You might think after looking at the title that I’m on some type of crazy pills, or just didn’t have my second cup of coffee. (If you’re thinking it’s the coffee, you’re right.)

At first glance, you may have two questions come to mind:

• Isn’t customer service supposed to be by and for those brave souls willing to go back to a company and ask a question or has an issue that has to be addressed?; and
• Isn’t this controlled by customers?

Yes and no.

The goal is the same–solve the customer issue at hand. However, there is a difference in who is controlling the interaction: the company or the consumer. Traditionally, customers have been driven to only call a customer service line, send an email, or just peruse Frequently Asked Questions on a company Web site. There was not really a choice–customers reached out for help the way they were told.

Michael Maoz, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst told me back in March that “we’re forcing the customer into the process of our choice, as opposed to letting them have the process launch from the channel at the time of their choice.”

Those days appear to be coming to a close. The advent–and consumer adoption–of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs (like this one), chat, discussion boards, forums, and videos are in a sense forcing companies’ hands. In speaking with Rob Bois, research director for AMR Research, about today’s story on RightNow Technologies’ August ‘08 release, Web 2.0 is here to stay. “The consumer generation is demanding more and more technology to be incorporated in how they’re serviced,” he said. “You have to provide multiple channels for your customers that may vary by demographic, generation, geography, or culture.”

But how quickly will customers be able to fully take the reins and truly dictate the interaction? Maoz predicted it will take two or three years before we see more companies able to really deliver on tightly integrated, multimodal communication–including chat, email, kiosk, phone, etc.

Bois didn’t give a timeframe, but also maintained this is still a process for many organizations that vendors need to help guide along. “A lot of companies recognize that they need to look at some of these Web 2.0 technologies, but don’t know where they’re going to apply,” he said. “[Businesses] don’t really understand where it’s going to come from, or who is going to own it. By packaging [Web 2.0 capabilities] within the solution, RightNow solves a lot of those problems.”

It seems to be a logical progression–and surefire way to at least start the customer interaction off on a positive note–to give consumers the choice of preferred contact. With increasing economic competition and price commoditization, customer service just might be one of the last uninhabitated planets of differentiation.