CX Observability: The Canary in the Coal Mine

Until 1986, in the mining industry canaries were used as an early warning system for toxic gases. These small birds are highly sensitive to the presence of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and methane. Miners brought canaries with them into the mines, and if the birds showed signs of distress or died, it was a clear indication that the air quality was dangerous. Today, canaries have been replaced by digital CO detectors that warn miners of danger.

Similarly, in the context of contact centers, technical CX Observability serves as the canary, signaling potentially severe issues before they escalate and impact the customer experience. This article underscores the significant influence of technical performance on customer satisfaction, and the need to closely monitor technical indicators in real time.

The Impact of Agent Microphones on CX

Technical performance is a critical aspect of contact center operations that directly impacts the overall customer experience. At Operata, we’ve discovered surprising insights highlighting the correlation between technical factors and CX. For instance, did you know that agents using their built-in microphone are almost twice as likely to transfer calls? Since most contact centers regard call transfers as negative impacts to CX, this simple observation underscores how technical performance can shape customer satisfaction.

The Impact of Voice Quality on CX

As another example, Operata recently conducted a random sampling of calls and made a startling discovery. A staggering 4% of all calls experienced low voice quality and had short talk times. Clearly, contact center managers would want to know about this massive impact on CX, and take action. Without CX Observability tooling in place, it would be difficult to pinpoint the root causes of low voice quality and dropped calls, since there are so many factors involved.

How Technical Factors Impact CX

Operata infuses meaningful technical insights into operations and experience data to surface unique recommendations for improving the People Experience in contact centers. Within the scope of Operata CX Observability are dozens of technical data points that can be correlated with operations KPIs and customer experience metrics.

Here are some of the data points available from Operata Platform that can be viewed alongside operations and experience data in actionable Playbooks (dashboards):

• Agent Microphone
• CPU Type, Version, and Utilization
• Memory Utilization
• Workstation OS and Version
• Network Bandwidth/Performance
• Network Type (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
• Softphone and Version, and Errors/Logs
• Headset and Driver version
• Web Browser and Version
• Audio Levels
• Background Noise Levels
• WebRTC Signaling/Errors
• Agent-Reported Issues
• MOS and POLQA
• And more….

When viewed alongside operations and experience data, the true impact of technical performance on customer experience can be understood. For example, a contact center may find that agents using an older workstation experience dropped calls more frequently. Or, agents using their built-in mic have higher background noise levels and more calls with poor voice quality. Or, agents using their home Wi-Fi networks experience greater latency and have lower POLQA scores. The possible correlations are endless, which underscores how challenging it is for contact center IT teams to anticipate, identify, troubleshoot, and resolve technical issues impacting CX.

Operata CX Observability

Operata's CX Observability platform is the world's only solution built exclusively for cloud contact centers. It continuously harmonizes technical, operations, and experience data, sparking insights and actions that improve contact center performance.

By implementing Operata's CX Observability platform, organizations gain real-time insights into technical performance and how it relates to operations KPIs and customer experience metrics. This proactive approach enables contact centers to identify and resolve potential issues more efficiently, helping them to deliver an exceptional customer experience with every call.

A Canary for your Contact Center

CX Observability is the key to unlocking the full potential of cloud contact centers. It acts as the "canary in the coal mine," providing early warnings for potentially severe customer experience challenges. By continuously harmonizing technical, operations, and experience data, Operata empowers organizations to optimize their contact center performance and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Are you ready to send in a canary and uncover the hidden technical issues affecting your CX? Sign up for a free trial and start generating powerful CX Observability insights in 30 minutes or less.

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