Do I Sound Like I Was Born in the 1930s?

On another contact center visit, this time at a large insurance company, I had a conversation with Sami, the sales contact center manager. Sami’s office was next to the department fax, which was constantly beeping and printing. Raising my voice above the din, I asked him, “Doesn’t that noise bother you?” “Bother me? I hear the fax machine in my sleep,” he grimaced. “It doesn’t make sense, no one has a fax,” Sami continued. “Every time one of my agents has to get a document signed, it takes five days and multiple calls. Customers often don’t have a printer or scanner at home, and when you ask if they have a fax machine, they start yelling, ‘Do I sound like I was born in the 1950s?!’ I wish there was a way to sign a contract during the sales call and eliminate all this nonsense,” he said, gesturing with annoyance toward the fax machine. Sami’s infernal fax demonstrates another technology hurdle that contributes to uncontrollable repeat calls, lost revenues…and short tempers. And our conversation was another instance where I wondered whether there couldn’t be another, smarter way for agents to collaborate with customers….