Contact Expert, the multichannel contact centre solution

The latest version of Contact Expert (Contact Expert 6.0) has been launched. In connection with this, we interview Ákos Máté, Development Manager at Geomant. Read on to find out about the history of this software and its innovations.

What is Contact Expert?

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Contact Expert is the Geomant’s powerful multichannel contact centre for Microsoft Skype for Business.

When was the first version of Contact Expert launched at Geomant?

The software has more than 15 years of history, it started initially being developed as a project and then became a full-fledged solution and became part of the permanent product portfolio. Over the years, we’ve had many successful deployments of this software for customers in different fields of activity ranging from midsize to enterprise; from Insurance companies, Banks, Customer service providers, Local councils to Universities.

The software is popular in the Hungarian market with big companies such as Vodafone Hungary, Netrisk, Generali, Budapest Bank, and Unicredit. In the English and Australian markets, we have achieved successes between middle-sized companies and the public sector with customers like, Accent Housing, Longhurst, University of Canterbury and ATCO.

The first versions of the software supported only the Avaya platform, but since 2008 we have opened up to provision the Microsoft UC platform too, so we are supporting Office Communicator Server (OCS), Lync and Skype for Business.

To whom did Geomant recommend the first versions? Has the target group of the solution expanded during development?

We recommended it to typical call centres, where the emphasis was on voice-based communication but now that we have multichannel functionality Contact Expert is sufficient for all customers who want to manage not just phone calls, but also provide an email or chat forum for communication.

The market has changed a lot, nowadays, SMEs also provide their customers' customer service and the Contact Expert solution also helps them with the continuously expanding functions. Current trends and customer needs shape software developments, Geomant has always been good at monitoring these changes and adapting to meet and exceed requirements – Contact Experts evolvement is an example of that.

Which systems can integrate with CE 6.0?

Contact Expert 6.0 supports platforms such as Avaya, Microsoft Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Microsoft Skype for Business, O365 UC platforms, and can be deployed on-premises or can be used as a cloud service where customers can choose to use their own telephone line, or we can provide a hybrid solution – a mixture of both.

Note: Not sure which type of solution is best in terms of cloud-based or on-premises? Take a look at our blog that explains the pro’s and con’s of both types of implementation:https://www.geomant.com/2018/08/10/on-premises-vs-cloud-based-contact-centres/

In your opinion, which was the five most significant development of Contact Expert in the last 15 years?

1. Contact Expert is the only predictive dial-in Skype for Business platform that has successfully replaced a traditional Aspect Dialer; the feature is also available for Avaya.

2. Switching to a cloud-based service is a unique opportunity on the market, attracting interest from many companies that use Microsoft Skype for Businesses.

3. The Contact Expert features include multitenancy, so we can optimally utilise our available hardware resources.

4. Multitasking ability – the administrator can handle several requests from multiple channels simultaneously.

5. Everything can be recorded and reported

What are the most important new features that have been added to 6.0?

1. One of the most significant changes is the expansion of chat channels; the new version now offers the opportunity to receive inquiries on multiple channels, supporting social media, all with the involvement of Buzzeasy technology.

2. The ability to use Chatbots, which can provide FAQ-style information to customers without any human interaction, allowing agents to focus on complex situations.

3. Contact centre telemetry is now stored in a single reporting data source, making reporting faster and easier, better supporting decision-making within businesses.

To whom would you recommend the Contact Expert 6.0?

I recommend it to everyone who wants to offer expanded chat options to their target audience and exploit technology from chatbot to relieve their agents to focus on more complex issues.

After reading this article, if you’re interested in Contact Expert 6.0, you can contact us to find out more.