A recent survey conducted by the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) suggests that, in future, financial services contact centres will do more than just answer telephone calls.

LIMRA asked call centre executives from 46 different financial services companies about how they see their business changing, and they predicted that within five years communication by phone will decrease while the use of online chat, email, and social media will all increase.

"While the phone will remain a primary channel, 92% of executives predict that contact center phone usage will decrease in the future," notes LIMRA. "Nine out of ten executives predict online chat to increase while 69% see gains in email usage and 62% say social media will increase in the next five years."

In addition, 70% of survey respondents said they think inquires will become increasingly complex, and many also expect call centre agents to generate more revenue; 60% of the executives anticipate that agents will do more cross-selling, up-selling, and engage in more direct selling five years from now.