13 May 2021

Presenter: CCS

Unanswered Q&A's from the webinar:

1. What about services like RCS?

Thoughts on these as services As you would expect, our platforms are ready for RCS, but the demand is just not there yet. There has been a number of suppliers talk about RCS as new and emergent technology, but many people do not realise it was developed in 2007, so is now 12 years old yet still has not been widely adopted. We also have 5 MNO’s (mobile network operators) in the UK and so far, only Vodafone have adopted RCS. Apple have no intention to adopt RCS, as it competes with their platform and in the UK for example, 52% of all smartphones are from Apple…..this takes out over half your target audience straight away before even considering network limitations. Typically Google and Android handsets are RCS ready, but Google phones need to run Google services and change handset settings and this is not done as default, so very few people have it enabled. Android handsets (those released no more that circa 14 months ago) are RCS compatible but earlier handsets are not and are not reconfigurable. For all these reasons we are ensuring we are ready if RCS ever makes it to the forefront of messaging services but this is not something we believe is coming to the fore in the immediate future.

2. How do you cover DPA through these channels?

Paul answered this one I think, but our letter platform allows our customers to specify how many and what specific DPA questions they wish to ask, for any email or SMS letter. This can be those frequently used such as DOB, Postcode, Account number, but could be any information contained in an upload, allowing our platform to reference the answer. Within our OMNI channel service, DPA or ID&V can be actioned via our Chatbot. By identifying the “Chat” intent, and before any information is given to the consumer, ID&V can be requested and verified. Verification comes from a real time data share, ensuring the information is correct. ID&V can also be requested and verified before the “chat” is handed to the correct agent or queue ensuring agent productivity is maximised.

3. How do you see Chatbots giving/offering advice?

It is a great question and one that has many possibilities. Currently Chatbots are seen as first line support and engagement, especially with our Collections & Arrears clients. Chatbots deploy a number of analytical methods, for example, tag processing, NLP and AI. When used correctly, Chatbots will begin to answer frequently asked or repetitive questions, offering basic answers and helping the consumer navigate to business departments faster and placing them to the correct agents more efficiently. We would suggest Chatbots are the best choice for first line support, directing consumers to the right area for help, collecting customer feedback, helping to identify vulnerability, making payments and streamlining prior to live interactions. Chatbots are used within the Insurance industries to give advice on products and services of interest and in retail to recommend alternative products. In conclusion we think it really depends on the industry, subject matter and depth of advice of course, and tech is always changing making it impossible to predict where the short and medium term future will evolve to.

4. What's the lead time to setup secure letters with SMS?

Assuming we had already completed contracts and compliance, a matter of hours. If a customer sends us a letter they wish to use, within 2 hours we could complete the merge, load it to our platform and be entirely prepared for sending communications immediately. Our platform does not rely on your letter to be recreated by internal CCS developers into a digital template, we can use your existing mail merge/word files that you have in place with your existing printed provider. CCS are always happy to assist in the creation and upload of letters and landing pages, alternatively the platform offers a full self-serve experience, meaning you have the control to change/edit/upload any letter, journey or survey.

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