2017 was the year of opportunityin digital self-service, and that momentum has continued into 2018.CallVu's Ori Faran outlines 3 key trends to watch in digitalself-service in the year ahead. (Photo: Shutterstock)

2017 was the year of opportunity in digitalself-service, according to CallVU's semi-annual survey of customers'preferences in the United States.

The survey discovered that consumers, including Baby Boomer andGen X populations, continue to be interested in self-serviceoptions as a way to improve efficiency and save time.

For businesses, moving customer services into the digital spherealso means saving time and resources. Digitizing customer servicesalso frees up staff to handle more high-value tasks.

Related: CallVU study: Today's consumers prefer digitalcustomer service

More businesses than ever are pursuing their owndigital transformation by offering a variety of self-servicesolutions, including web, social, and apps.

In 2018, Ori Faran, CallVu CEO and founder, says he expectscompanies to introduce more non-human service options, bothself-service and BOT driven, as well as hybrid solutions"integrating the power of human and digital."

Faran highlights that more companies than ever before eitherimplemented or began discussions around a digital strategy in 2017,and that momentum has carried over to 2018.

Looking at the year ahead, Faran identified three key trends indigital self-service in 2018:

1. The emergence of the contact center as the new VirtualBranch;
2. Movement from multi-channel and Omni-Channel concepts to a"post-channel" solution in which organizations will focus on value(services) rather than on siloed or roughly sewed channels;and
3. Increased reliance on automated processes based on BOTs andartificial intelligence together for a seamless transition fromnon-human to human interactions – and vice versa.

Related: Embrace the shift! Transforming the insuranceindustry from the outside-in

In a conversation with PC360,Faran elaborated on each of the three trends and how they will beprominent across all industries, but took particular note of howinsurance companies will be affected and benefit from adoptingthem.

"Insurance companies will reallygain from digitizing their sales processes. For example,looking at collaboration and co-browsing where they can sharescreens and send and sign documents with their customers on theircell phones, eliminating the need for faxing and snailmail."

Claims are also going to be madeso much easier in an Omni-channel architecture, Faran explains."Think about roadside assistance," Faran offers as an example."That entire process can be handled through an app now, filing andsubmitting a claim with pictures from your cell phone, therebyeliminating the need for phone calls, and the claims are handled inminutes."

For more on these digital self-service trends and to see howconsumers responded, take a look at CallVu's consumer study on customer serviceneeds.

Related: Digital transformation: 8 best practices forinsurers