All CSRs today are equipped with computers so that they can dig for the information asked for by customers. They read the answers off the screen over the phone to the customers. Then they type into the customer database what happened during the call. With the web, all of this has changed. Companies are giving customers web access to the same screens that the CSRs see.
Customers do their own searches and get their own answers.
What s more, if the company is clever about it, customers can get much more information over the web than they could ever get from a live operator. Companies are putting page after page of technical data, product specifications, descriptions, and details on their web sites with adequate indexing so that any customer or prospect can get all the information they want or need. Once the system is set up, the variable costs are almost nothing. Unfortunately, despite the tremendous advantages of the web, most companies are not there yet. If you call a catalog company, the toll free sales rep can tell you that the item you want is out of stock.