Finally! Zappix Will Really Change Customer Care

Published on May 13, 2012 By DrJBHL In Personal Computing

I hate calling any kind of company: “Please pay attention as our help menu has recently changed.” Bull. It never changes…but even worse, you make a mistake or get lost in the menu system which is and endlessly frustrating algorithm designed to induce homicidal rage … even in Nuns on Valium.

So, Saadia Ozeri an Israeli biotech exec had to call his m-i-l’s cell phone company and ended up totally frustrated. Welcome to the club, Saadia.

Only he did something about it. He invented Zappix.

The solution it offers is straightforward and could change the way we interact with call centers –– without elevator music, annoying call robots or hard-to-understand foreign accents.

Zappix shows users a visual map of the call center’s routing system. Instead of hearing “Press 1 to speak to a sales agent,” for instance, callers press numbers from a handy list of options and the call is routed accordingly.

It already works with 50 companies in Israel, and has been shown at the recent World Mobile Communications Congress 2012 in Barcelona.

Not only that, it remembers paths you’ve already taken… so you don’t have to go through it all over again. Like where you order pizza (yes, HG: Special for you!"), checking your bank balance, etc.

Better! It all happens before you make the call so you can backtrack and no harm done.

Actually, it’s a “Win-Win”… less frustration, less wasted battery time, fewer expenses for a company… my kind of app.

So be on the watch for it. It’ll be here in a few months at the most. Oh yes… it’ll be free.

Source:

http://zappix.co.il/

Comments

WebGizmos

on May 13, 2012

I'm tired of the "press 1 to continue in English" crap!

Wizard1956

on May 13, 2012

WebGizmos

reply 1

I'm tired of the "press 1 to continue in English" crap!

pacov

on May 14, 2012

Don't ask me if I program systems like these for a living... just don't.

But that said, let's just say that I do program this sort of software. There are more than a few things to consider when designing systems. You look at the customer component and the business. For a business, it is always cheaper to have an automated system handle customer concerns. You want to know your balance, you don't need to talk to a human being. Anyway, you can factor in quite a few other variables, but the most basic business component is that company X saves money on every call that is handled by an automated system. For every 1% of calls that contain in the automated system, we'll let's just say its a pretty huge cost savings annually (> half a million annually - PER 1 %).

Once you move away from that angle, though, then its a matter of caring about the customer. Some customers want to talk to humans as quickly as possible. Others would prefer a machine. The goal here is to try to get customers to contain in the automated system with minimal annoyance. And that minimal annoyance bit is the trick. And that's where technology makes more exciting things possible. Some companies track your phone number, if you've called in before, if you've validated, and can authenticate you as the actual cardholder by voice ID. And then its just a matter of voice recognition for you to tell the system what you want. If the system is designed well, you either get handled in the automated system or transferred to a live rep.

re: the software posted in the op. Well, there are some problems. For instance, in my environment, the call flow can change on a frequent basis. And the only way of adapting a solution like the one in the op would be to detect a change (user reports), audit the change, and then update the software. I understand the desire for an app like this, but I'm pretty confident (understanding this segment of the industry) that the software will become out of date at a reasonable pace. You'd literally need to ensure bi-weekly or monthly audits to provide a decent level of accuracy to customers of the app. That said, folks like me could tell you exactly how to speak to a customer service rep in under 40 seconds of your call - but its better if the automated system can take care of your needs than having a person do it.... my 1st statement still applies here (40 sec).

Anyway, some interesting software - curious to see how it works in practice. I might actually pick it up if its solid to use as a documenting tool.

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