So, how do you get started? Let’s begin with a short note on definition. Mobile is often referred to as a “channel” in contact center circles… but it’s, of course, much more. Consider the sheer breadth of the mobile services many of us use daily: travel, banking, navigation, shopping, productivity, news, social, service and support, videos and photos, and communication, to name a few. (I recall getting briefed on a new line of smart phones, and the company engineer added this to the end of a long list of capabilities: “It makes calls, too!”) We carry in our pockets and purses enough connectivity and computing power to put yesterday’s mainframe computers to shame.

From a contact center perspective, mobile can enable new channels (e.g., interactions that begin within mobile apps), can be a seamless conduit to existing channels (i.e., phone, chat, social communities, and others), and can enable new combinations (e.g., texting a picture or short video to a support agent or insurance adjuster while reviewing the case with them). Mobile is a fast-evolving and vast ecosystem, and I believe we need to think of and manage it as such.