Banks’ telephone customer has a long way to go, but Jack Henry & Associates is apparently trying to do something about that.

The banking technology company plans to offer banks a service later this year that would have Jack Henry actually answering customer calls for consumers, Bank Innovation has learned.

Jack Henry recently introduced jhaCall software to support the company’s software that FIs use in their existing call centers. Down the line, Jack Henry will widen its focus to handle actual telephone customer service calls for bank customers, Scott Spain, general manager of core solutions at Jack Henry, told Bank Innovation.

Spain explained that Jack Henry’s current priority is to sell the software solution, and this new call responding service would help do just that.

“Our customers want to retain high-touch customer service after hours and on the weekend,” said Susan Geiss, senior director of core operations at Jack Henry.

Geiss said the company’s new product, jhaCall, offers the kind of comprehensive telephone support and customer service that might tackle this challenge. Having Jack Henry field actual customer calls would enhance Jack Henry’s call solutions. For example, using the jhaCall software, a bank could handle call center calls during the day, and JHA could take over the calls after hours. With most (but not all) of the larger banks providing customers with 24/7 telephone customer service, smaller banks are under pressure to do the same.

The increasing complexity of mobile and online offerings has increased the number of people that need to speak with a representative of the bank in order to access account information. With fewer in-branch interactions and the time-lag in getting answers online, the stakes are raised for call centers.

The software tracks calls and reasons for calls, and by presenting a broad array of customer information to the service representative, allows for rich cross-sell opportunities. Cross-selling not only helps the bottom line, but aids in customer retention.

“When banks offer customers products that are useful to them, the relationship and trust is deepened,” Spain said. “Banks need to embrace the [cross-sell] culture.”