Big data has been shrouded in hype for the past decade or so, and while many companies have indeed enjoyed the advantages of analyzing these massive collections of information, some business leaders are not satisfied with the speed at which they generate useful insights and results.
That’s why the concept of fast data is so appealing to modern organizations that have already adopted big data technologies. Stronger streaming and rendering processes allow them to cut out the prolonged wait times that characterize many big data systems and discover valuable insights, facilitating quicker and more effective decisions.
While fast data can bring value to any area of the organization, its applications in the call center are especially valuable, as these operations are required to respond to change in a particularly agile manner. Here’s a closer look at what fast data is bringing to the table, and how call center leaders should leverage its power for impressive results.
Why wait for business insights?
In the typical call center, analytics are commonplace, and data collected from the front lines are processed over the course of several days, weeks or months. While this standard procedure represents the status quo for many organizations, it is quickly becoming antiquated in light of fast data technologies, which process the information long before it reaches a separate repository for analysis.
Call centers thrive on real-time insight, which is exactly what fast data offers.As a recent article from Information Management pointed out, organizations are placing more value on the ability to quickly gain strategic advantages, especially in consumer-facing scenarios. With this in mind, there is no more fitting application for fast data than in the modern call center, where customers expect rapid and accurate resolutions to their inquiries and complaints. This has sparked a shift in priorities that cannot be ignored.
“In fact, real-time data analysis – performed as data enters the organization’s data pipeline, before it is passed downstream to long-term analytics engines – is driving net-new business insights and changing how businesses are approaching data analytics,” explained Information Management contributor John Hugg in his piece.
Capitalizing on perishable data
In contrast to big data processes, which focus on long-term information aggregation and insight generation, fast data takes advantage of the in-the-moment, event-based data points that quickly lose their value unless implemented on the spot. In the call center, this could mean identifying a recurring customer complaint or an agent breach of policy, and rapidly addressing the situation with a remedial solution.
It’s not just theory, either, according to Information Week, which pointed to a series of impressive case studies that showcase the power of fast data in action. Here is how a company in the marketing sector used fast data technologies to boost a wide range of metrics and bottom-line results:
“Fast data helps promote confident and agile decision-making.”
“One provider of customer marketing software and managed services uses its real-time, per-event decision-making platform to deliver mobile service providers a 253 percent increase in offer purchases; a 50 percent increase in data bundle sales; and 157 percent higher conversion rates,” noted Hugg.
Leveraging the right tools
As with any burgeoning IT trend, companies looking to take advantage of fast data’s power will need to procure the right software tools and perhaps update their legacy systems. For call center managers, this begins with leveraging call recording and call accounting programs that are capable of real-time analysis and reporting. Ideally, these software assets will also include rich feature sets that aid in basic call center management.
It’s also important that call center leaders prepare themselves for the adoption of these software systems, which require confident and agile decision-making to realize their full value. With these components in place, the call center will surely reap the benefits of fast data and gain an edge.
