Inbound Call Center Solution
Drive agent productivity and boost customer experience with the right inbound contact center tools
Inbound Call Center Solution
Drive agent productivity and boost customer experience with the right inbound contact center tools
Inbound Call Center Solution
Drive agent productivity and boost customer experience with the right inbound contact center tools
Inbound Call Center Solution
Drive agent productivity and boost customer experience with the right inbound contact center tools
Exceptional inbound call center services can elevate customer experience by providing efficient support and assistance. If you want to keep customer satisfaction high, it’s worth investing in a good inbound call center solution that can handle incoming calls with speed and efficiency.
So let’s take a look at the ins and outs of inbound call centers. Read on to find out how they can benefit your business objectives, as well as get some tips on how to manage them more effectively.
An inbound call center is a department or organization whose primary function is to receive incoming calls from customers. They are commonly used for providing customer support by resolving issues or answering inquiries.
Operating an inbound call center may seem pretty basic, but it’s not just about answering phone calls. If you want to provide your customers with the best possible service, here are some tips for improving your contact center’s operations.
There are a number of ways to make real and lasting improvements to an inbound call center, including:
Let’s look at those in turn, in a little more detail:
A customer-focused strategy takes into account the needs, comfort, and satisfaction of the customer when making decisions for your business. From choosing solutions to establishing management policies, prioritizing the interests of your customers will help maintain high satisfaction ratings and rapport.
Highly-skilled call center service agents can provide better and faster real-time service to your customers. Monitoring the performance of your support teams will allow you to identify strengths that can be developed or weaknesses that can be improved.
A well-organized call distribution system can prevent backlogs and avoid long customer wait times. Advanced call routing systems can manage call volumes automatically without the need for manual operators.
Intelligent ACD systems equipped with skills-based call routing can also distribute calls based on specified criteria such as language, specializations, performance scores, and more. This ensures that your caller will have a personalized experience leading to better customer relationships.
Sometimes, all you need for a call center is a phone and a computer. But equipping your call center with high-quality tools will not only optimize internal operations, it will also improve customer experiences. Let's take a deeper look at what call center solutions are, and how you can use them to enhance your customer service experience.
Call center solutions are specialized tools that can streamline call and workforce management, automate processes, and speed up tasks for your agents. Inbound call center solutions focus on automating call distribution processes, but you can equip your center with as many features as you need. To help you gain a better understanding of how this works, here are some essential tools and software:
ACD, also known as automatic call distributors, is a telephony system that automatically distributes incoming calls to available inbound call center agents. An ACD removes the need for operators to check agent availability before redirecting calls manually, streamlining the call flow process. This results in faster ticket resolutions, better agent productivity, and higher customer satisfaction rates.
IVR (also known as auto attendants) is short for interactive voice response. It is a business phone technology that allows incoming callers to interact with an automated answering machine before being routed to available inbound agents. But unlike a typical answering service, IVRs can be programmed with selection menus which a caller can “converse” with using their phone dial pads. Inbound callers will be routed to the most appropriate agent or department based on their responses to the IVR. This solution is typically used to identify a caller’s inquiry or offer self-service assistance.
Computer telephony integration allows you to connect your computer and phone systems. This allows your agents to control calls, view customer information, and perform other tasks from their computer. With CTI, you can also optimize your call center with customizable features and app integrations.
App integrations from third-party developers will allow you to tailor your call center software to your specific work environment. Assess the needs of your customer service team and choose an inbound call center solution that supports the API integrations for your particular needs. Popular choices include, but are not limited to:
If you’re managing a large team of call center agents, having an all-in-one solution equipped with management tools would streamline your team’s workflow and give you critical insights into agent performance and productivity. Here are some examples of workforce optimization features:
Traditionally, call centers were only capable of handling voice calls. However, the rise of digital engagement channels saw an increase in customer interactions from other platforms such as email, live chat, etc. As a result, more and more businesses are switching to an inbound contact center.
If you're confused about what the difference is between a call and contact center, read on for a more comprehensive comparison between the two.
The main difference between them is the communication channels that they can support. Call centers are limited to phone or voice channels. Contact centers can support a wider range of communication platforms such as email, social media channels, chat, SMS, etc.
Sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably because contact centers can cover both voice and digital communication channels. However, it's worth making the distinction since some solutions providers have separate offers for either type of center.
Here's a simple table outlining their key features:
| Contact Center | Call center | |
| Supported channels | Omnichannel - voice calls, social media, chat boxes, email, SMS, etc. | Voice only |
| Ticketing system | Omnichannel routing | Only supports call queues |
| Hardware requirements | 1) Computer and headset. 2) internet modem | 1) Computer and headset, 2) deskphone, 3) PBX (For traditional, on-premise centers) |
| Software | 1) All-in-one contact center software from your solutions provider, 2) computer OS compatible with your provider's software | 1) All-in-one call center software from your solutions provider, 2) computer OS compatible with your provider's software or that can support CTI technology, 3) softphone app*, 4) ACD and IVR*, 5) Customer relationship management tools*, 6) Performance management apps*(*These tools are already included in all-in-one call center solutions. But for on-premise call centers, you may need to purchase and implement these tools separately.) |
An on-premise call center has the telephony infrastructure on-site and is usually built and maintained by the business itself.
For a cloud call center (also known as a virtual call center), the infrastructure is kept and maintained remotely by a third-person provider, and the solution is implemented through the internet.
Cloud contact centers are also hosted in the cloud by a provider. The difference is that a cloud contact center solution has omnichannel support while virtual call centers are voice-only.
For cloud-based call centers, the only hardware requirements are a working computer and a stable internet. You can also invest in accessories such as a headset with a mic or a VoIP phone for cloud-based calling.
Most cloud communications providers handle the setup and maintenance of the call center solutions on their end. Check with your provider if there are any additional setup requirements on your end.
Voice-only call centers are limited to IVR self-service. You can program IVRs to guide customers through basic troubleshooting procedures.
Omnichannel contact centers can offer more self-service options by sending them links to official guides on websites, community forum posts, videos, and more.
An inbound call center receives incoming calls. Outbound call centers make outgoing calls to prospective customers.
Some of the solutions installed in your inbound call center might not be applicable to an outbound campaign. Outbound centers have their own tools, focusing mostly on dialing features like progressive and predictive dialers, auto dialers, etc..
However, if your inbound contact center solutions provider offers these tools, you could just ask for an upgrade from your existing plan.