Overview
EN ISO 18295-2:2017 (ISO 18295-2:2017) defines requirements for clients using customer contact centres (CCCs). It is the client-focused part of the ISO 18295 family and complements ISO 18295‑1, which sets requirements for the operation of CCCs themselves. The standard applies to clients across all sectors and sizes - both in‑house (captive) and outsourced (third‑party) contact centres - and across multiple contact channels, including voice and non‑voice media.
Key Topics and Requirements
The standard establishes what client organisations must do to ensure CCCs can deliver a consistent, positive customer experience. Major technical topics include:
- Client responsibilities for CCC service provisioning (defining needs, desired experience, resources and competencies).
- Customer experience strategy and the translation of brand promise into CCC operations.
- Identifying customer needs: accessibility, language, time zones, channel preferences, complexity and vulnerability considerations.
- Customer access and contact strategy: selecting appropriate channels and ensuring accessibility for all customers.
- Customer protection and ethical behaviour: privacy, confidentiality, data security and fair treatment.
- Consistency of information across channels and touchpoints.
- Client–CCC relationship management: roles and responsibilities, communication of information, operational processes, forecasting and planning.
- Monitoring and performance: arrangements for monitoring CCC performance, customer feedback and terms of service.
The document requires clients to use a CCC that complies with ISO 18295‑1, ensuring alignment between client expectations and CCC capabilities.
Applications - Who Should Use It
ISO 18295-2:2017 is useful for:
- Customer experience and contact centre managers who design service strategies.
- Procurement and contract teams managing outsourced CCC suppliers.
- Quality, compliance and information-security professionals responsible for protecting customer data and ensuring ethical service.
- Operations planners for forecasting, resource planning and multi‑channel delivery.
- Organisations aiming to standardise customer access, improve service consistency and measure CCC performance.
Practical applications include drafting service requirements for RFPs, setting client-side governance for outsourced providers, designing accessible omni‑channel contact strategies, and defining monitoring and feedback mechanisms.
Related Standards
Keywords: ISO 18295-2:2017, customer contact centres, CCC, client requirements, customer experience, outsourced contact centre, in‑house contact centre, multi‑channel contact, customer data protection.
