How 5G Will Impact Contact Centers

This Industry Viewpoint was contributed by Michael Mahoney of AVOXI

With the recent emergence of 5G technology, many businesses are hopping on board and incorporating 5G into their infrastructure. Call centers are no exception, and 5G can make a great impact on how contact centers are run, enhance their customer experience, and gather data.

Improved Call Quality

One thing that 5G has greatly improved on compared to 4G (and LTE) is the latency issues. A big issue with 4G is their low latency, which can lead to poor call quality. Most every call center is going to be handling a massive amount of calls at the same time, and 4G can cause some major call quality issues. Network uptime will also be drastically increased, which can mean fewer dropped calls for those using VoIP to handle their calls. Fewer dropped calls lead to more positive customer experiences, and who doesn’t want great customer experiences?

Creating an Enhanced Customer Experience

With the integration of 5G, contact centers can better gather data and analytics to greatly enhance the customer experience. Through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), companies can better capture customer data and trends. For example, you can quickly get information on a customer when the call in, such as which products they currently use and if they’ve called in previously.

Another huge benefit to the implementation of 5G is the increase in the use of video collaboration. Many VoIP providers offer video conferencing as a feature, but some customers may feel as if it falls a little flat. With 5G, video conferencing can become the new standard, with extremely high quality 4K resolution. Now you can connect with customers and they can put a face to the voice, and your support reps can much better articulate and explain how to overcome obstacles customers may face.

 

There are 3 network categories that 5G Radio Access Network architecture is based on, with ultra-reliable and low latency communications being the one that applies most to VoIP. For the highest quality VoIP, a network has to provide low latency and high enough bandwidth to transmit data, which URLLC does.

Traditional VoIP calls require around 85-100 kbps of bandwidth per concurrent call, meaning you can make many more concurrent calls if your call center switches to 5G.

Increased Mobility of Agents

If 5G were wide spread, having all of your agents in one central location could be a thing of the past. With more and more companies allowing employees to work remotely, 5G would allow for ultra-high quality VoIP communication, no matter where your agents are located.

5G will allow for many more customers to on a network in a given area, around one million per square kilometer vs a few thousand on 4G networks. With average speeds up to 5 times faster than 4G, your agents will have a reliable and strong connection anywhere 5G is available.

Contact centers are global businesses, with offices located all around the world to take calls from customers, no matter where they are located. 5G would add more flexibility, allowing for more remote agents and better customer experiences.

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Categories: Industry Viewpoint · Unified Communications · Wireless