Despite the rise in popularity among different forms of communicating continuing to grow , the phone call remains the preferred method of communication for customers. And it makes sense! The familiarity and immediacy of speaking with another person over the phone allows customers the trust in a brand to execute on a variety of tasks: conducting sensitive financial transactions, discussing medical information, and building brand loyalty.
However, managing these customer calls requires a team of skilled agents working with the best call center solutions to excel. Call center solutions allow big and small companies to provide the most effective customer experience.
What are Call Center Solutions?
Call center solutions are a type of software that connect agents to customers. Each software has different features that are designed to support call centers’ needs and improve customer experience. Call centers also use software that focuses on the entire customer experience by improving all channels (social media, text, email, phone, and live chat).
Call center solutions are necessary if you want to offer the best call center support for your customers. We have created a list of ten call center solutions. Be sure to evaluate whether this software will be the best fit for your business. It can be costly if your team decides you don't need them or you are using software that does not have the property tools to help your team.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
IVR is a technology system that allows customers to communicate with an automated voice menu system. The voice menu guides them to complete actions through voice or keypad input. While it’s helpful to note that users may not prefer listening to automatic menu options, it helps provide necessary information to the agent prior to the agent-customer interaction.
Managing the voice menu to be simple and comprehensive helps route calls and improve customer satisfaction. Some voice menus provide estimated call or wait time, redirection to particular websites or agents, or prompt alternative, call-specific menus.
CRM Integration
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration is an important call center solution for transferring data between software. Instead of manually typing in all relevant information, Customer Telephony Integration (CTI) combines phone systems and databases, allowing customer information to be quickly delivered to agents. Not only does this provide agents with all the details of past calls and customer information, it also prevents customers from having to repeat themselves, which increases call duration and general frustration for the customer.
Automatic Contact Distributor (ACD)
Instead of putting users in a queue while they wait for the next available agent, call center solutions that use automatic contact distributors (ACD) recognize the number customers are using. Ensuring users get directed to representatives who have the correct qualifications to assist them, as well as those who can quickly deploy time sensitive information is imperative to efficient call center operations.. Agents can be quicker at helping customers and creating a better customer experience.
Reporting and Analytics
Planning and managing for future efficiency are nearly impossible without call center metrics. Teams need to record, track, analyze, and create reports to ensure they are efficiently finding issues and opportunities. Some metrics to track include:
- Average call length
- Agent utilization rate
- Call abandonment rate
- Cost per contact
- Customer satisfaction rating
- Speed to answer
- Call transfer rate
Before purchasing or installing software, identify what data is relevant for your company. If you struggle to recognize what you need, Hiya Connect offers self-serve executive dashboards and daily analytical updates that provide you with actionable insights to improve your business.
Omnichannel Support
Call center solutions often support customers through multiple communication channels (like social media, email, text, or live chat). Omnichannel support allows you to connect multiple channels and integration information easily between them. Creating an omnichannel customer experience allows customers to have issues solved more efficiently, which increases their satisfaction. It is important to consider what software will integrate well with your other channels.
Call Recording
We can all relate to hearing a message like this before the start of the call: “This call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes.”
Call recording has become a staple for call center solutions. Monitoring call recordings can help businesses increase customer satisfaction, double-check details, and hold regular quality checks.
Automatic Dialers
Call centers make hundreds of calls a day. Manually dialing phone numbers would add hours of wasted time. To eliminate this issue, automatic dialers store phone numbers from a selected list. The different methods include:
- Predictive
- Power
- Progressive
- Preview
Regardless of the system, ensure it can make manual calls. Some systems only allow new calls to be made after all automatic phone numbers have been used. There will likely be times you need to manually dial a phone number and you will not want a system that restricts your options.
Cloud-Based Calling
Working from home is becoming more common.Ensuring you can adapt to the changes is critical for company success. Cloud-based calling is a phone system that runs through the internet instead of a physical phone line. The phone system connects to an online database so information can be accessed from any location. Even if the company isn’t remote-work based, a technology like this helps businesses avoid reliance on pre existing infrastructure, allowing for more mobility as companies adjust in a post-pandemic era.
Instead of paying for lines during idle periods, cloud-based calling is easier to scale. Meaning you can have agents on only during peak times, which saves costs. Having employees in different locations also helps reach a global market since they can access more phone numbers.
Voicemail or External Routing
It is unlikely you will always have agents available unless you are running a 24/7 call center. An efficient call center solution should route customers to a customized voicemail or external call center. Customizing the voicemail allows you to organize notifications and prioritize calls so your call center is prepared for the next workday. Things like time of call, caller ID, and other important information can make responding to voicemails easier for agents.
Supervisor Tools
Behind every great team is a supervisor who is bringing out the best in each of them. The most effective way to accomplish this with call center solutions is to have a suite of supervisor tools that encourage real-time response and help. Some of these tools include:
- KPI monitoring
- Listen, whisper, and barge-in features
- Work optimization reports
- Team messaging
- Gamification
Listen, whisper, and barge-in features are highly recommended since they allow supervisors to listen in real-time. This helps managers to correct bad employee habits and provide more personalized feedback for training.
How Hiya Works With Your Call Center Software
The Hiya Connect Voice Performance Platform enables businesses to connect with their customers and provides access to voice analytics and insights. The self-serve executive dashboard allows businesses to focus on the insights important to their needs and adjust as opportunities arise. Informative reasoning for calls and direct health tracking are also valuable resources provided by Hiya Connect.
Many of the call center solutions focus on regular agent training and management. Hiya Connect provides call analytics and insights that help businesses track call attempts, call durations, answer rates, data trending, and more. These insights are beneficial to improve call performance. Get a demo today to learn more.
