At a well-organized call center, the highest quality of service at the lowest costs would require strategic planning. With so many components, people, processes, and technology, it is imperative that right decisions be made when assessing technologies, hiring techniques, staffing logistics, and when dealing with training and certification, orientation, strategic support skills, and technical training.
The professionals at Call Center Kit have brought together in one place all the necessary components to build a world class call center. Items include, but are not limited to:
ACD (automatic call distribution) - a telephone facility which handles incoming calls and manages them based on the order in which the calls were received as well as respective instructions on how to facilitate each call.
Agent performance analytics – quantitative analytics like the number of calls, the length of each call, call made per hours as well as averages across agents. There are also qualitative analytics like fulfilling customer objectives, revenue generated, consumer feedback, and scoring developed by management.
Outbound call optimization / BTTC (best time to call) – systems that help ensure your call center agents are reaching the right party contact and maximizing communication with your most important customers and targets.
Enterprise campaign management – provide a real time connection to the dialer, forwarding batches of records together. Combined with filtering features, real time status information, this system simplifies multiple dialing campaigns.
Outbound predictive dialer - system ensures call center agents reach their right contact. These systems calculate when an agent will become available, and then modify the dialing rate to maximize efficiency. The system improves over time, as it captures and analyzes data.
CRM (customer relationship management) – software or systems that integrate an organization’s employees that regularly interact with customers. The focus of a CRM system is to understand, anticipate and respond to the needs of customers.
CIM (customer interaction management) - an organizational strategy for creating, managing and influencing every customer interaction from simple service calls to transactions.
Voicemail systems - provide an efficient way for all call centers to capture and manage voice messages, including pre-recorded messages.
Chat and web collaboration - technology that provides customers with live assistance via the internet while having a voice conversation or ‘chat’ via an instant messaging system online.
Desktop scripting solutions – a system that allows call center agents to efficiently conduct a customer interaction without navigating through multiple screens and applications while following a script.
Call center outsourcing – business organizations that transfer their call centers overseas, where costs are lower. Outsourcing is a major trend across numerous internal divisions.
TTS (text to speech) – systems that convert text to digital audio allowing the messages to spoken to consumers. TTS is most useful when prerecording is not prudent.
Virtual queuing – systems that provide customers with options as they wait to speak to a call center representative. These systems lead to happier customers, reduced call abandons, and costs.
Voice related technologies:
Voice analysis – systems within call centers that analyze a customer's (or agent's) speech. Managers receive instant feedback regarding the customers (or agent’s) stress levels during the call by generating real-time feedback.
Voice recognition software – allows call centers to offer their customers information by letting the phone system collect caller information and recommending the most appropriate agent to handle specific requests.
Voice recording - records agent and customer conversations to digital format, which can be used for training and to enhance customer service calls.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) –allows call centers with suitable internet connections to operate from almost any location, including working from home. Call centers based on IP land on a call server, allowing for direct coordination between voice call, web session, and host software services.
IVR (interactive voice response) –enables call centers to provide callers with self-help. Callers can talk or use their telephone touch-pad to obtain assistance. This technology allows customers to get assistance whenever they need it, at any time.
CTI (computer telephony integration) – technology that links computers with telephony call answer and routing. Caller information can be used to retrieve and display customer data as the customers contacts the service agent.
Knowledge Management System - business procedures and systems that gather knowledge and analyze data, and deliver it to aide customer service calls real time.
Public switched telephone network (PSTN) - Traditional landline network that mobile wireless systems connect with to complete calls.
International private leased circuit (IPLC) - provide call centers with international, high-speed data transmission services.
Call center jobs & staffing - call centers have substantial recruitment challenges, including a tight labor market, high turnover, and the need for qualified agents and managers, each of whom need to be able to adapt to the changing, and developing, call center industry.
Click here for a Call Center Glossary of Terms
