Research by 8x8 has brought into sharp focus the yawning gap between properly tooled up call centre agents and their ill-equipped counterparts who work in less structured 'informal' contact centres.
According to a new report from 8x8 'informal' agents outnumber formal contact centre workers in the UK by six times (4.6 million) and 46% of this category say they are unsupported and undertrained despite having equal responsibility for dealing with customer service enquiries across various channels.
Almost as many say that access to customer service technology would help them improve their performance with developments such as AI and chatbots cited as a potential boon to their capabilities.
Despite growth in the use of non-traditional channels, skills in managing social media and email contacts are lacking among a sizeable section of informal agents.
8x8 UK MD Kevin Scott-Cowell said: "When people think of customer service they imagine aircraft hanger sized contact centres full of headset wearing agents. This is a complete misconception.
"Informal contact centre agents are having to communicate professionally with customers across multiple channels, but in most instances they haven't been trained and don't feel confident.
"But with the right technology and training staff can be supported, even small teams.
"The advent of cloud-based contact centre technology means this doesn't have to be a huge investment, but will undoubtedly improve overall customer service."