Only 22% of companies offer omnichannel conversations

Adoption of digital channels continues to increase in U.S. contact centers. According to Canam Research, 83% of contact centers in the U.S. report using one or more channels in addition to their voice channel. But only 22% of contact centers offer seamless omnichannel conversations that allow customers to switch channels with ease and provide agents with a single unified agent desktop for all channels.

These insights stem from a survey sponsored by Bright Pattern, the leading provider of omnichannel cloud contact center software for innovative enterprises. The survey examined the current state of U.S contact centers’ omnichannel conversations and omnichannel quality management.

The omnichannel adoption statistic of 22% closely aligns with the findings of other contact center reports and industry analyst research. Contact center analysts including IQPC, Dimension Data, and Gartner believe only 5–20% of companies offer omnichannel conversations.

Of those surveyed, 62% of the trend report respondents identified their contact center as a multichannel contact center – a contact center that offers more than one communication channel to its customers but offers the channels in silos. Multichannel silos prohibit customers from moving easily between channels without losing important customer data, requiring them to repeat themselves to a new agent.

Bright Pattern found that the industries with the highest omnichannel adoption included Consumer Services at 40%, Manufacturing at 30%, Business Services and Technology at 25%, and Finance at 22%. Omnichannel was originally a term from retail customer experience that has now been adopted by all industries. Ironically, the study found that only 17% of retailers identified themselves as able to offer omnichannel customer experiences.