The bookby Matt Smallman

Unlock Your Call Centre

A proven way to upgrade security, efficiency and caller experience

Paperback, 298 pages, ISBN 978-1781336663. Also available as an ebook.

Or read a free chapter first

Insightful, well written and full of actionable advice ... a must read for anyone in the contact centre industry.

VP Security
Unlock Your Call Centre book cover

Reviews

What readers say

A must read for anyone in the contact center industry!

Insightful, well written, and full of actionable advice, Matt Smallman's book is a must read for anyone in the contact center industry. The book charts a path to transition a contact center from inefficient and insecure security methods to a modern approach that improves the customer experience while blocking fraudsters. I've learned a lot from reading 'Unlock Your Call Centre' and I've been in the industry for 20 years!

VP Security - Canada

Brilliant roadmap to improve contact centre operations

A wonderful book that provides an approachable introduction for anyone new to the contact centre security space. Smallman’s tools and diagrams provide a valuable resource for anyone who is looking for an unbiased reference and a roadmap about how to improve contact centre operations.

Marketing Director - UK

Practical, real-world approaches to contact center security and authentication

A remarkable book that presents clear solutions to the challenges companies face when authenticating customers. Contact center security methods are often mundane and frustrating for customers. This book provides history and context in the evolution of customer service authentication and how usability and efficiency are often at odds with security and fraud prevention.

Smallman's years of real-world contact center management is clearly displayed in tips for developing visualization tools for understanding performance and processes, and practical advice for building the business case. This well-organized and highly readable book is a primer for any organisation looking to maximize the business benefits of customer-focused authentication and modern security methods.

Research Director - SF Bay Area

Readers

Who is it for?

  • Call Centre Leaders

    Are you frustrated by how much time your agents spend on the security process and how fraudsters still get through while your customers can't?

  • Customer Experience Professionals

    Is the security process hurting your customer experience, preventing agents from building relationships and really listening to your customers?

  • Fraud and Risk Specialists

    Do fraudsters compromise your call-centre security processes with ease? Are you looking for a way to stop them?

  • Technologists

    Do you understand how to implement modern technologies that can dramatically improve your call centre's security process?

Content

What will you learn?

  • Understand the opportunity

    Unique tools to assess and visualise your current security processes performance.

  • Plan with ease

    Step-by-step guide to choosing the most appropriate modern security methods for your unique context.

  • Make a compelling case

    Easy to follow rational and emotional case for change with top tips to help convince your stakeholders.

  • Accelerate Design

    Tried and tested best practice processes to use as a template.

  • Implement with confidence

    Crawl-walk-run implementation plan that will help you launch quickly and safely.

  • Deliver results

    Proven value-chain methodology to track, sustain and improve performance.

Author

Who is the author?

Matt Smallman led call centre, strategy and change teams at two of the UK's largest retail banks, seeing first-hand the impact of traditional security processes on every dimension of call-centre performance. In 2012 he designed and led the award-winning implementation of Voice Biometrics for the UK's largest wealth manager. For the first time, customers were able to access their accounts, authenticated only by their voice as they talked to an agent. Customers, agents and the bank's bottom line all benefited.

Five years later, frustrated that so many customers were still receiving poor security experiences, he founded SymNex Consulting to help organisations bridge the gap between the potential of modern security and the realities of their call centres. At SymNex, he has led the design and implementation of modern security processes for several of the most customer-centric brands in North America and Europe. Today, tens of millions of their customers receive quicker, easier and more secure call centre experiences as a result. He has been featured by the BBC, FT, and Wall Street Journal.

Matt Smallman, chin resting on his hand

Or buy now at Amazon.

Video

What does the author say?

Reviews

What do your peers think?

A Much Needed Primer on Practical Security Measures for Customer Care Contact Centers

Matt Smallman provides an easy-to-understand description of the sorts of modern authentication techniques that every company should be deploying. Every one of us - meaning us poor souls who have been asked by our cable company, bank, insurance company or healthcare provider to remember a password, PIN or answer to a questions we may have provided years go - has been annoyed by the time and effort it takes to get to the actual purpose of the call.

The author is very systematic in his approach to dissecting the problems that companies have created for themselves and their customers. Then he describes, in detail, the alternatives to today's approaches and describes the steps companies should take to put them into practice. He takes an approach that takes into account both customer experience considerations and security requirements. Using his guidelines, businesses of all sizes and across many verticals will be able to implement technological solutions that promote speedy and strong authentication.

Industry Veteran - New York

An essential guide for anyone looking to better understand and improve their Contact Centre

An excellent book and provides an incredibly valuable set of tools and thought processes.

The author’s experience and clarity of thought really shines through as he explains some really complex ideas in a clear and concise manner. I have personally found the way the book presents and analyses these concepts really helpful when managing stakeholders. The summary sections and case studies have also really helped to embed my understanding.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to improve the customer outcomes, security and efficiency of their contact centre operations.

Contact Centre Program Manager - Big 4 Bank UK

A must-read for anyone who cares about call center security.

Unlock Your Call Centre is a must-read for anyone involved with call center management, telephone technology, or risk compliance. Until you read this book, you won’t know what you don’t know (and I’m not talking about all those forgotten PINs and passwords). Matt’s book is an easy-to-read, comprehensive guide to understanding and implementing modern call center security that everyone should keep handy.

CEO - Switzerland

Clear, concise, critical context and roadmap for your business

A clear, accessible, and deeply useful book on a topic that can be, at times, very complex. Speed to resolution, confidentiality, and data security are three non-negotiable expectations of your customer support journeys.

Smallman outlines the challenges and opportunities within that critical context and provides a roadmap for organisations to level-up and modernize their security methods. This is a timely primer for anyone new to the security and authentication space and an invaluable resource for making the case to improve your current solutions, there's something in here for every part of your org. What I most appreciate, the book never loses sight of the customer perspective, their journey and relationship to your business remains at the heart of the book's tenets and recommendations.

Program Manager - Pacific NW

Content

What is inside?

Part One: Why Security Matters

  1. Fundamentals
  2. Usability
  3. Efficiency
  4. Security
  5. Tradition And Transition

Part Two: Modern Call-Centre Security

  1. Introducing Modern Security
  2. Understanding Current Performance
  3. Understanding Context
  4. Planning And Mixing Methods
  5. Making The Case

Part Three: Implementing Modern Security

  1. A Balancing Act
  2. Designing For Voice Biometrics
  3. Designing For Network Data
  4. Implementation
  5. Optimisation
Exhibit 1Every call-centre security process is built from the same five decisions
The five security stepsFive decision points, in order: 1, Automated ID; 2, Automated Auth; 3, Manual ID; 4, Manual Auth; 5, Self-service.AutomatedManualAutomatedID1AutomatedAuth2Manual ID3Manual Auth4Self-service5The five security stepsFive decision points, in order: 1, Automated ID; 2, Automated Auth; 3, Manual ID; 4, Manual Auth; 5, Self-service.AutomatedManualAutomated ID1Automated Auth2Manual ID3Manual Auth4Self-service5

Source: Unlock Your Call Centre, Matt Smallman, Chapter 7

Or buy now at Amazon.