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The rapid rise of technology advancements is taking the banking world by storm and streamlining consumer experience. Contactless payment options, mobile finance apps, and even cryptocurrency compatibility are helping consumers simplify their banking processes.
Consumers are now expecting this modernization throughout all their financial institution interactions, from scheduling appointments online to verifying their identification with the tap of a button.
With 60% of U.S. consumers preferring automated self-service options, financial institutions must start adopting the most modern technology available. This includes sleek mobile banking apps, online chatbots, self-service kiosks, digital identification verification, electronic appointment bookings, and more.
Along with reducing wait times and freeing employees to focus on important matters, consumers are enjoying (and demanding) more control over their financial interactions via self-service technology.
Automated appointment scheduling software is beneficial for financial consumers in many ways – and may even get them involved in offerings and services they may not have known about otherwise.
What Does Scheduling Software Do?
Essentially, appointment scheduling and lobby management software is an automated way to control, manage, and view insights on your consumer bookings. Additional advantages include employee and location management, a secure infrastructure, and automated reporting.
Appointment Scheduling
Automating your appointment booking system is beneficial for both employees and consumers. When consumers book and manage their own appointments, employee time is freed, allowing them to focus on more important matters and enhancing consumer experience.
Consumers can choose their specific day, time, location, request type, desired service, specific staff member, and even the spoken language of their appointment. This is all done by the consumer before they walk through the doors or claim a phone line, streamlining the booking process on both ends.
Automated booking also eliminates possibility for human error, such as double bookings or mistakes in recording information such as consumer name, contact information, and correct dates/ times. Consumers and financial institutions can also receive email alerts and calendar invites automatically regarding upcoming appointments.
Some financial institutions may even consider predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration, which can trigger future appointments automatically when a consumer books an initial visit. For example, a mortgage application appointment can trigger future appointments for appraisals and signings automatically, keeping both the consumer and financial institution on track.
Employee Management
Automated booking software can also provide curated reports in real time containing data and analytics on your financial institution. View stats on any specific location, appointment type, or even employee at the touch of a button.
Appointment booking reporting is helpful in advising strategic decisions for the future of a financial institution. You can identify important patterns, manage and set KPIs, pinpoint any gaps in employee knowledge, and more.
Desktop Alerts
Desktop notifications for employees can be setup to alert your team members when wait times in the lobby are longer than the predetermined time set, allowing for readjustments in operations to improve consumer experience in real time.
Kiosk for Self Check-In
Self check-in kiosks are simple for consumers to operate and eliminates any extra time or confusion spent with employees before their appointment begins. Here, consumers can check in, which can notify employees of their arrival via desktop notification, email, etc., making it easier to identify no-shows or late arrivals with just a glance at your screen.
Kiosks can also keep consumers alert about their wait times.
Safe & Secure Infrastructure
Some appointment booking software is built via cloud-based infrastructure, which maintains a 99.9% uptime and offers the most advanced load balancers and server deployment available to date.
With safety and security at the forefront of financial technology, strong security is an important feature of a financial institution’s scheduling software.
Location Management
Banks and credit unions may have several locations, which automated booking systems can handle seamlessly. If you have many locations and multiple time zones, automated scheduling software allows financial institution teams to jump easily between locations without causing disruptions in accuracy.
Intuitive User Interface
The high demand for self-service options by consumers comes with high expectations. An intuitive user interface is imperative for smooth interactions between financial institutions and consumers.
Skills Based Routing
Consumers expect to be sent to the proper person for their appointment needs. With skills based routing, automated appointment schedulers can pull from their analytics and know exactly know who to send a consumer to based on their needs.
This eliminates any bouncing around of a consumer between different employees and brings them directly to the specialist that meets their needs, creating a smooth experience.
Outlook Integration
Automated appointment scheduling software can help financial institutions utilize real-time availability of their staff to create a seamless experience for in person or virtual meetings, improving organizational efficiencies.
Delivering Effortless Banking Experiences
Automated appointment scheduling software can provide better experience for both consumer and financial institution employees by allowing for more streamlined systems, valuable customer insights, easy adoption, and managing visitor traffic in real-time.
Financial institutions must keep up with the growing demand for modern and self-service technology if they wish to compete in the financial space. Consumers are increasingly expecting high-quality experiences at their banks and credit unions, akin to their experiences in other businesses that are adopting modern technology.
Appointment booking software can be implemented in just days, with extremely short onboarding times. Getting employees acquainted with the software in just minutes means your financial institution can be up and running in no time, improving consumer experience and easing the burden of manual appointment management.
How to Implement a Scheduling Solution
Discover best practices and learn what to look for when choosing an appointment management solution for your financial institution in this appointment management webinar, available on demand. Explore multiple user perspectives and end with a quick dive into a demonstration of what consumers and staff will see when booking through an automated appointment scheduler.
FTSI is here as a resource for your financial technology needs. If you are looking to learn more on how appointment booking software can benefit your financial institution, schedule a discovery call or request a demo with our team.