Terms
In the following the most common variants for handling output channels or for channel management.
Single-Channel
The in the past almost exclusively practiced output to exactly one channel, usually this was print.
Multi-Channel
The term originates from marketing and originally referred to as “multichannel sales management” the coordination of different sales channels, for example sales via shops, the field service, a web shop etc. In the context of Customer Communication Management CCM, we understand multi-channel management as the coordination of different output channels and media in the context of customer communication, i.e. multi-channel output in the narrower sense.
Cross-Channel
Is to be regarded as a specification of the multi-channel, which allows a change of input and output channels. Accordingly, a call or e-mail from the customer can not only trigger a callback or e-mail response, but also, for example, the direct dispatch of documents or a consultation appointment by a customer service representative.
Omni-Channel
The most up-to-date and sophisticated approach to coordinating all possible communication channels in and out of the company.
Requirements
Multi-channel output management is about dynamically delivering information to customers in the appropriate form via the channel required or preferred by the customer. This involves questions such as digital or written, immediate dispatch or at specific times, an additional e-mail or text message as notification, etc. For this, an output management system such as M/OMS must fulfill a whole range of requirements:
Data, metadata, content collection/interpretation
Data on the product, process, customer, etc. must be accessible at the time of output for the control, optimization and preparation of the output. These decisions can often only be made very late, at the end of the document process. It is therefore advantageous if all the necessary data is collected in an ‘intelligent’ basic data set in a format-neutral manner in an end-to-end document process, as in the M/ series, from the creation of the content onwards. This set of content, layout specifications and metadata is then so complete and flexible that the process can only decide at the very end which form is to be produced for which channel.
Integrate surrounding processes and systems
Because the necessary data usually comes from different systems, it is important that the OMS, as the hub of outgoing customer communication, is networked as well as possible with the surrounding processes and systems. For example – as with M/OMS – via SOA-compliant interfaces that enable a seamless connection without creating mutual dependencies.
Output differentiation and individualization
In most cases, the digital transformation takes place gradually. This means that as long as not all customers participate in the digital process, the system must decide how to proceed in each individual case. Furthermore, the basic data set must allow the appropriate formats to be generated for the selected channels. For example, a short message in the form of an SMS, a form that can be filled out digitally for the customer portal or a detailed letter with color graphics, etc.
Customer Communication Management with Serie M/
With the central product components document creation and output management, the Serie M/ undoubtedly belongs to the software systems that cover the core functions of the CCM. This means that the entire document process from creation to output is in the hands of a single consistent system. This has the advantage that the necessary data and metadata are inserted into the document largely system-controlled and can be interpreted in the output management system OMS without further conversion or interface.
One of the development principles of the Serie M/ is the concentration on the optimization of the core tasks of document creation and output management, while special tasks from upstream and downstream processes such as input and print management, statistics or similar are left to expert systems. The Serie M/ offers numerous standard interfaces to integrate such systems seamlessly into the process flow.
Thus, according to the best-of-breed strategy, functionally comprehensive, company-wide overall solutions can be built up, which enable a contemporary, individual customer approach to any extent.
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