Omnichannel is the new buzzword in the customer service industry, and everyone is trying to get a piece of the action. However, is this hype real, and do you need to become the next expert in it? In layman’s terms, an omnichannel solution integrates all your customer service channels in one place to maintain context and end siloed conversations.

In the past few years, companies have become significantly more interdependent—users share passwords, and systems use backend technologies operated by third parties. So when hackers breach a company’s security, they often gain access to a wider set of services and information than initially expected.

A whole lot of data comes out of support interactions, enough so that astute support leaders can pull insights, discover trends, and improve how their business serves customers. While the data may only suggest what’s going on with your customers and agents, it’s important to be able to spot trends quickly.

Providing great customer service has always been a challenge, even for the most decorated support agent. Thanks to three factors, this challenge is only growing. First, customer support workflows are growing increasingly complex. Where once it was just a person and a phone, now agents often work with complex, clunky interfaces.

It can be hard to predict, especially in the tech industry, the jobs and skills of tomorrow. Still, it’s possible to build a solid foundation in the meantime—especially for those honing widely applicable skills as front-line support agents. Take it from Leah Guest, whose training ground in Tier 1 support became a jumping-off point for her current position as a Voice of the Customer Platform Coordinator at Zendesk.