Contact and Call Centers

A true definition of a hosted contact center is a coordinated system of people, processes, and technology used to manage inbound and outbound customer contact. Some believe that only large businesses can reap the rewards of investment in contact center solutions, but the fact is that every business can benefit from an integrated contact center solution that allows you to get the right call to the right place quickly and efficiently.

Customized reports and real-time statistics allow the management of call traffic and employee productivity, providing valuable data for proper forecasting. Advanced call routing improves the customer service experience, allowing callers to be routed to the right representative.

Your cloud contact center can be configured for queue overflow based on a number of variables, including time or number of customers. For example, if the average wait time becomes greater than a set number of minutes, the system can automatically send the caller to voicemail, the operator, another extension, an external phone number, or another queue. The same can be done if a set number of callers enter a queue.

Custom messages or playlists played to callers waiting to be assisted can use audio-imported .wav files, system prompts, or text-to-speech and can be unique for each queue. The hosted contact center also provides callers the option to leave the queue and route elsewhere in the system, including a voicemail or submitting a callback request. When a callback queue is enabled, and a caller makes this selection, the system confirms the number to call back and allows the caller to input a different number.

Both supervisors and agents have access to view callers currently in-queue and in the call back queue. Furthermore, supervisors have the ability to move a call to the top of a queue, pull a call from anywhere and answer it, assign a call to a specific agent, transfer a call out of a queue, or direct a call currently in-queue to a voicemail box – all in real time. Contact Taylored Systems today to learn more about these options.

Available statistics within the cloud contact center include current agent status such as on a call, available, unavailable, the length of time spent in said status, the number of calls currently in queue as well as average and max wait times for these calls. The statistics on all answered and abandoned calls, including the length of time the caller waited before abandoning, callback requests, and completion may also be tracked.

A Unified Desktop is a singular platform that ties together the tools that agents use in the course of a typical day, such as call, database and collaboration software. Agents can manage incoming and outgoing call functions from the computer, view queue group statistics, send instant messages, and easily view and change presence.

The most direct benefit is improved productivity through better organization. According to research, not having to flip back and forth between multiple programs reduces call handling times by up to 30%. This helps agents to improve their KPIs and provide better customer service. A Unified Desktop also uses automation and AI algorithms to further enhance productivity in a way that’s difficult to achieve without all of an agent’s tools under one umbrella. Automation helps to cut down on many mundane and highly repetitive tasks an agent must perform, such as logging call interaction information. The latest AI-powered tools can also provide assistance to service agents in real time.

Better productivity isn’t just good for a department or company — it’s also better for agents. Customer service departments typically see high turnover rates due to the workload and challenging nature of providing good customer service. A unified desktop helps agents become more efficient, reducing friction for themselves and the people they serve. If they aren’t able to solve an issue for a customer, a unified desktop makes it easy to quickly get assistance or escalate calls. The seamless nature of a unified desktop helps to lower employee churn, which reduces labor costs for an organization.

A Unified Desktop can also help companies deliver more personalized experiences to their customers. Surveys show that customers overwhelmingly want a custom experience that meets their needs, and a unified desktop helps agents deliver that experience by providing critical customer details, such as purchase history and past interactions.

Customer service departments are constantly collecting data, but that data only has limited value if it isn’t being properly collected and processed. Modern contact center solutions leverage AI algorithms and predictive analytics to create comprehensive reports that inform decision making.

Historical reports that provide data regarding agent activity and call detail help supervisors manage staff and plan appropriately by analyzing call volume patterns. Hosted contact center solutions enable you to easily create, view, and archive customizable reports that analyze performance and forecast future staffing and requirements. The bottom-line results are better experiences for both agents and customers.

Customer service departments are constantly collecting data, but that data only has limited value if it isn’t being properly collected and processed. Modern contact center solutions leverage AI algorithms and predictive analytics to create comprehensive reports that inform decision making.

Historical reports that provide data regarding agent activity and call detail help supervisors manage staff and plan appropriately by analyzing call volume patterns. Hosted contact center solutions enable you to easily create, view, and archive customizable reports that analyze performance and forecast future staffing and requirements. The bottom-line results are better experiences for both agents and customers.

Supervisors have access to valuable real-time statistics, giving them the ability to jump in and coach agents during calls. Some key operational metrics that supervisors can track include:

• Active waiting calls. This is the number of people currently on hold
• Average abandonment rate. The percentage of people who gave up trying to reach an agent.
• Average call length. Suggests how many calls agents are taking and how long it takes to resolve customer issues.
• Call arrival rate. The number of incoming calls per minute, hour, day, week, month or year.
• Callback requests. While some systems use customer callbacks as a feature, this metric can be a sign of people who needed to be called after an initial interaction didn’t resolve their issue.
• Calls blocked. The percentage of calls that couldn’t get through to an agent due to the queue being full.
• Cost per call. This dollar amount is the cost of running a call center divided by the number of calls handled.

