More customers are chatting across channels

New survey shows a rise in the use of new communication channels in customer service and highlights the need for improvements in company chat support

Over the past twelve months 22 per cent of consumers under the age of 27 contacted a customer service agent via live chat or instant messaging. The research shows that almost 44 per cent of consumers who preferred text messaging and chat called for improvements to be made to current services.

The majority of companies beginning to implement chat into their customer service operations struggle to ensure that the same standards are upheld across all channels. By integrating chat effectively, consistency across multiple channels can be retained.

The research was carried out by Alcatel-Lucent's Genesys in partnership with leading industry analysts at Datamonitor and Ovum, and highlights the potential impact which live chat could have on enhancing customer experience. The survey also draws attention to the manner in which companies implement chat, underlining the importance of standardisation across all communication channels.

Lucille Jackson, Senior Marketing Manager, Enterprise Market Group, Alcatel Lucent Northern Europe says "At a time when the use of live chat and other new communication channels is steadily on the rise, companies need to guarantee that minority channels will not be neglected. They should ensure that synchronous media such as the telephone and live chat are managed with equal levels of service.”