SAP CRM IC and integration with SAP BCM
In the competitive today’s world, companies invest their service processes to maximize of customer satisfaction level that they served services to customers and catch quality standards. SAP CRM Interaction center like as it name; express any kind of interaction between the provider company (any kind of such as electricity, gas, telecommunication.. ) and the consumer who consume the providers services through a core SAP CRM application. Through SAP CRM IC; by 360 degree view, companies can manage their customer interactions like requests, demands and complaints coming from any channel. This interaction can be occurs any type of incoming channel such as Telephony, e-mail, web, mobile and more that companies decide to accept and use their IC process. Now have a look to channel for Telephony. Without any integration only with SAP CRM IC we would need 3.party integration telephony network to make outbound calls and respond incoming calls.
Telephony integration with SAP CRM IC makes easy to manage and solve customer interactions for both Interaction Center employees and customers. SAP Business Communication Management (SAP BCM) is one of tool that SAP provides for business communication management that use to manage communication systems and voice responds (IVR). SAP BCM helps companies to get contact with costumers easily and according to customer needs make customers satisfied as much as possible. With SAP BCM business communication can be both inbound (incoming) and outbound (outgoing) by type of phone, e-mail or chat. SAP BCM can be use only as a desktop solution or with SAP CRM (when integrated with CRM). When we integrate SAP BCM and SAP CRM IC we don’t need to adapters (like similar R3 middleware) because SAP BCM naturally provides all installation we need. This functionality enable to cut costs due to 3.party adapter fees and services. In order to integration with SAP BCM we need to RFC (Remote function call) connection definition (for separately inbound and outbound) and customizing in SAP CRM after that all, integration done and ready to connect customers by any type of channel without any physical phone usage.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a technology that nearly every company use to enable their customers to reach telephony system. According the companies interaction center designs IVR can respond to customers dialing or voice directions on IVR by previously recorded speech texts. IVR can have multiple queues based on companies process. For example a utility company that provides electricity can have IVR queues like: Meter reading, Illegal electricity usage, System Operation, Device, Human Resource, VIP…
Interaction Center agents have been assign different queues to respond customers based on assigned incoming queues. By mapping with same user id both SAP CRM and SAP BCM agents accepts calls to receive customer master data with all historical interaction. This function save a significant time and increase customer satisfaction. To identification caller customer, Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is used through caller’s telephone number If the caller’s telephone number recorded on account’s master data. This method can work provided account master data has a telephone number in SAP CRM. Not all accounts could have a maintained telephone number so that we can use different approaches that suit companies IC designs. IVR gives us data about caller that we can gather this by enabling fact gathering to CAD (Contact Attached Data) while customizing in SAP CRM. CAD data provides attributes about caller for example incoming call’s city, installation number, call id…. CAD data can be used to identification the caller’s account in SAP CRM.
For example a customer calls to indicate a problem about her or his bill for consumption of electricity. Agent who assigned referred queue must be available it means status ready is active to answer incoming call. If the agent is ready mode she or he can accept or reject call by using buttons on the toolbar in SAP CRM. If the caller’s telephone number maintained only one account in SAP CRM database account will be identified automatically, else other accounts that recorded caller’s telephone number will list on identification screen. So that agent can confirm any of them. Incoming call details can be review based on gathered CAD attributes.
This image below shows that sample agent’s IC screen
1-Account information: This area shows the information of the caller customer
2-Toolbar: Buttons that enable to accept or reject calls or transfer, hold, retrieve telephony functions.
3- Alert: This area shows the information that helps agent to navigate to determined process. For example, an alert might be a reminder to caller customers bill debt.
4- Communication information: This area shows the information from BCM, for example calling number and whether the call is an inbound or outbound with the duration of the call.
5- Agent status: This area shows online agents current status. Have values such as: Break, not ready, education, meeting, outbound calling, lunch, recorded call listening…
