Firms are investing millions to deploy web based self-services at their call centers primarily to reduce operating costs. The rationale is that the firm’s cost of interacting with customers through web based channel is an order of magnitude cheaper than the assisted channels like telephony....

We develop a model to understand and predict customers’ observed multichannel behavior in a customer support setting. Using individual-level data from a US-based health insurance firm, we model a customer's query frequency and choice of using the telephone or web channel for resolving queries...

Firms are investing millions to deploy web based self-services at their call centers primarily to reduce operating costs. The rationale is that the firm’s cost of interacting with customers through web based channel is an order of magnitude cheaper than the assisted channels like telephony....