A critical part of offering excellent support for your customers is providing synchronous service, but what is synchronous service exactly and how does it differ from asynchronous?
In this article, you will learn the differences between synchronous and asynchronous methods of communication and why customers often prefer synchronous support. Additionally, you’ll also discover invaluable software solutions that will enable your contact center to offer seamless synchronous support for your clients.
The Difference Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication
The main distinction between synchronous and asynchronous communication is whether or not communication occurs in real-time. Synchronous communication essentially means that you communicate with someone as it occurs without delay. When it comes to serving customers, your call center provides synchronous communication through real-time communication. For example, when you talk to someone face-to-face, over the phone, or through video conferencing, you communicate synchronously with the opposite party. There’s no delay in communication between you and the other person.
Unlike synchronous communication, asynchronous communication involves delays between the parties involved. Carlos Lopez, Solutions Architect at ATSG, expertly explained asynchronous communication and expectations revolving around communicating through an asynchronous medium:
“Asynchronous means that I am not expecting an answer immediately. I’m okay with asking a question, continue doing my work [or] continue doing whatever I’m doing and expecting an answer whenever. This is the way we communicate via text messages nowadays. [When I text,] I’m not expecting an immediate answer.”
Contact center employees can asynchronously communicate with customers in a variety of different ways, including email, text messaging, non-immediate direct messaging, and recordings. When communicating asynchronously with customers, your contact center employees do not communicate instantly, which can pose limitations in your contact center’s ability to serve the needs of its customers.
Choosing Synchronous Communication Over Asynchronous
Your contact center needs to be able to offer synchronous communication for its customers because it offers several advantages over asynchronous communication. One such advantage is that your employees can offer real-time resolutions for customers, which will improve their satisfaction with your service. No one wants to wait around for a delayed response when communicating with contact center representatives—customers want to solve their problems now and not later.
Additionally, synchronous communication empowers your team to provide more helpful and thorough interactions with your customers. Through real-time communication, your contact center employees can go in-depth with helping your customers solve their problems quickly and effectively. Both your contact center employees and your customers can exchange information without delay and resolve issues efficiently.
Alternatively, asynchronous communication forces your customers to wait for responses, and there are more limitations when it comes to communicating with delays. It’s difficult to get more in-depth with a customer if you are merely writing emails or exchanging delayed messages. It is more challenging to receive the pertinent information to serve their needs if you’re not engaged in seamless communication.
Offering Synchronous Communication Through ATSG Solutions
If your contact center needs to expand its channels to offer synchronous communication, consider working with ATSG to find the best contact center solution for your business. ATSG provides powerful communication and collaboration solutions for businesses, whether they use Cisco Webex, Cisco Webex Teams, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom.
Our cloud-based software solutions provide businesses with powerful synchronous communication channels that your team can use while working remotely or in-office. We work with businesses to assess their contact centers so that we can provide a solution tailored to your business. We also offer synchronous support for your contact center employees so that they can continue providing exceptional assistance to your customer base:
“One of the technologies that we’re deploying … is, ‘How do we assess the agent? How do we provide the agent real-time assistance?’ As the communication is being handled via voice, via chat, via whatever that communication method may be, provide the agent assistance to be able to answer the questions or to provide the help the customer is looking for in the most efficient way possible with the correct information.”
In addition to our support, your business receives remote agent performance assessments as well as solution and application assessments. With our data collection, you’ll be able to improve your call center’s efficiency and further improve the experiences of your customer base.
ATSG—Transforming the customer experience through tech-enabled managed services
Today’s choices for mobility, cloud, infrastructure, communications, applications, and operations are mission-critical for small, mid-sized, and large enterprises.
ATSG, Inc., is leading the transformation into technology solutions as a service with our tech-enabled managed services portfolio and a commitment to technology innovation, operational excellence, and client intimacy.
Recognized by industry leaders and industry-leading publications, ATSG has over 25 years of operating history delivering exceptional client experiences that directly result in competitive advantage, cost savings, growth, and improved operational efficiencies.
Visit ATSG.net, email [email protected], call (888) 504-9559, or visit one of our five tri-state locations today for more information.
