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Home security firm moves one in 10 customer service calls to Quiq mobile chat channel

Rich messaging services are being rolled out by carriers, giving businesses more opportunities to reach customers with smartphone messaging.
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

More and more customers prefer to use other channels to communicate than phoning a contact centre and waiting ages on the phone for a customer service response. But there are other alternatives appearing across the industry.

With this in mind, Dallas-based security systems firm Brinks Home Security has recently partnered with messaging service Quiq.

The customer messaging platform competes with Zendesk and Intercom, but it focuses on in-app messaging such as rich messengers and other messenger platforms like Facebook Messenger.

It wanted to use a communications channel that would be chosen by its million customers to connect with the brand.

Customers can message an image of the problem they have in the home so that customer support agents can resolve the issue quickly, or create links to troubleshoot the issues.

It converted one in 10 of its inbound phone-based customer contacts to use a digital messaging platform over five months.

It noticed a difference in how its customers and agents interact with each other.

Previously, over nine out of 10 transactions were purely one-on-one over the phone. Taking time to make a phone call was a rigid and inflexible process for customers. Brinks wanted to provide a channel that gave the customer control.

Visitors to Brinks Home Security are able to initiate a conversation with an agent through a "Text Us" link on the site. Visitors can also engage by using the "Chat with us" icon on every page.

The customer service agent can then handle up to six conversations at one time, making them more efficient -- even though the process of answering calls is still the same.

Brinks moves one in ten customer service calls to Quig mobile chat channel ZDNet
Brinks

Regardless of age-related demographics, the use of the messaging service has grown. Messaging has positively impacted its contact center.

Although there is an increase in the number of conversations each agent has, there has still been a 14-point average increase in Customer Satisfaction ratings (CSAT) over the phone channel.

Mike Myer, CEO of Quiq, said:

"Companies, big and small, see the messaging channel as a way to more effectively and convenient way to engage with their customers."

Jay Autrey, chief customer officer at Brinks Home Security, said:

"By adding the messaging channel, we have seen a double digit improvement in customer satisfaction, improved agent effectiveness, improvements to the bottom line, and a more engaged customer experience."

As mobile technology is the fastest way to connect with loved ones in an emergency, it is interesting that a home security firm has embraced this way of working. Expect others to follow as we reduce our dependence on soon-to-be-outdated, one-to-one voice calls.

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