<p>The power of UC-enabled self-service applications is very attractive to consumers who want to do things by themselves as much as possible. This was reflected in a recent market study by Frost &amp; Sullivan analysts, showing that "65% of consumers are now demanding self-service options around the clock." That should not be a big surprise, because who really wants to wait to talk to someone first before looking at information or performing a business transaction? It also drove consumers to buy their own home PCs to access web portals and exploit email communications with people and online self-service applications.</p><p>However, mobility based on the huge adoption of multi-modal smartphones and tablets has opened up the customer service arena to greater complexity, both for the customers and for the customer service staff. This is especially true for self-service applications and "mobile apps" which, if not carefully designed, could lead to consumer frustration and increased contacts for live assistance.</p><p>The point is that customers may not be just calling for business issues, but just need help in using the self-service applications that are more easily accessible from their mobile devices. This help may be in the form of walking the customer through the online application procedure or fixing some parameters on the application. This will be applicable for both business applications as well as for communication applications.UC-enabled "Click-for-Assistance" Ideal for Mobile Users</p><p>One of the virtues of UC-enablement for online applications is that it facilitates access to live assistance. However, that access is not necessarily instantly accomplished, nor is it necessarily required. A recent study by Adcom Group for Virtual Hold Technology focused on financial services and consumer needs for assistance while using mobile self-service applications.</p><p><a href="http://blog.ucstrategies.com/index.php/2013/01/18/284/">Keep reading...</a></p>