Dark Data: There's Light at the End of the Tunnel

While customers are always looking for ways to make their big data more actionable, many neglect to consider "dark data" as part of the equation. A recent Gartner advisory indicates that dark data-internal data typically not accessed for analytical purposes-was viewed as one of the highest rated opportunities for organizations to apply big data technology and concepts. The advisory cited two main reasons for why internal dark data is a good starting point for big data projects:

1. The enterprise already owns the data and it may be easier and/or less costly than accessing external data sources," and

2. "Compared with external sources, the enterprise will be more likely to trust the internal data because it comes from enterprise systems, logs and other enterprise assets."

Simply stated, it's the overlooked data that gathers in archives that few understand what to do with. Even though it rarely sees the light of day, no one feels comfortable deleting it because it might prove valuable at some point.This is validated in research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board, which reveals that of all information in a company, 85 percent is unstructured, and much of it is unusable. In addition, 40 percent of the most valuable information employees create is out of reach, and this share is growing every day.2

One such example of unstructured dark data is audio recordings trapped in contact centers all over the world. In fact, some contact centers record millions of interactions every month. Plus, many end up stored in archives "just in case" they're needed in the future. The trouble with this approach is that many also contain rich, valuable data that can help drive tangible business results.The challenges: Where do you find this valuable data and how do you analyze it effectively? Is there a shining light at the end of the dark data tunnel? When you look at unstructured voice, video and text interactions, is there a way to make big data actionable after all?

There is one answer gaining attention and addressing these industry-wide concerns-Voice of the Customer (VoC) Analytics. For one of the oldest life insurance companies in America, VoC Analytics has helped with querying and drawing conclusions from spoken data. One goal for the organization is to cut down on repeat calls. With analytics software in place, the company has already pointed to several instances that keep customers calling back-and is then able to tackle the root cause of those problems.

For this prominent organization, its main and future focus will be to educate the customer on the importance of insurance using a consultative business approach.This company is not the only one exploring ways to make big data actionable. Another example comes from a leading global payments provider, delivering end-to-end payment processing services to more than one million merchants in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company handles every aspect of the acquiring relationship, including transaction processing, risk and underwriting, settlement, equipment deployment, chargeback management, reporting and customer service.It leverages VoC Analytics to access recorded customer service calls.

The solution reveals calls containing words and phrases that the company has identified as warning signs of potential customer defections. Of the 10,000 calls one center receives each day, about 2,000 could be construed as being ‘at risk' in some way. The company sorts this group by revenue, and the highest value customers go right to the top of the list. They can then conduct a proactive outreach to these merchants to discuss their issues and how the company can assist them.

Every enterprise accumulates dark data. This is unstructured data that companies end up stockpiling unintentionally-because it's everywhere! Contact centers are a case in point. Virtually any vertical market records phone calls and other critical customer interactions, and therefore they have the potential to uncover dark data. Organizations simply generate far more data than they can currently exploit.

Finding insight in these mostly ignored data sources is important. According to a report in Forbes, "Organizations that treat idle information, or so-called "dark data," as anything less than having potential economic benefit will find themselves at increased competitive disadvantage." Author Jasmina Siderovski states, "The light at the end of the tunnel may be dark, it's up to you to make it brighter-you have to help yourself and your goals first." Maybe a starting point is the right analytical tools to illuminate what's really happening in your organization.