We are officially in 2018 (I know, I can't believe it either). With every click, swipe, or share, today's customer generates mountains of data – data that can help support teams provide quick, efficient and personalized service. The problem? Much of this data still lives in silos rendering it pretty useless in the grand scheme of things and making it feel like customer support never left the pre-internet age of the 1990s.

Most CRMs don't talk to ticketing platforms which don't talk to self-service portals. Forcing agents to hop between systems on the fly slows down the support process, frustrating customers who demand speed and personalization. Like beanie babies, boy bands, and dial-up, siloed customer support needs to fade out.

If you aren't quite there yet, here are a few tips to help blast you into 2018 with your customer support software.

Connect to your self-service portal

The modern customer may be impatient, but they're not unreasonable. By the time they've contacted support, more than 80 percent have tried helping themselves. It's no surprise then that they expect help fast when they finally call in.

Connecting self-service portals to other customer support software such as the CRM, allow agents to see what customers have already tried and avoid redundant conversations. And with robust remote support tools, agents can detect the neediest customers, get permission to access their device, and save them by easily resolving the issues for them.

Optimize for mobile support

Recent research suggests that nearly 90 percent of customers have had negative experiences seeking help on mobile. This number is crazy—but it's also great news for teams looking to showcase their support savvy. Revamp Web 1.0 support sites to be responsive, add embedded support and live chat to apps, and make sure your support software allows for device screen sharing, so agents can see what the issue is, in real-time.

Put it all in one place

Having all available information about a customer is great, but it won't help anyone unless it's easily accessible. Integrating customer information into a single view dashboard -whether that's in your CRM, ticketing system or through a customer engagement platform -helps agents quickly understand who the customer is, what product or service they have, and what they may be calling about, allowing for quick and confident troubleshooting customers will appreciate.

Feeling a bit stuck? Learn how you can catapult your support into the 21st century with a free trial of Rescue.