Beyond the Inbox and the Phone: The Rise of Alternative Channels in Customer Service

The customer service landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and the businesses that embrace this shift are positioning themselves for stronger engagement, efficiency, and loyalty.

Live Chat and Chatbots: Speed Meets Scale

Live chat has grown from a novelty to a customer service staple. Many customers now prefer chat to voice because it offers real-time support without the formality of a phone call. It’s also less disruptive as users can multitask while chatting making it especially popular among younger demographics.

Alongside human agents, AI-powered chatbots are now handling thousands of routine queries with remarkable accuracy. These bots can answer FAQs, direct customers to resources, or escalate more complex issues to human agents. Businesses benefit from reduced wait times, while agents are freed to focus on higher-value tasks. According to a 2024 report by Zendesk, companies using chatbots alongside human agents saw a 35% reduction in first response times.

Messaging Apps: Meeting Customers Where They Are

Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple Messages for Business have become central to everyday personal communication  and customer service is following suit. These channels offer the familiarity and convenience of texting, with the added advantage of asynchronous support. Customers can start a conversation, step away, and return without losing context.

Businesses are increasingly embedding messaging within their apps or websites, offering “click to message” options. Messaging channels also support rich media, such as screenshots or location sharing, which helps agents diagnose and resolve issues faster.

Social Media: Public, Fast-Paced, and High-Stakes

Platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok are not just for marketing but as active support hubs. Customers often turn to social media to ask questions or vent frustrations. The public nature of these interactions adds urgency, and businesses that respond quickly and constructively can build positive visibility.

Social media also serves as a critical feedback loop. Monitoring mentions and comments gives brands real-time insight into sentiment, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement. Tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite help teams manage social inquiries at scale and maintain a consistent tone.

Self-Service: Empowering the Customer

Perhaps the most overlooked channel is no channel at all; self-service. Today’s customers expect to find answers themselves before reaching out. Well-structured knowledge bases, interactive FAQs, and video tutorials can drastically reduce inbound volumes while improving satisfaction.

Companies like Airbnb and Monzo have built entire support ecosystems around self-service, empowering users to resolve issues without agent intervention. The key is ensuring these tools are intuitive, up-to-date, and easy to search.

The Omnichannel Imperative

As alternative channels proliferate, the challenge isn’t just offering them it’s about integrating them. Customers expect seamless transitions across platforms: start a chat on a website, continue via SMS, and escalate via email without repeating information. An effective omnichannel strategy requires unified systems, shared customer histories, and a clear escalation path.

The future of customer service isn’t a single channel, but a blend of touchpoints tailored to context, urgency, and preference. While voice and email still have their place, businesses that expand their channel mix,  and do so thoughtfully and with the customer in mind will be best placed to meet modern customer expectations.

Colin Stokes, Managing Director, adiuvo