Call Centers

Enterprises - large or small - have a need for some type of telephone system or solution. Depending on the nature of your business, you may require a more extensive phone system in the form of a call center. Call centers allow for easier management and tracking of business phone communications which can ultimately help boost productivity and improve customer engagement and the overall customer experience.

What is a call center?

In the simplest terms, a call center is any centralized department or office where inbound and outbound phone calls from current and potential customers are routed to. Call centers are usually present within companies or organizations that handle large volumes of phone calls either for handling customer service requests or processing orders.

How do call centers work?

Once a call is made by a customer or client, it is sent to a call queue or ACD (automatic call distributor) where a caller may be placed on a courtesy hold. During this hold or queue time, you are provided with messages or prompts that give you additional follow-up options such as leaving a voicemail or getting routed to a different department. Common queue and ACD algorithms include linear, circular (or rotary) and most idle agent call distribution methods.

Who is on the receiving end of a call?

The term for the individual that handles calls in a call center is known as an agent. Agents are the ones who monitor and ensure that customers have the best customer experience and service possible. Busy, not available, or reason codes can be inputted by agents who need to step away from their desk to address other items - therefore, giving agents more time to report. Supervisor or wallboard entitlements allow visibility of stats for agents and other departments - common ones include agents enabled, abandoned calls, and number of calls in queue.

Call Center Monitoring Solutions:

Traditional reporting solutions allow management at a glance, but for businesses who have larger customer service teams and require repeatable communication functions, they require more extensive call center solutions. Many call center solutions come equipped with repeatable communication functions that improve efficiency through real-time and historical reporting - this way, agents don't have to continue to add labor without proper information.

Commonly found call center monitoring features:

• Call center reporting
  • Get the latest data on anything from agent talk time, trunk load, to number of abandoned calls.
• Historical call reports
  • Export analytics on previous agent interactions with customers and clients.
• Real-time agent metrics
  • Pull data as calls are taking place in real-time.
• Supervisor dashboard
  • Supervisors and managers can monitor agents to see if they are on calls, adjust ACDs and re-route calls to other agent queues.
• Wall boards

Converged Systems provides a range of call center solutions - including cloud contact centers - to meet your business needs. Our experts can guide you through the process of designing and selecting a call center solution based on your business needs, projected growth, performance metrics, and use case. Learn more about CCS call center offerings by emailing us today at CloudSolutions@convergedsystems.com or calling us at 877-598-3999.