Call Center Software

Call center software makes it possible for call centers to process millions of calls every year all across the world. Multiple software applications work together to facilitate a streamlined process between call center agent and customer so that thousands of customer's issues are resolved in mere minutes every day.

ACD, or automatic call distribution ensures that the caller reaches the right department or agent. This technology often depends upon customer's responding to voice prompts from the IVR or Interactive Voice Response system the call center has in place to process calls. It is this system that first answers the call and after instantly going through several call center software applications, the call is routed to the proper agent or department.

The predictive dialer facilitates outbound calls made by call center agents to weed out unanswered calls so that the agent can spend most of his or her time actually talking to customers instead of waiting for the phone to ring or manually dialing the number.

Screen pop is the call center agent's best friend as this technology makes it possible for information to "pop up" on the agent's screen right before or presicely at the time the call is answered. This way, the agent can quickly become familiar with the customer's account and rapidly discern what the issue is.

Computer Telephony Integration or CTI is the technology that coordinates interactions between a computer and a telephone such that exists in a call center environment. This technology is at the heart of call center software such as screen pop, interactive voice response, predictive dialer applications and many other call center software applications.

CTI allows multiple technological advances to work together in an integrated system to streamline the flow of calls. CTI facilitates the seamless bringing together of the right representative to each individual caller, populates the agent's computer screen with the customer's information and also allows performance management software to track and analyze the entire customer agent interaction.

Due to this technological integration, call centers are able to process hundreds and sometimes thousands of calls a day. While customers understandably don't like to be placed on hold, especially for an extended period of time, this technology allows them to reach the right person much quicker than they could otherwise and also speeds up the process once they have reached the proper representative.

An Interactive Voice Response system or IVR, is typically used in call centers and is often the first application the customer accesses when calling the center. This type of call center software generally has multiple functions. It often begins with the customer pushing 1 for English, 2 for Spanish ect. and propels the customer through a series of menus using either the touchpad on the customer's phone or increasingly, the customer's voice.

The IVR can assist the customer with making a payment over the telephone quickly and efficiently so that the customer doesn't have to wait on hold or take the time to speak with a customer service representative. The IVR can also take the caller through a series of prompts which will end with the caller reaching a representative in the right department of the call center who has been trained to handle their particular issue or concern.

IVR systems can facilitate applications such as the customer checking his or her bank or credit card balance, placing an order and issues dealing with technical assistance. IVR systems are especially useful when the business is closed so that customers can access account information regardless of the time.

Automatic call distribution, or ACD is a feature of CTI and is part of the overall call center software that makes it possible for the consumer to reach the right call center agent to address a particular issue. The IVR is instrumental in the use of ACD as it is typical for consumers to respond to voice prompts and either voice a response or press a button to correspond to the prompt that will serve the consumer's need.

For example, when calling the 800 number for service relating to telephone or Internet access, customers most often are presented with choices relating to billing issues, technical support, customer service and other selections. This is ACD in use.

Most call centers employ a mantra of "one call resolution" meaning that the caller shouldn't have to be transferred among agents; that the one agent who first answers the call should be able to resolve any issue the customer may have. Although this isn't the case 100 percent of the time, the technology used to filter callers to the appropriate agent goes a long way in making this a reality.

ACD is also used to connect callers with agents who speak the same language. For example, in the United States, almost every call center IVR system has a prompt that will connect customers with a Spanish speaking representative. This technology of course, can be configured to support any language integrated within the call center software applications.

Screen population or "screen pop" as it is commonly called is an integral part of call center software that benefits the customer, the agent and the company. Screen pop is an application that "pops up" the customer's information just prior to or as the agent is answering the call. This data typically includes the caller's name, address, telephone number and other account information.

Depending on the software used, this screen pop application may depend upon the customer entering information such as a telephone or account number into the Interactive voice response application.

The primary benefit of this particular call center solution is that it reduces the amount of time an agent needs to spend on the phone with the customer gathering information and allows the customer to address the issue for which they called much quicker. As the customer is stating the reason for their call, the agent can be scanning the information that has populated their screen and then quickly verify the customer's proprietary information.

