We all have a lot of virtual conversations these days. And we are recording these conversations, making this data one of the most valuable resources for our business. This data has quickly become a gold mine for companies in a short period.

Not even two years ago, collecting this data was something few companies did. Nowadays, every business is collecting this data. In fact, conversation data is exploding these days. And it is becoming more complex to manage this data by the day. Organizing and collating conversation data and creating a single source of truth have become a headache for most companies.

Though managing this data looks daunting, creating a single source of truth is essential for every business. Why? Because siloed conversation data often makes it challenging for businesses to get value from their conversational data.

Also, disparate tools and data sprawl make it nearly impossible to find these conversations and extract insights from them. This, in turn, makes it crucial for businesses to collate all their conversations across multiple channels in a single platform to get value from it. With that in mind, given below is how to create one source of truth and how this can help you leverage conversational data better.

What Is a Single Source of Truth (SSOT)?

A single source of truth (SSOT) is the practice of aggregating all your conversation data into one easy-to-access repository. The idea behind a centralized repository is that everyone in the company can access this crucial conversation data. And be able to extract any information seamlessly.

We all have many virtual conversations these days, from connecting with team members to clients to candidates. And we use many video conferencing platforms to conduct these virtual conversations. To be exact, 62% of companies use three or more video calling platforms to conduct these meetings. But do you know that individuals have spent more than 5.5 billion minutes in virtual meetings in the last two years? And on average, an American spends eight hours weekly in virtual meetings (=50 days a year)?

Currently, this conversation data lives across many disconnected channels, each with its own separate APIs and data structures - siloed off from the other channels and the rest of a business’ data. And this makes it extremely tough for companies to leverage their conversational data. But businesses can easily unlock their conversational data pool and get numerous benefits by creating a single repository of these conversations.  

In short, SSOT means bringing all your conversation data to a single location.

Why Is a Single Source of Truth Important?

Most business conversations are happening through virtual meetings these days. Businesses that create a single repository will be able to leverage their meeting recordings and get value from them - making it crucial to build a single repository for all these conversations.

Having a single source of truth for what is discussed and agreed upon in these meetings creates transparency in reporting. That means no more going back and forth on what is agreed upon and the timeline. It is a more effective way of managing your remote teams and getting the work done, which, in turn, means higher quality results in less time.  

Also, having a single repository of all these meetings can make searching and consuming the information hidden inside these conversations easier for everyone in your company. And this will ensure that the information shared in these conversations will not stay locked away where it is too tedious to unearth.

Remember, at the end of the day, the value of conversational data is driven not by the data itself but instead by how you will be able to leverage it. Creating a single repository of this data is the first step toward that goal.

How Siloed Conversation Data Can Hurt Your Business?

In this remote-first world, having access to all the information is essential for your employees to remain on the same page and do their work effectively. A siloed conversation data makes it challenging for the team to collaborate effectively. Also, siloed data makes it tough for businesses to deliver a flawless customer experience.  

Wondering how?

Well, to deliver a great customer experience, you need deep customer insights. And to get these insights, most businesses are collecting all sorts of consumer data - from behavioral to transactional to demographic data. But most of them are missing one crucial piece of the customer data puzzle: conversational data. They are not leveraging this data as it is getting lost in siloes.  

The problem with leaving conversational data out of the mix is that all the information your customer is giving you directly from their mouth is being left out of the equation. This then leaves brands in a precarious position where they do not exactly know what their customers want and are forced to offer customers something they do not wish for or want - leading to an experience gap.

Related Read: How Live Conversations Are Helping Researchers Make Better Business Decisions.

So, What Do Businesses Need to Leverage Conversational Data?

1. Single Source of Truth

We are all collecting conversation data these days, but collecting data alone is not sufficient to get value from conversations. If your data resides everywhere, it is harder to utilize these conversations. And that is where a single source of truth can help businesses.

By bringing all your conversations under one roof, you can gain real-time insights from these conversations.

So, it is crucial building a single repository of these conversations as it will help businesses utilize this conversation data better and get value from it. How? Let's say you want to get up to date before a follow-up call with a customer - you can easily find the call recording and jump back to old conversations with the customer and check what's been discussed in the past. Having one source of truth will ensure that you can find the information easily and quickly.

Related Read: How a Single Source of Truth Can Help Researchers Drive Reliable and Accurate Insights.

2. Organize Conversations into Collections & Groups

The first step to getting value from your conversational data is to have a central record system for all this data. But you won't be able to find anything from this sea of the conversational data pool if it is not organized.  

So, you need to organize this data into collections and groups. For example, collections based on use case or context, e.g., focus group discussions, qualitative interviews, sales calls, etc., to make browsing and filtering the information from this data super easy.

3. Leverage Conversation Intelligence  

We all know conversational data has exploded in a short time, and it has become an untapped goldmine for businesses. To tap into this data, you need conversation intelligence solutions. - with it, you can evaluate these conversations and derive insights from them. A conversation intelligence platform uses technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing, and (NLP) to analyze virtual conversations and find insights from them.  

With a conversation intelligence platform like Decode, you can collate all your conversation across multiple platforms to get insights into these conversations. Also, you can leverage the power of Emotion AI to understand the intent of these conversations. The platform will not only analyze your conversations but will also capture rich human emotions, feedback, opinions, and insights found in these conversations to drive growth and customer satisfaction.

Wrapping Up: Gain a Competitive Edge with a Single Source of Truth

Over the past two years, the rise of virtual meetings has produced a treasure trove of conversational data. This data has become an untapped goldmine for most businesses - they can use it to gain a complete view of their customers.  

This powerful conversational data holds a lot of potential for businesses and can power various transformational experiences for its customers. But the first thing a business needs to do to leverage this data is to unify this conversational data and create a single source of truth.

Decode can help you create a single source of truth - it acts as the central system of record for all your video and audio conversations, making it seamless to store, manage, and collaborate on your meetings. With Decode, you can import video and audio conversations from platforms like Teams, and Zoom, add structure to these recordings, and organize them into collections based on context and use case.

This gives your employees the flexibility to view meetings they may have missed, collaborate easily, and unlock the knowledge from these conversations. For example, with the power of conversation intelligence, you can identify the winning behaviors of your top researchers from your user research conversations. And can replicate them across the team to boost performance and revenue.

With all your conversational data pool in a single place, there are countless opportunities to unlock and utilize your conversation data. Also, a single source of truth guarantees that everyone in the organization has access to the same information. So, don't forget to forge a single source of truth.  

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