Services for Organizations

Using our research, best practices and expertise, we help you understand how to optimize your business processes using applications, information and technology. We provide advisory, education, and assessment services to rapidly identify and prioritize areas for improvement and perform vendor selection

Consulting & Strategy Sessions

Ventana On Demand

    Services for Investment Firms

    We provide guidance using our market research and expertise to significantly improve your marketing, sales and product efforts. We offer a portfolio of advisory, research, thought leadership and digital education services to help optimize market strategy, planning and execution.

    Consulting & Strategy Sessions

    Ventana On Demand

      Services for Technology Vendors

      We provide guidance using our market research and expertise to significantly improve your marketing, sales and product efforts. We offer a portfolio of advisory, research, thought leadership and digital education services to help optimize market strategy, planning and execution.

      Analyst Relations

      Demand Generation

      Product Marketing

      Market Coverage

      Request a Briefing


        Analyst Perspectives

        << Back to Blog Index

        Pitney Bowes Innovates Customer Engagement



        Our benchmark research into the next-generation contact center in the cloud shows that organizations are supporting more and more channels of engagement; an emerging one is video. Adoption rates suggest that use of this technology for customer service is still in its early days, but as more consumers make video calls using mobile apps such as FaceTime, WhatsApp and Skype, we expect adoption rates and usage to increase. During two recent briefings I learned that Pitney Bowes has built a portfolio of products to support various uses of video.

        The company positions these products in its customer engagement portfolio. Its overall aim is to deliver “relevant and engaging interactions at every touch point,” especially digital and video, and orchestrate delivery of omnichannel experiences. Similar to many software vendors, Pitney Bowes bases its portfolio on a single platform, Engage Communication Suite, which has tools to support common services used by the other applications. These include tools to support different types of users, common internal tools such as security, composition and conversation, and interfaces to different types of servers (such as LDAP),  including communication servers such as email, fax, print and instant messaging. The portfolio also includes tools that support the different stages of designing new content, including authoring and publishing of new document templates, review and approval of new templates, and a repository in which to store templates.

        Engage Communication Suite supports four other products: EngageOne Digital Designer, EngageOne Digital Delivery, EngageOne Digital Self Service and EngageOne Video.

        EngageOne Digital Designer includes tools that help all levels of users design digital content for email and instant messages. It is browser-based so that anyone can use it anywhere and includes drag-and-drop design tools with which users can design content once and have it repurposed for delivery on any device. Users can import content from existing sources and built-in templates to create content such as embedded video that is visually engaging for customers. It also includes analytics tools to monitor and assess who opens what and how they use the content.

        EngageOne Digital Delivery manages the delivery of content to supported channels, including email, cloud-based mailboxes and mobile apps. It includes tools to manage content delivery, including the time, format and channel of delivery, which ensures customers get consistent messages regardless of channel. The system archives content so users can see what any customer received. Analysis tools track delivery, opens, clicks and bounces so users can see in detail the success of any campaign.

        EngageOne Digital Self Service enables organizations to transform existing portals to provide customers with consistent, unique and personalized experiences tailored to their profiles, purchase histories and billing needs. For example, a bill could include an embedded video clip that explains how the bill was calculated.

        In my view, the most significant product is EngageOne Video, which in 2015 won a Ventana VR2015_InnovationAwardWinner_Twitter_Card.jpgResearch Technology Innovation award as one of the most exciting uses of voice-powered video. Essentially, customers receive a link to “speak” to a customer support department. Clicking on the link activates a fictional on-screen character that responds to questions and information provided by the user. The system recognizes what the users say, interrogates other systems for information and delivers personalized responses. The program follows a rules-driven process designed to lead to the most efficient resolution of the caller’s issue, for example, answering queries about an invoice. The results are highly personalized experiences and more issues resolved on the first attempt. Since its first release, Pitney Bowes has made several improvements that make it easier to create user-specific videos with a library of video clips and tools to extract user-related data to personalize the video. It also renders on more devices – desktops, smartphones and tablets – than before and can be based on-premises or in the cloud. I recall an early demonstration that I still cite as an example of why others should take a careful look at EngageOne Video, as it was the best customer experience I have encountered.

        Taken together, these products help organizationsvr_NGCCC_01_customer_self_service_will_increase_updated-3.png respond to shifts in how consumers engage with each other and organizations, specifically, the increased use of digital technologies such as text-based engagement, mobile apps and video. Indeed, our recent research into the adoption of contact centers in the cloud finds that more (46%) organizations are anticipating that, over the next two years, they will offer digital self-service as a means of differentiating themselves from competitors. This change not only requires organizations to support those digital channels but to provide an engaging experience that meets customer expectations.

        Pitney Bowes is best known for its postal mail, data management and location intelligence products and services. In my view, getting digital right requires supporting new channels, personalizing experiences and making them more visual. Pitney Bowes combines its data management, location intelligence and these new communication technologies to help organizations in all three regards. I therefore recommend that all organizations that plan to make engagement more digital assess how this combination of systems can help achieve those objectives, especially the adoption of video.

        Regards,

        Richard Snow

        VP & Research Director, Customer Engagement

        Follow Me on Twitter and Connect with me on LinkedIn
        ISG Software Research

        ISG Software Research is the most authoritative and respected market research and advisory services firm focused on improving business outcomes through optimal use of people, processes, information and technology. Since our beginning, our goal has been to provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies. In short, we want to help you become smarter and find the most relevant technology to accelerate your organization's goals.

        JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

        Our Analyst Perspective Policy

        • Ventana Research’s Analyst Perspectives are fact-based analysis and guidance on business, industry and technology vendor trends. Each Analyst Perspective presents the view of the analyst who is an established subject matter expert on new developments, business and technology trends, findings from our research, or best practice insights.

          Each is prepared and reviewed in accordance with Ventana Research’s strict standards for accuracy and objectivity and reviewed to ensure it delivers reliable and actionable insights. It is reviewed and edited by research management and is approved by the Chief Research Officer; no individual or organization outside of Ventana Research reviews any Analyst Perspective before it is published. If you have any issue with an Analyst Perspective, please email them to ChiefResearchOfficer@isg-research.net

        View Policy

        Subscribe to Email Updates

        Posts by Month

        see all

        Posts by Topic

        see all


        Analyst Perspectives Archive

        See All