At many institutions, new technology layered on technology in the call center, operates with unchanged antiquated processes. Instead, agents (and call center supervisors) are feeling the frustration and productivity loss of juggling multiple channels and disparate systems, the report held. Agent patience is waning from lack of access to data they need to serve the member from traditional calls as well as an influx of inquiries from newer self-service channels.

An excerpt from the study shed light on some issues: Lack of systems integration, even to CRM systems in some cases continues as a major hurdle for many credit unions. "In a recent conversation with one institution, the head of retail operations admitted that agents are often performing 'cold handoffs' with no insight into the holistic member relationship or interaction history. Another credit union revealed that it has processes in place for capturing inbound inquiries, using call codes documented on a form, but that data isn't shared with any other systems, and there are no controls in place for escalating an issue if not resolved on first contact."

Key findings from the survey include:

• Credit union professionals reported inbound calling, email inbound, email outbound, IVR/telebanking and outbound calling are the top five channels supported by their call centers; followed by U.S. mail, web chat, social media, IVR opt-out, mobile chat, automated calling, mobile call back, secure messaging, interactive video and online inquiry, respectively.
• While speed of service delivery has an enormous impact on the member experience, most agents don't have fast, easy access to the insights they need to do their job. Almost 80% of respondents do not have single sign-on capabilities to access different data sources/systems.
• Even though the call center is the front line at most credit unions, (the majority of) institutions are not engaging agents in CRM.
• Credit unions are not tracking first-call resolution rates, a top measure of contact center effectiveness and key driver of customer satisfaction.
• Most credit unions have instituted sales and service incentive plans for agents, but aren't equipping them with the tools for needs-based selling.
• Expect increases in call center staffing (as projected each year for the past three years).

"Some progress is being made in the credit union call center—more institutions than in previous years are popping member profiles and offering agents easier access to information," Tina Baker, CEO, KIVA Group said. "However, the findings of this survey show that credit unions still have a long way to go in optimizing the agent desktop and engaging the contact center in CRM. The persistent, underlying problem is lack of systems integration."