A call center is a telephone service that responds to customer issues, provides information, or updates information. A call center can be designed to take incoming calls, make outgoing calls, and respond to inquiries via email, chat, or fax. Agents can work from a centralized location or from many different locations. Customers may be internal to the same organization or outside of the organization. It may operate 24x7x365, or on a specific schedule that accommodates customer needs.
Read the following for answers to your most common call center questions.
Not all call centers rely on technology to receive and direct incoming telephone calls. In some cases, simple instructions on any telephone system may be suited for call centers that handle a consistent or predictable amount of calls from customers.
Call center technology, also known as Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), can direct calls by criteria such as time of day, day of the week, number of calls that are connected, number of calls on hold, and the number of agents available to take a call. Calls can also be redirected to other locations in the event of a disaster or a primary location is impacted by an interruption of service. An ACD can also generate reports that summarize the call center workload and the performance of agents.
An ACD group begins with an understanding of the types of services being delivered to callers, and how to manage the main number from which to receive, direct, and trigger events. Once this is established, the agents who will answer the calls are identified. The agent can use a desk phone or a soft client to access the ACD technology and log on. The agents can use their phones to tell the ACD they are "Available" or "Unavailable" to take a call, in "Work" mode when completing paperwork as a result of a call, or in "Do Not Disturb" mode when in non-call-related work such as a meeting.
Call treatments can vary by the time of day, day of the week, or holiday schedule, with unique call routing for each. Treatments used include:
Managers can expect to receive all the critical functional areas of today's call centers, including:
IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. This technology allows a caller to enter an account number (employee ID, social security number, policy number, etc.) along with a password in order to retrieve information from a data source without speaking to a live agent. IVRs meet business needs by operating 24x7x365 and delivering consistent, accurate information in a relatively quick amount of time. IVRs nicely augment web access by giving callers the option of how they would like to receive information. IVRs work best when processes are routine and repeatable without failure.
IVRs can also be programmed to make decisions based on information received or requested. These applications tend to be more complex, but the benefits can be significant where call volumes are consistently high or where additions to staff are not possible. While this service is available through IT Services, it is a project that may take 3–9 months for implementation.
IT Services is committed to insuring that the call center manager is equipped with the necessary tools to redirect incoming customer calls to an alternate destination on demand. An alternate destination may be a different location, a different telephone number, or a unique emergency greeting. Each call center will be equipped to offer both Mobility and Unity Connection with some simple training.
For more information about this service or its features, please contact IT Services.