What is a call management system?

One of the most fundamental tasks any public-facing business deals with on a daily basis is managing phone traffic. Among other things, you need to be able to monitor and route calls, queue calls if you don't have available agents, and analyze and draw insights from your call data.

When trying to determine what is in a call management system that would benefit your contact center, it's important to look at key features and which solutions deliver them in a robust and user-friendly way. Here, we'll review the fundamentals of a business call management system as demonstrated by 8x8's cloud PBX system.

What is a call management system needed For?

Call management in the modern marketplace will mean different things to different kinds of businesses. There are some challenges that are commonplace, however, and certain features that you should be on the lookout for with any system.

Outbound call management

Inbound call traffic tends to be a focus for the call management process, but it's also important that any system be able to cope effectively with outbound calls. It should be possible to record both kinds of calls on any extension, both as a basic system setting and on-demand as needed, and with the option of automated recording notifications.

Your system should also provide global reach through robust support for unlimited outbound calls to multiple countries, SMS messaging and faxing, especially if your company does business internationally.

Auto-attendants for inbound calls

Having automated attendants that can help streamline customer experience for the people trying to reach you is becoming a must-have for the modern business call management system. Auto-attendants are (or should be) a convenient and easy-to-use labor-saving tool that uses sophisticated call routing to provide customers with a menu of interactions and guides them to self-service options like bill payment or recorded messages when there's no live agent or staff member available.

The best auto attendant systems allow for multiple distinct attendants and profiles and the customization of call flows for different groups of customers.

Comprehensive analytics

Another key to modern business is the ability to make data-driven decisions in real time. A truly competitive call management system provides powerful analytics tools that let you pull accurate data easily and use it to identify trends from your callers, agents and teams alike. It should help manage remote workers and let you pull data into customizable real-time reports from all your communications channels.

Seamless integration

Finally, any contact management solution should seamlessly work with your existing tools and technologies with minimal adjustments. 8x8 offers many of these integrations, and they're specifically targeted at business phone services and call management.

The benefits of a call management system

A well-run call management system with a rich feature set offers a range of concrete benefits for any business. The boost of efficiency in a contact center can save money and:

  • Drastically improve customer service and overall customer experience (CX)
  • Significantly reduce lost or abandoned calls
  • Support accurate performance management with call monitoring and recording
  • Provide the needed data to optimize your staffing levels

It's always worth investing in the digital transformation of your contact center. Contact 8x8 today and learn how we can help.