Often, the simplest, yet most overlooked starting point for advancing contact centers is the customer service reps. These data-rich resources should be the first place that companies look to identify their contact centers' points of pain before trying to advance.

Bob Furniss, founder of Call Center Ideas, a Memphis-based call center resource, says many companies manage from the inside out, without understanding what the customer wants. "Understanding the experience from the customer's point of view is key to understanding pain points in the contact center," he says.

Further, customer surveys-a traditional, yet under-exploited technique-help to identify opportunities for improvement, particularly when they break the customer experience into key segments like "becoming a customer," or "shopping for product." But companies must continually track and validate results. "Conduct the survey again in six months and one year to confirm the shift in behavior," Furniss says.

Once companies have answered the highest-level question of how important customer service is to their success of capturing and retaining market share, they should decide commensurately how to invest in it," says Sean Forbes, vice president of marketing and business development for contact center software vendor RightNow Technologies. "You can answer the next-level details, like, 'Where do I fit today on the continuum of customer service?'"

Depending upon where a company is in that continuum, it can decide what technologies are needed to empower those business process modifications. "In many call centers, technology is implemented to increase productivity," says Furniss. "Yes, the technology can support change and improvements, but it's the actual work done by the agent that usually needs to change."

The most advanced contact centers are organized by customer needs and have automated call routing to specialists and dedicated phone lines for their most valuable customers. For example, IP telephony, which allows both location independence for agents and support of multiple channels over one network, is an avenue that's become important in terms of multifunctionality and affordability.

The number of IP-architected contact centers is growing in the U.S., according to Datamonitor. Becky Carroll, senior consultant for Peppers & Rogers Group, says, "They will provide the contact centers that employ virtual agents with a deeper labor pool, part-time employees and lower cost structures, and offer virtual agents flexible working hours and locations."