Adding voice, text channels in CRM for apps

Turning to a customer support platform

This growing success called on SpotHero to step up its customer service game.

In September, after re-evaluating the technologies and roles of their customer call centers -- with the goal of picking up the pace, cutting costs and improving quality -- SpotHero partnered with Ujet's CRM for apps tool, an enterprise-grade customer support platform established in 2015 that enables companies to provide intuitive customer support through voice or chat channels that customers can reach via an interactive voice response (IVR), website or app.

Now, customers can contact agents to ask parking questions, and Ujet delivers a reliable way to answer them. SpotHero, which previously implemented a CRM app in Salesforce Service Cloud, transitioned to an IVR-based provider. For SpotHero, the results were instant, said Nate Peace, support operations and systems manager at SpotHero -- even prior to full implementation of the product.

"Ujet has decreased our rate of dropped or interrupted calls, lowering our monthly telephony budget," Peace said.

SpotHero went with Ujet, Peace said, for its call quality, which was backed up by a published 99.95% service-level agreement. The all-digital platform, created with distributed cloud and smartphone readiness as its primary design principles, is easy to use and doesn't require an administrator. It's customizable to each user's parking experience, and it integrates with SpotHero's back end.

"Ujet connects with our WFM [workforce management] software and provides quality real-time and historical reporting, plus access to their reporting API," Peace said. "Their team offers exceptional account management."

Ujet implementation was fast, and its CRM for apps tool was as simple as plug and play. But, as new users of Ujet, SpotHero has yet to leverage all of the service's products.

Full functionality of CRM for apps

"Ujet has the best out-of-the-box mobile software development kit, allowing customers to work through a digital IVR in order to contact the right agent," Peace said. "We hope to add that functionality to our apps soon."

That software development kit (SDK) will integrate with SpotHero's back end to provide agents with more customer information and capabilities as soon as the call starts. If a customer has a question that SpotHero's frequently asked questions don't answer, they will be able to use the Ujet SDK to choose whether to email SpotHero, schedule a call or call live -- with the expected wait time given.

Once SpotHero is on the phone, agents will be able to charge the customer's credit card through a secure, Payment Card Industry-compliant system. The parking company can then obtain information on any customer with a user ID.

"Even with the SDK still awaiting implementation, our customers are experiencing better call quality," Peace said.

When fully rolled out, SpotHero agents will instantly see a full-featured widget on their CRM for apps and can start taking calls immediately with only a Chrome browser. Since Ujet is plug and play with workforce management systems, data visualization tools and business intelligence platforms, the implementation cycle is rounded out for the contact center.

Ujet integrates with Salesforce, Zendesk, Desk.com and Kustomer, and the company is working to add more CRM systems to their instant compatibility list.

"Our CRM adapter is not just a CTI [computer-telephony integration]," said Ujet CEO and founder Anand Janefalkar. "It's a full-featured app widget that lets agents not only answer calls and chats with auto pop-up, automatic context filling and field tagging, but [it can also use] data dipping into user segmentation or customer statuses to enable rapid context sharing with the agent."

Within that CRM widget, Ujet's Smart Actions enables agents to request photos, screenshots and videos in real time to gather instant information so they can quickly resolve issues.

High hopes for ROI

There are high hopes at SpotHero for ROI, too. With Ujet's CRM for apps Smart Action capabilities, SpotHero expects the SDK to decrease their average handle time and repeat contact rate. Soon, the facts will speak for themselves, Peace said.

"We'll track our success by measuring the time of each contact and the number of times an individual contacts us," he said.

U.S. companies lose an estimated $62 billion a year because of dated, convoluted systems that pass a customer around to multiple agents, leaving them waiting on the information needed to solve problems easily, according to Janefalkar.

"This landscape creates a need for more agents supporting call times that are unacceptably long," Janefalkar said. "Our pricing alone makes choosing Ujet ROI-positive."

Ujet's call center technology includes no installation costs and amounts to only 1 cent per minute. With a single-provider solution and a consistent user experience, the voice and chat service is built on cloud-based technology that can deliver an improved uptime at lower costs versus sourcing two technology providers with per unit license fees, installation costs and markups on usage.

With the advent of Ujet chat service comes a transformation of support from a cost equation to an experience equation.

"Factoring in our uptime performance relative to most other choices makes it even [better]," Janefalkar said. "For voice alone, our implementation process takes seconds, with an estimated ROI in under 30 days."

Ujet presents agents with an iOS or Android SDK inside the app, so they can see customer information when they answer a call or chat and start the conversation off right. The app also has the ability to verify users. And, in turn, the technology reduces resolution time by over 50%. With an app offering fully integrated voice, chat and in-app support, you can expect a 2-day ROI.

Adding to these benefits of a CRM for apps tool, Ujet enables users to start at a basic level and grow with the platform.

"If a company wants, they can start with just voice, then add chat, and graduate to in-app," Janefalkar said. "As a company integrates more deeply, the ROI will improve along the way."