Beyond the Call Center: Multi-Channel Customer Support Jobs

In recent years, technology has drastically changed customer support and the manner in which it is delivered.  Multi-channel customer support has catapulted over the past 5 years, as more and more customers seek to resolve their issues via the web, using avenues such as online forums, e-mail, live chat and virtual chatbots.  According to technology advisory firm Forrester, 67% of customers use web self-service to find answers to their questions, and 67% of online consumers report that they are more likely to return to a company website that offers live chat.

While there will always be a need for the personal assistance of call center agents, those that want to work in customer service now have a lot more options available to them.  Here are some multi-channel customer support jobs that continue to increase in popularity, as well as demand:

1)      Live Chat Agent

A live chat agent’s job is similar to that of a call center agent, as they are responsible for resolving customer support issues and answering questions, but their responses are in the form of online chat as opposed to phone conversations.  A live chat agent is usually able to handle more customer support cases at once than a traditional call center agent, since they can have multiple chat windows open at once.  If at any point a customer needs to speak to a customer support agent over the phone, the live chat agent can easily escalate that customer to their desired customer support channel.  A live chat agent should have a pleasant demeanor, and strong typing skills.

Live Chat Agent jobs in Boston, MA

Live Chat Agent jobs in Washington, D.C.

Live Chat Agent jobs in Dallas, TX

2)      Social Media Customer Service Representative

Nowadays, when a customer expresses a grievance or concern with a company over social media, they expect a prompt response through the same channel.  This means that their issues need to be resolved at any hour, not just during business hours, by someone that has a knack for effectively using social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, online forums and blogs.  Not only should the customer support agent be able to reply to customers over these channels, they should be able to gather user-generated information over social media that will give the company more insight into their customers so they can make improvements to better serve them.  This can be done using sentiment analysis, a form of web analytics that allows the agent to search social media channels for any customer comments about the company, broken down into different types of moods, or sentiments, in which the comment was delivered (negative, positive, neutral, complaint, question, etc.).

Social Media Customer Service Representative jobs in Boston, MA

Social Media Customer Service Representative jobs in Washington, D.C.

Social Media Customer Service Representative jobs in Dallas, TX

3)      Natural Language Processing Author

Natural language processing is a field of computer science and artificial intelligence concerned with interactions between computers and human languages.  An NLP author is responsible for using algorithms to create self-service content for company websites, contact center scripts, and virtual chatbots, to ensure that customers are able to easily find answers to the questions they type in.  A natural language processing author should possess strong typing and content writing skills, along with basic computer skills.

Natural Language Processing jobs in Boston, MA

Natural Language Processing jobs in Washington, D.C.

Natural Language Processing jobs in Dallas, TX