Almost 80% of consumers believe businesses should provide a way for customers to engage with them online, according to a new survey by Enghouse Interactive.
When the same question was asked in 2014, only 29% of those polled said this was important, demonstrating how attitudes have changed over the past three years.
"This latest poll shows an extraordinary increase and with 53% of respondents selecting email as their preferred method of communication, it's clear that whatever their target market, businesses must have an online strategy in place to survive," said Jeremy Payne, international VP marketing, Enghouse Interactive.
"These results show that today's service providers must provide a choice of contact options. Email is popular as it 'date stamps' the communication, provides an easily searchable record of correspondence and can be viewed on multiple devices.
"However, it's interesting that when it comes down to a query that needs human input, we don't just want to speak to any person, we want the right person who can solve our problem quickly.
"Making it difficult to speak to a live agent will only cause aggravation. Businesses should find a cost-effective way to increase voice lines but counter rising call volumes with faster resolution and shorter calls.
"The way to do this is to adopt a 'triage' system where the first responder makes a quick decision as to who should deal with a call and then ensure that all agents have a view of a customer's complete multichannel history in front of them every time."