Screen pop works for both inbound and outbound calls. Call center agents who are using a predictive dialer will typically be apprised of the connection of the call by a tone and/or the screen pop application. Agents who use predictive dialers in making their outbound calls typically don't know who they are calling until this information does populate their screen. Then they must quickly scan the screen so they may ask for the customer by name and also quickly familiarize themselves with the customer's demographics.

A predictive dialer is often used as part of a call center solution when outbound calls are made to customers or potential customers. This technology uses call center software to automate the process of call center agents making phone calls in order to weed out calls that are not answered or have a busy signal. Typically, the call center agent hears a tone signifying the successful answering of the call by the customer or person who is being called.

Agents may be calling large numbers of people for a variety of reasons. Telemarketing call centers typically use a predictive dialer to make these calls. Although the agent generally doesn't know who is being called, once the phone is successfully answered, screen pop technology often populates the agent's computer screen with the customer or potential customer's demographic information and assists the agent with the flow of the call.

For example, agents calling customers on behalf of a phone company may be calling to offer certain discounts or freebies based on the customer's past usage. Since the offer may depend on information the agent doesn't know beforehand, once the screen is populated, the agent can automatically know which offer to extend to the customer.

Another aspect a predictive dialer may employ is to present the customer with a recorded message extending an offer and giving the customer the option to press 1 to then continue the call with a customer service representative to complete the offer. In this way, the agent is in effect receiving calls by only talking to customers who are interested in the offer even though the call center initiated the call.

Performance management software is crucial to the success of any call center to ensure accuracy, compliance and customer service are being effectively executed during calls with customers or potential customers. This type of call center software includes various ways in which agents can be monitored with retrieval taking place either during live calls or at the discretion of management. Performance management software not only ensures quality control measures are being taken but it facilitates invaluable training and coaching sessions for new and seasoned agents.

Not only can performance management software record and access agent customer interactions, but this type of call center software includes screen capture software that will allow managers and supervisors to monitor agent applications to ensure agents are accessing the right applications in order to best serve customers.

In addition to monitoring live calls between agents and customers, performance management software can track, record and analyze the agent's performance in a number of different ways. For example, it can track the average talk time an agent spends interacting with customers to ascertain if the agent's performance is falling within acceptable parameters or whether the agent could benefit from coaching to increase or decrease the time spent interacting with customers.

Other statistics that can be monitored include the average amount of time an agent keeps a customer on hold, the amount of time an agent is available to take calls relative to the amount of time the agent is on the clock and the amount of time an agent is idle.

Utilizing performance management software can have a huge impact on the overall success of the call center, allowing management to spot errors and inaccuracies before the business is negatively impacted.

Intelligent messaging software can be used to provide messages and music to callers while they are on hold. This type of call center software has many uses and can actually reduce hold time and prevent hang-ups. Most intelligent messaging software is customizable to meet the ongoing and changing needs of the call center. These messages can range from the simple "thank you for holding," repeated at pre-determined intervals to the more specific message of the day or moment.

For example, in the case of a temporary outage or interruption of services that can trigger hundreds or thousands of calls from a particular area, utilizing intelligent messaging software can facilitate the placement of a particular message to be played to certain callers advising them of the company's apprisal of the situation and forthcoming repair. This allows those callers to go ahead and hang up, secure in the knowledge that their services will be restored while calls from customers not in the outage area can proceed to the customer service representative.

Some companies have gotten creative with intelligent messaging software and use a mixture of entertainment and advertisement to hold the attention of customers who are on hold. Service companies typically advertise specials or new services while some companies prepare an assortment of trivia or interesting tidbits to hold the customer's attention until the call can proceed to a customer service representative.

Virtual call centers can be found operating in private homes, dorm rooms and even prisons. Virtual call centers provide essentially the same functions as brick and mortar call centers however they operate on a much smaller scale. These call centers are often staffed by stay-at-home moms, college students and inmates.

All it takes to run a virtual call center is a telephone, computer and Internet access. Many smaller companies prefer to outsource their customer care in this way because while providing the same standard of customer service, they are able to pay contract wages and not have to worry about health insurance, worker's compensation or unemployment insurance.

Because many of us have the bare bones call center software in our homes already, it isn't difficult to set up a virtual call center. Customers have no idea whether the agent is sitting in their living room, a huge call center facility or a state prison. As long as they get their needs met, most customers aren't concerned with the origination of the call.