Vendor Offers 2-Way Texting for Better Customer Service

A technology start-up has developed a text-message service that it says banks can use to improve customer service.

Many financial companies offer text-message alerts, but some observers say these one-way services are not taking full advantage of what has become one of the most widely used communication formats on the planet.

"Consumers are trying it and not finding it as helpful as they'd hoped," said Mark Schwanhausser, a research analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research in Pleasanton, Calif. "Customers want SMS, but they want it better." For banks to attract customers and make the most effective use of short message services, Schwanhausser and other analysts say texting should be transformed into a two-way engagement.

A recent Javelin study is predicting a slowdown in the number of households receiving text alerts as they conclude that alerts fail to deliver timely information, are too generic and are too difficult to tailor.

Stepping into the text fray last month was SoundBite Communications Inc., which introduced a text system that connects text services to banks' call centers.

Rather than requiring a call to a customer support center, SoundBite's Contact Center Text Messaging Solution lets people send text messages using a keyword and five-digit telephone number, known as a short code. When the text message is sent, the SoundBite system reviews it using predefined business rules. Based on the results, the software can automatically respond with a personalized text message.

If the person's text message warrants special attention, the message can be routed to an agent who can see the entire message history and respond using the SoundBite software. The entire text message conversation can transfer from agent to automation and vice-versa, depending on the person's most recent response.

Executives at SoundBite said that people may be frustrated by banks' current text capabilities but that texting remains the preferred means of communication for many of them.

A survey commissioned by SoundBite with Chacha.com found that 52% of respondents prefer customer support through texting but that 35% preferred voice. One big motivator was that texting does not require a customer to wait on hold, said Alan Berrey, SoundBite's vice president of market development.  

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