Channels and Pega Customer Service

Pega Customer Service™ provides all of the digital media Channels that surround the traditional and digital communications stack: email, live agent chat, chatbot, social media, and business messaging. Pega Customer Service also provides self-service options through chatbots and interactive voice response (IVR). Even though voice is the oldest of the contact center media channels, it still holds the majority of the volume even today. In recent years, voice has slowly shifted away from 100 percent of the volume to a smaller and smaller share, but it is still the dominant media channel.

For digital media Channels, email is one of the first digital channel options that is available to customers. A customer can email their concerns from either their client or from a web form on an organization's website. The system then classifies and routes the email to a queue where agents work on responding to the customer's inquiry. Next, the live agent chat options become available to a customer who is browsing the web page or mobile app, and customers can also receive immediate assistance from an agent through a messaging interface.

Pega Customer Service also features the seamless integration of chatbots and live agent chat to provide immediate assistance to customers right when they need it. Imagine the following scenario: you are on a website browsing for something, and you need some help. There is a "chat with us" option on the page, or a chat box pops up that reads, "Would you like to chat with an agent?" If you accept the offer, the system launches a chat session, you are in queue for an agent, and then routed to the agent when they are available, much like automatic call distribution (ACD) routes a phone call.

Business messaging and social media are some of the newest customer interaction channels that have seen much growth lately. A customer can choose from a number of platforms, primarily Facebook, Twitter, Apple Business chat, WhatsApp, or even direct SMS text messaging to have chat interactions with agents either in real time or asynchronously. On social media, these interactions can be direct messages, such as Facebook Messenger or Twitter/X direct messaging, or an organization can monitor public forums and respond to messages posted by individuals.

In addition to all these live agent interactions, Pega Customer Service also provides some powerful self-service Channel options. Self-service is far less expensive than live agent interactions, but only if it is properly implemented, as a poor self-service interaction can cause customer frustrations. Chatbots help create an automated chat experience between a customer and a bot, which can respond to simple customer requests and escalate to a live agent once they reach their limits. Their sophistication grows every day through the use of artificial intelligence, and they can handle increasingly complex interactions.

While Pega Customer Service does not directly provide a voice channel or IVR platform, it offers the possibility to integrate and enhance of an organization's existing voice channel and self-service IVR.

Digital channel features have been gradually introduced over time, beginning with IVR in the call center. Although the share of voice interactions has gradually declined, it remains the preferred channel for customer exceptions. Contact centers have shifted their focus towards handling complex problems, as customers now often turn to web-based options to resolve simple issues. When customers do reach out by phone, it is usually for a complex problem that requires a solution, and as a result, the voice channel still receives significant attention.

Organizations strive to enhance customer interactions to both delight customers and save operating costs. Pega Customer Service provides the necessary tools to achieve these objectives, offering a wide range of digital media channels and self-service options.