Photo source: Interactive Powers

Digital Channels and Phone Channel: Breaking Down the Real-Time Barrier.

In the era of hyperconnectivity, the concept of “Omnichannel” promises seamless experiences across multiple communication channels: phone calls, video conferences, instant messaging, and real-time chats. However, in practice, this promise faces a paradox: organizations have a wide variety of tools, but they often operate in isolation. This fragmentation compromises operational efficiency and customer experience.

The Omnichannel paradox lies not in the absence of technology, but in the lack of effective integration. Companies have modern Contact Center systems with ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) and PBX (Private Branch Exchange) capabilities, along with modern video conferencing solutions like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom, as well as messaging channels like WhatsApp Business or various chat systems and social networks. However, these elements often function as independent silos.

The Challenge of Scalability and Interoperability

The main challenge lies in achieving truly unified and coherent operation between these diverse communication channels, which has a significant and direct impact on the operational efficiency of the entire organization. Real-time interoperability remains a fundamental and complex challenge, especially when managing smooth and uninterrupted transfers of voice and video communications between different platforms and technological systems that coexist in the business environment.

This technical limitation also affects the scalability capacity between different interactions, constituting one of the critical and challenging pending issues for modern organizations, regardless of their size, sector, or scope of action. The importance of resolving this limitation is crucial to maintain a successful, consistent, and professional service process, without the need to interrupt or change the option established by the customer.

We can describe some of the flagrant cases that we have all experienced regardless of the organization and its technological advancement. Although in many cases economic capacity may allow for a greater number of channels simultaneously within Omnichannel environments, these situations are common and companies generally consider them as “standard” or “normal” limitations within the field of direct customer service.

Use Cases:

❌ Escalating a Voice Call (telephone) to a video call

There are many business situations where a phone call does not allow for proper identity verification to complete a phone operation. In current Omnichannel Contact Centers, it is not possible to transfer a phone call to a video call without the client having to abandon the voice connection.

Learn more - Remote Viewer

❌ Escalating a WhatsApp conversation (text) to a call or video call

WhatsApp or similar applications offer APIs for Contact Centers, although these do not allow agents to connect by voice or video. We assume you have noticed that all companies that have this type of channel cannot escalate to communication simply with a click to better resolve complex service needs or that require real-time communication.

Learn more - SPLIT WhatsApp

❌ Transferring a video call to a voice call (telephone)

In video chat or video conference systems based on conference rooms, it is not possible to transfer to a telephone service queue or even a video service queue. The reason is that the systems used for this type of communication are not transactional, meaning that the workflow must start and continue in another channel.

Learn more - SPLIT Forward

❌ Escalating a Video Chat (WebRTC) to a voice call (telephone)

If we have initiated an interaction in a web-based or WebRTC environment, current Contact Center platforms are unable to transfer this type of connection to other services to complete support or to resolve with another profile of agents operating in different queues, whether voice or even video.

Learn more - Web Caller

The Interoperability Hub: SPLIT Protocol

To resolve the above situations while maintaining existing operating systems and channels, it is necessary to incorporate a new concept of connectivity and interoperability compatible with current standards. For this, we have developed a hybrid protocol called SPLIT that unifies standard SIP capabilities —present in most Omnichannel Contact Center environments, especially in their telephone channel— with the de facto standard for browsers: WebRTC. Once the ability to connect both telephone and digital interactions is established, we have developed specific modes that integrate all the above scenarios to operate with the same Omnichannel Contact Center agents.

Unlike silo video conferencing or video call solutions, we understand these connections as part of a transactional whole and not as a particularity of one environment or another. This makes it possible for the same agents to work continuously and resolve service processes in a continuous and complete manner. In this way, the experience for the end customer is incredibly more satisfactory, and for the company, it is more efficient and faster.

Operating Modes:

✅ SPLIT Forward

Allows distribution and routing of incoming video calls with the same effectiveness as telephone calls.

✅ SPLIT Reverse

Allows connecting an outbound video call between a user and a contact center agent instantly.

✅ SPLIT Scheduled

Allows connecting a video call in a scheduled manner, setting day and time with a security token.

✅ SPLIT WhatsApp

Allows escalating a WhatsApp conversation from text to a VoIP call or video call.

✅ SPLIT Copilot AI

Allows adding an AI agent to a video call to perform agent monitoring and assistance tasks.

✅ SPLIT Deaf Interpreter

Allows implementing sign language interpretation services for deaf people in telephone services.

Once SPLIT is configured as a central Hub, traditional interconnection barriers are eliminated, and a range of possibilities opens up for scaling conversations between previously isolated communication channels. This fluid transition represents a significant advance in business communications management, allowing for a truly continuous omnichannel experience. Most notably, this transformation does not require a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure: current systems remain virtually unchanged, as our solution is implemented through cloud connectivity, avoiding the need for complex and costly API developments.

Streamline your Business Communications

If your organization faces similar challenges in managing omnichannel communications and would like to explore how SPLIT can help overcome them, we invite you to contact our team of experts. Our team will be happy to help you analyze your specific needs to transform your customer service strategy, improving both operational efficiency and end-user experience.

Have questions? Drop us a message — We’d love to hear your feedback!

Interactive Powers - Streamline your business communications