Upstream Works Software
Powering Agent Success and Customer Experience

Numerous studies and surveys reveal how customer experience has evolved over the years and are poised to be the key differentiator for companies in the future. Successfully creating seamless interactions and effectively supporting customers lies in providing an omnichannel experience. Doing this requires agents in contact centers to have real-time contextual information about customers across all communication channels.

“As omnichannel moves beyond email and chat, it is difficult for an agent to manage and have the context they need across the different channels, and to address customer needs and provide speedy resolution,” says Rob McDougall, President and CEO of Upstream Works. “Mapping the customer journey is extremely important. While knowing customer details and being aware of their purchases is commonplace, it is also essential to know the customer’s full interaction history in order to respond appropriately and efficiently.” Upstream Works for Finesse (UWF) provides an intuitive, enhanced agent experience by giving agents a complete view of the customer’s journey through the Interaction Activity workspace. This improves productivity and engagement by reducing repeat contacts, shortening handle time, and facilitating responsive and proactive service. “We focus on delivering a great agent experience and optimizing performance to manage and drive an improved customer journey,” he adds.

Partnering with Cisco has helped Upstream Works to create a software solution that connects multiple channels and applications, and presents the information through a single interface for the contact center agent. “We are a native Cisco Finesse application—similar to a browser within a browser that brings all the data and information into one desktop,” adds McDougall. The UWF all-in-one workspace consolidates phone, email, chat, SMS, social media, and every type of communication a customer engages in, whether it’s with a bot or an agent.

The single agent desktop provides an informed experience, empowering agents with a complete overview, full visibility, and context—including all previous interactions. “We measure First Contact Resolution (FCR) and Agent Solve Rates across all channels, allowing contact centers to enhance processes, improve agent training, and gain overall business intelligence,” he explains.

Our focus is omnichannel engagement that provides agents with the tools and information they need to deliver an exceptional customer experience

With the increased use of chatbots and interactive voice response (IVR), customers resort to direct interaction with agents only for complex tasks. Given that complex issues demand sound understanding and a skilled workforce, UWF bridges the knowledge gap by offering knowledge management through agent collaboration, team communication, and knowledge sharing to simplify the process of handling intricate issues.

Most businesses continue to rely on legacy applications, which are difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to replace, and also fail to achieve the intended ROI. Instead of requiring outdated systems to be replaced, UWF leverages them, optimizing and automating them, blending them into the environment for a seamless omnichannel experience.

There is a growing demand across industries for intuitive, flexible CX solutions. Online retailer Origami Owl approached Upstream Works, seeking to improve their customer experience. UWF was implemented to streamline customer interactions on phone and email. The solution reduced wait times by 97 percent, transaction costs by 35 percent and simultaneously led to significant productivity gains. A premium automotive software service provider, Mitchell 1 chose UWF for its phone and email capabilities. The solution improved their CX engagement and average speed of answer by 66 percent and reduced abandoned calls by 80 percent.

Continuously innovating, Upstream Works recently added a knowledge component to its solution and aims to continue improving customer experience with the aid of AI and bots. With a stronghold in the US and Canada, the company has expanded into the European market to better serve the growing demand for customer experience solutions.