FAQ sections
Self-service portals, such as knowledge bases and FAQ sections, allow customers to find answers to common queries independently. Unlike chatbots, this type of self-service relies mainly on the customer to A) know exactly what they need help with and B) be willing to look for a solution on their own.
Knowledge bases, for example, reduce the need for direct contact with customer support agents and empower customers to resolve issues independently, on their own time, whenever it works best for them.
Multichannel and omnichannel contact center best practices
Now that we know the key differences between a multichannel and omnichannel contact center, their inner workings are largely the same.
By applying the following best practices to your content center operation, you can prepare your agents for success and enhance customer experience.
- Train and empower agents: Empower agents to be proficient in handling inquiries across various channels and give them the tools and resources needed to deliver exceptional service.
- Use the right tech: Utilize contact center software and tools to streamline operations, automate processes, and track interactions across channels. A cloud contact center solution brings omnichannel functionality and multichannel support under one roof.
- Practice proactive communication: Anticipate customer needs and contact them proactively through channels like email or SMS to provide relevant information, updates, or offers.
- Collect feedback: Regularly seek feedback from customers about their experiences across different channels and use this feedback to identify areas for improvement.
Contact center FAQs answered
Which channels should I prioritize in my contact center strategy?
Every business is different, so you should prioritize channels based on your target audience's preferences and behavior. If you’re unsure where to start or which channels are most relevant, a cloud contact center solution offering multichannel support lets you get a feel for each channel and determine which ones work best for you and your audience.
How can I handle high volumes of inquiries across multiple channels?
AI is a powerful tool. Investing in technology solutions that use artificial intelligence—like chatbots, automated responses, and self-service portals—can help you efficiently handle high-volume, routine inquiries. This frees up human agents to focus on more complex issues.
What metrics should I track to measure the effectiveness of my contact center?
There are a lot of valuable contact center metrics to track, but if you’re just beginning to collect data, focus on:
- Customer satisfaction scores.
- First contact resolution rates.
- Average response times.
- Channel-specific metrics like email response time or chat wait times.
How can I ensure data security and privacy in a multichannel or omnichannel contact center?
Implementing robust security measures, including encryption and access controls, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR or CCPA, are imperative to safeguarding customer data across all channels.
Or, you can rely on a secure, open, and flexible platform that’s already done all the security heavy lifting for you—so you can focus on your customers.
Streamline your contact center operation with automation
Are you searching for a solution to your multichannel contact center woes? Cloud contact centers provide scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, as they can quickly adapt to changing business needs and customer demands.
Cloud contact center platforms offer a range of features, including automatic call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), call routing, workforce management, analytics, and integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Webex Contact Center is an AI-powered customer experience platform that drives both digital and human engagement. It supports nearly any channel: phone, text, email, chat, or social media, you name it.
Learn more about Webex Contact Center.