In addition to supporting real-time management, contact center platforms can help managers with decision making. Managers can use statistics like Peak Hour Traffic to adjust staffing levels. They can also use predictive analytics to develop long-term staffing strategies.

With so many agents working remote or hybrid schedules, customer service managers also have to handle issues that come with having a distributed workforce. Call center tools allow managers to track the performance of remote workers and handle scheduling challenges.

With the ability to help agents when they need it most and develop a highly informed staffing strategy, company leaders can run a lean operation, which provides a strong return on a call center investment.

Full-time and on-demand call recording in a cloud contact center is a helpful tool used in employee training to manage quality and improve customer service. Let Taylored Systems help you build the right hosted contact center for your company today.

Modern organizations have embraced multiple different communication channels, including online chat and text messages. Contact center platforms offer multichannel support for this modern approach.

When a company embraces a multichannel approach, it is in a position to meet customers where they are, whether that’s on their phones or on social media. Text base customer service can also help to resolve issues much faster than going through a phone system. The pivot to a multichannel approach increases customer satisfaction and reduces strain on the voice system. Call center agents can also put more focus on providing in-depth service over the phone, which is a better medium to solving complex problems.

Depending on the nature of the enterprise and the service just looking to provide, organizations can choose from three primary contact center solutions: inbound, outbound and blended.

Companies and departments that only handle incoming service calls can benefit from an inbound contact center solution. Common use cases for this type of solution include providing customer service, tech support, and shipping updates. Inbound contact centers have a few core functions focused on helping callers get to the best possible agents.

Advanced call routing is one of these essential inbound functions. Departments that handle high volumes of inbound calls must be able to route calls to various agents based on customer status, agent availability, agent skill set, and other factors.

Interactive voice response (IVR) is another important feature that quickly gets inbound calls to the right destination. This technology allows callers to choose their department or service needs from a menu using voice responses or inputs from their touchtone keypad.

Modern inbound contact centers use the latest automation and AI technology to improve the customer experience and make a call center more productive.

Some enterprises and departments are purely focused on making outbound calls and can benefit from an outbound contact center solution. Use cases for this type of contact center include conducting telemarketing, market research, customer surveys, reminders, and update functions. Outbound contact centers have several core functions designed to reach a department’s target demographic.

Companies or departments that use both inbound and outbound calling can benefit from using a blended contact center. This contact center combines the core functions of both inbound and outbound contact centers. A blended contact center is more complicated and costly to operate. Agents need to be skilled in all of the inbound and outbound functions, or an organization needs to hire two separate teams. However, a blended contact center offers the chance to provide a holistic, 360-degree approach to customer interactions.

Companies anticipating growth must have systems in place that are flexible and able to scale. A modern unified communications system is well-suited for growth and it allows enterprises to scale up operations with minimal disruption.

Unified communications strategies are based on flexible systems. As organizations add new team members, expand office facilities, and enter new markets, a unified communication system can easily add new phone lines and user accounts without the need for physical installation. If a company needs to close one office and open another, the unified communications platform also offers the flexibility to do so quickly and easily.

Modern unified communications systems can also scale up a remote workforce. Many of today’s workers expect to be able to work from home, and companies are offering this option as a way to help their employees achieve a better work-life balance. The number of employees who have a hybrid or fully remote work situation will continue to grow, and modern unified communications include tools for remote communications and collaboration. This virtual capability means a company is no longer restricted to a physical location when it comes to recruiting top-notch talent.

The ability to scale doesn’t just benefit organizations. Unified communications offer consistent user experience regardless of location. Modern platforms are also able to adapt to different devices, which benefits users.

Over the weeks, months, and years, employees can communicate seamlessly regardless of whether they move or the company is expanding. Unified communications platforms also include scalable connectivity tools, such as video conferencing and cloud storage. This helps minimize the impacts of employee turnover and the retention of organizational knowledge.

Company leaders also benefit from unified communications during the scaling of operations through streamlined management tools. Managers can easily onboard new employees or help set up new facilities from the convenience of their laptops.

Hopefully, we’ve provided you with a comprehensive look at the powerful features and capabilities of our hosted contact center solutions. At Taylored Systems, a robust contact center platform is just one component of our unified communications offering.

If your organization still relies on outdated phone systems, it may be time to unify your communications with our modern hosted solutions. Our cloud-based contact centers are easy to implement with minimal hardware requirements, yet provide a wealth of advanced tools like multichannel support, real-time analytics, and unified desktops.

Our flexible solutions are designed to scale seamlessly as your business grows, with the ability to quickly add users, sites, and robust remote worker support. We also back our innovative technology with top-tier service and support.

If you would like to know more about how Taylored Systems can provide you with call center services and solutions, contact us today.