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How Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Can Breathe Life Back in Call Centers

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There’s a thing with technology – you can run from it; you can hide; but you can’t escape it.  What it promises us is so stunning and captivating, who would not want to be associated with it.
If you have been a part of day-to-day chores at a call center, you would know how difficult it can be sometimes to deal with over-whelming customer emotions, suggestions, feedbacks, wrath, and in rare occasions – appreciation.
So, if I was to tell you that a tool can help you (literally), act as your own personal assistant, and would never let you down, how would you react to that? You would probably not believe me now and dismiss any further discussion. However, if you go ahead and read patiently to what I have to say, I might just have the right insights you have been looking all this while.
Your question: How do I manage everything manually ranging from customer emails to messages, to call back requests to prioritizing golden customers? It is practically impossible.

My answer: Computer Telephony Integration or CTI, as it is more commonly known as.

So what is Computer Telephony Integration?
Computer telephony integration or CTI is basically using computers to manage your telephonic interactions with customers. CTI is just not only limited to managing your voice interactions, it can take care of all your
communication platforms which can range extensively from email messaging, web messaging, fax, live chats etc.

This not only empowers you as a call center manager, but also wins your customers’ hearts. It is like a one-shot remedy for all their grievances, queries, concerns and time constraints. Most of the time, when customers chooses to pick up the phone and dial, they are frustrated or agitated. This is often amplified due to long holding time, time spent in queue, and call being wasted, as they could not reach the ‘right department’, poor connectivity, etc.

By implementing CTI, one can either completely eliminate or significantly reduce these lags and inconveniences.
Your customers are digitally aware. They understand and appreciate the dependency on technology. They expect a similar level of technical sophistication from your company as well. If you are using a traditional dial and wait or ‘let me route to the right department’ syntax, there’s a very good possibility that they will leave your brand and take their business elsewhere. Implementing CTI not only gives your call center an edge over your competitors but also makes your agents more capable and efficient.
CTI integration gives them the rare ability to efficiently multitask, while also handling back-to-back calls. It makes them understand and appreciate superior technological functioning with ease and can slide perfectly well in a world class set up of tech boom.

How is Computer Telephony Integration Beneficial for a Contact Center?
The most customer centric industry is the service industry. Your customers are often treated as royalty. They won’t appreciate or forget the fact that you let them down. In such a cut-throat environment and a demanding atmosphere, don’t you think your agents need to push their bar constantly to match soaring high expectations? To aid that, the best available way out is CTI.

By integrating CTI, you can actually have multiple benefits and boost your business:

1. Increase first call resolutions
Hello? Can you repeat that?
Ah, I am sorry I missed it, what was it? 09999…?
I am so sorry, so many nines, what did you say?
If merely reading above lines annoy you, just imagine your customer’s plight. How irritating would that be for them to repeat a simple address 10 times, or give their bank account number over and again. CTI lets your customer’s details to be readily and easily fetched. It enables them with the ability to fast-forward the process and have more resolutions to be given out in the first attempt.

2. CTI Improves customer experience
When your customers’ details can be easily populated on the screen using CTI, they will become more accustomed to personalised offers and services. They will become less bossy and perhaps it would become easier to negotiate, even in conditions where it would be otherwise impossible. This will not only make you a better agent, but also enhance the overall customer experience.

3. More efficient call routing
CTI enables many automation features, which can be directly linked to your customer database. When a customer calls, it helps to populate details of the call by using automatic caller identification mechanism, and route it accordingly as per the customer’s need or queries. This way the customer does not have to wait in long queues or hold the line while the call is being routed to the right department.

4. Agent availability

CTI is an intelligent system. It is integrated in a manner that all contact center agents or resources are best optimised. If there is a heavy call flow, it will direct the calls to the next available agent with minimal or perhaps no lag. This way, your agent’s’ productivity and efficiency of resource usage also starts to meet its optimum level.
5. Engaging performance metrics
CTI also provides you access to analytics data, statistics and call recordings. This can be easily used for call monitoring, performance evaluation or forecasting, while deciding upon the resource usage. Your agents don’t have to worry anymore to maintain a manual tally or to keep updating excel sheets, it can be all automated easily using CTI.
 
Hope you were able to gather some valuable insights on computer telephony integration. If you have feedback to share, let us know in the comments section. 

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