Today’s customers are raising the bar on expectations throughout their customer journey. Companies are having to adapt and improve their tactics, and contact centers are a major touchpoint. They offer brands the chance to build strong connections, earn trust, and develop loyal customer relationships.
Anytime, anywhere, customers demand a rich and consistent omnichannel experience. That’s why many contact centers have already invested in new technologies – most notably VoIP – to increase personalization, improve access, and simplify interactions.
Contact centers are reaching out to the cloud, with 55% believing that cloud-based technologies are a sound strategy to pursue. From interactive voice response (IVR) to ACD (automatic call management), the move towards work from home jobs means collaboration and sharing tools is imminent.
Chief amongst these are digital asset management systems.
What is a Digital Asset Management System?
Digital asset management, often shortened to DAM, is software used to facilitate the management of digital content. This involves the storing, managing, and distribution of not only digital assets, but metadata, licensing, and royalties.
Digital assets are items that are owned in digital form including – but not limited to – documents, images, videos, PDFs, audio files, and more. A DAM can hold thousands or even millions of digital assets.
DAM software enables you to upload, organize, store, manage, and track your digital assets in one central location. Then you can access these assets at any time, from anywhere, and from any device. Backup and syncing are all done regularly to ensure files stay safe and protected.
DAMs can be client-facing, for internal use only, or a combination of the two. They are especially helpful in enabling remote teams to work together and are useful for building freelance teams with members who are only required to have access to specific assets.
The Benefits of Digital Asset Management (DAM) Software
DAM enables sales managers and customer service reps to make decisions on the fly. When reps are searching for up-to-date information on products and media, it steals time from what really counts (i.e. providing the very best customer experience). In a worst case scenario, reps may be unable to access timely product information at all.
Your aim is to provide a five star customer experience – and no doubt your virtual switchboard phone system is helping you improve interactions. With a DAM, you can ensure your agents are providing customers with accurate product details and up to date instructions – so they get an even higher level of service.
Reps must be able to access brand assets whenever they are needed. This is where a DAM comes in to save the day.
When using a DAM, agents can grab assets from wherever they are working and share them with a prospect or customer. At the same time, marketing or IT personnel need to work hard to ensure brand assets get used appropriately and consistently by the right people.
A DAM system allows you to import all kinds or files into a product catalog so they can be analyzed and brought up to date, ready to access from the cloud. A centralized catalog can be shared with contact center agents and be ready to access when they’re on a call.
Here are a few more reasons to invest in DAMs:
Digital Asset Management software enables effective branding
As part of a company’s digital transformation, a digital asset management system can help boost brand management. It can also help to facilitate interdepartmental cooperation by helping team members break out of silos.
Marketing departments often need a ‘brand central’ to house logos, fonts, campaign assets, and guidelines. Using the DAM, all assets can be organized at brand level and from one central location – so they can be distributed in-house, with outside agencies, and vendors.
A digital asset management system can help companies identify bottlenecks and improve workflows and content performance.
A digital asset management system is secure
With a DAM system you’re much less likely to experience file corruption, server crashes, or losses of assets – because files live in the cloud. DAMs offer a level of security which can be a major determinant in customers choosing to use one business over another. Some DAMs have servers that are surveyed 24/7.
IT managers will find it easier to keep the company’s assets secure. A DAM enables them to organize and manage files and metadata – as well as control who can use the data. They can assign permissions to different users or groups of users so only those who need to access assets can do so.
A DAM can also help your human resources department
Human resource management is another area where a DAM can come in useful. Digital assets don’t just apply to customer service strategy.
Employee handbooks, company policies, and other important forms can be stored and shared with employees or with other stakeholders. For example, a new customer service agent can receive a link to a folder and have access to the handbook, policies, or forms they need to fill out. Your HR department can then update the documents and forms as new info is added.
The Increasing Role of Video in Remote Contact Centers
50% of call centers have reported spikes in digital channel traffic during the Pandemic
With a rise in the volume of calls received, contact centers have needed to step up and provide other channels of communication – including voice, email, messaging, and social media.
And, of course, social media feeds themselves are full of video.
Contact centers have also started using video to talk to customers.
There’s an increasing realization that some channels are more suitable than others for customer service interactions. Traditionally for a problem that’s particularly personal or complex, voice seems the obvious option, which is why most SMBs have at the very least, a small business phone system. However, video chat can make things even more personal in certain situations.
Demand for video interaction is only likely to rise because it offers a host of benefits, including:
- Improving the customer experience
- Building strong personal connections
- Helping to explain complex issues
It’s as close as you can get to face to face interaction between people over the internet. Video is much more personal than a standard voice call. It also shows customers a level of professionalism and demonstrates that a company is up to date.
Live video can also help to diffuse difficult situations. When customers can see real agents they can see they’re listening to their concerns and trying to prevent negative situations from escalating. With no distractions, agents are focused on answering questions. Live video call helps you stay compliant, while call recording can help you monitor the quality of conversations.
Because video is becoming more and more important, it would be wise to select a digital asset management system that incorporates video features.
Why Contact Centers should use a DAM with Video Hosting and Delivery Capabilities
Given the amount of benefits of using video – both for customer and employee interactions – it’s essential to adopt systems that are able to host videos and deliver them effectively.
There are different types of DAM software. Some allow you to host images and podcasts with a video platform providing a centralized platform for all your media related needs. By using video:
- You can reduce the cost of training programs
- Enable any employee to create high-quality training videos
- Publish to your LMS or create a secure video learning center
- Allow viewers to tune-in, watch, and learn at their own pace, anywhere, from any device
- Measure who’s watched and completed videos
Using a DAM with video features allows you to deliver images and videos in high volume while ensuring brand consistency.
Other advantages of a video-enabled DAM include:
- You can upload videos, images, and audio, as well as documents
- Share and embed videos on websites, media portals, video players, and podcasts
- Distribute media via multiple platforms including websites, apps, blogs, social networks, and OTT streaming devices
- No need to switch between different platforms – your digital asset management system provides reliable hosting and powerful customization tools with fast delivery to your audience
Always look for the best streaming quality in a digital asset management system with hosting, so you can reach remote employees without buffering or delays. That usually means opting for a DAM that uses advanced CDN servers located in various locations, storing multiple copies and automatic backups. That way there’s far less risk of losing assets
DAM software can enable you to upload, host, and share videos in a secure, private YouTube-like environment. Users can record and edit videos right in the software. Large-scale streaming is another option. Contact center agents can leverage video search features – so you search any words spoken or that appear on screen in videos.
Final Thoughts and Takeaways
Almost any company or organization could get value from using a digital asset management system (DAM). If you’re setting up a call center – or already working with a remote contact center team – DAM is definitely worthwhile.
Contact centers can use DAM systems to transform the way they manage their invaluable digital assets, with complete access and control over the full lifecycle of them. A DAM system also helps to keep assets safe and secure.
From scalable content creation to brand templates or scripts, your DAM can help you quickly answer requests for information about products and troubleshoot issues. A digital asset management system can also help you with non client-facing activities – especially when managing remote teams from HR to marketing. Everyone should be able to use the system.
The benefits of digital asset management apply to almost every industry, contact centers included. As long as there are digital assets to be stored, organized, and distributed, a DAM works. With the increasing range of interactions, including video, at contact centers, there are more diverse ranges of assets to be stored – and used for training and research purposes.
