Is your inbound call center relying heavily on your software solution? Have you encountered instances where your software failed and caused inconveniences to your business operation?
If you’ve answered yes, then it’s time to evaluate your current software’s capabilities and maybe consider making an upgrade too.
To help in your decision-making, here are 5 factors to take into consideration to properly assess your existing inbound call center solution.
#1. Accuracy of Caller’s Information
Since your callers are the most important assets in your operation, not being equipped with the necessary information about them can result in delays in delivering the services they need, as well as affect your company’s credibility.
This information must contain but is not limited to their basic details. Their entire interaction history with the company such as support tickets, emails, charts, and orders, among others must be included too. Your inbound call center software must provide all your caller’s data—in a single interface, if possible, as soon as the conversation begins for an immediate, real-time support.
Through this, your call center agents can give the best responses and solutions to their concerns, avoid time-consuming searches, and competently meet business objectives by being able to proceed to the next customer.
#2. Efficiency of Call Center Agents
In relation to devising the appropriate customer service approach, the effectiveness of your call center agents should also be evaluated. And one thing affecting their efficiency is the amount of time they spend per call.
If your agents aren’t equipped with an inbound call center solution that can do all the necessary tasks they need in an instant, they may go back to the traditional pen and paper note taking method and just update their systems once they end the call.
This can significantly affect their efficiency, resulting in being caught up with a lot of information, commit data inaccuracies, and other possible human errors. While there’s no ideal period set for each agent, the goal is to spend the least time possible on a single call.
#3. Facilitates Collaboration
Despite call center agents responding to one caller at a time, collaboration with other colleagues in the inbound call center is vital in their operation as well. Functions like call conferencing, call transfers, agent-to-agent calling, and voicemail assignments are important in providing an optimal customer service.
Therefore, verify if your current software is capable of enabling teamwork so as for your business to progress in the industry.
#4. Accessibility
Nowadays, call center agents aren’t limited to working at the office alone. Whether they’re at home, travelling, or at some place that’s away from the office, it is important that your software is accessible with just a computer and a stable internet connection.
Not only would this enable efficiency, but it also affords your workers the flexibility to work remotely despite being out of the office.
#5. Team Performance Tracking
As a manager or supervisor, it is your duty to monitor your team’s performance, as this is crucial in the having an effective inbound call center. Tracking their performance could be accomplished by simply assessing the metrics included in your software, considering that it has an easy access function.
If your software is up-to-date, then it should quickly yield data about the agent’s individual numbers such as his wait time, abandonment time, and calls in queue. Some other functions that should be included are the ability of the manager to monitor live calls, listen to previous call recordings, and drop in on calls, to name a few. All these are essential in determining your company’s KPI levels, as well as the measures you need to take if there have been decreases in your figures.
These 5 factors are the fundamentals in evaluating your present software solution. If any or all of these factors are no longer existing in your business operation, then it’s definitely time to leverage a more robust inbound call center software.
About the Author
Alleli Aspili is a Senior Specialist for Business Development in Infinit Outsourcing, Inc (Infinit-O), and ISO-certified BPO company that caters inbound call center, finance and accounting and healthcare outsourcing to SMEs. Responsible for maintaining Infinit-O, Infinit Contact, Infinit Healthcare, Infinit Datum and Infinit Accounting online brand and content.
