Technology: The Body of an Inbound Call Center
Monday, February 7, 2011
An inbound call center is composed of three major parts. First is its soul in the form of human resources, both the management and the agents. Second is the body, which refers to the installed technology. Third is the brain that pertains to best practices and proven methodologies.
Below are three essential elements of a good call center technology:
1. Specialized applications. The Information Technology (IT) architects have concocted various applications. There are those that are specifically built for inbound call centers. These specialized applications help in documenting phone conversations, analysis of support requests within an organization, solving customer requests or problems and maximizing sales efforts among others.
Examples of which are listed below.
• Help-desk software
• Knowledge-management software
• Contact management software
• Sales and marketing software
• Reservation systemBilling and order system
2. Telecommunications technology. For obvious reasons, telecommunications technology is highly needed in order for the customers and agents to converse in a clear channel. With the developments in today's telephone and Internet networks, a horde of valuable tools are available. These include, but not limited to, interactive voice response (IVR), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), automatic call distributor (ACD), dynamic network routing, dialed number identification service (DNIS) and automatic number identification (ANI).
3. Computer-telephony integration (CTI). As the name suggests, CTI is a system that permits interactions on a computer and a telephone to be integrated. Furthermore, it increases staff productivity, improves customer relationship, decreases hold time and evolves towards a genuine customer interaction. CTI applications comprise of screen pops, mandatory data entry and soft-phone functionality.
When you scout for an inbound call center, evaluate its technology and see for yourself if it works the way it should be.
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Below are three essential elements of a good call center technology:
1. Specialized applications. The Information Technology (IT) architects have concocted various applications. There are those that are specifically built for inbound call centers. These specialized applications help in documenting phone conversations, analysis of support requests within an organization, solving customer requests or problems and maximizing sales efforts among others.
Examples of which are listed below.
• Help-desk software
• Knowledge-management software
• Contact management software
• Sales and marketing software
• Reservation systemBilling and order system
2. Telecommunications technology. For obvious reasons, telecommunications technology is highly needed in order for the customers and agents to converse in a clear channel. With the developments in today's telephone and Internet networks, a horde of valuable tools are available. These include, but not limited to, interactive voice response (IVR), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), automatic call distributor (ACD), dynamic network routing, dialed number identification service (DNIS) and automatic number identification (ANI).
3. Computer-telephony integration (CTI). As the name suggests, CTI is a system that permits interactions on a computer and a telephone to be integrated. Furthermore, it increases staff productivity, improves customer relationship, decreases hold time and evolves towards a genuine customer interaction. CTI applications comprise of screen pops, mandatory data entry and soft-phone functionality.
When you scout for an inbound call center, evaluate its technology and see for yourself if it works the way it should be.
