What is Call Center Management Software?
Smart companies always focus on applying strategies that can eliminate costs and enhance efficiency. Investing in call center software is one such effective way and cost-effective approach to manage customer communication across organizations and various communication channels efficiently. Focusing on call-related processes is important because communication over the phone is more difficult than social media interaction, SMS or email due to direct interaction with customers. Agents have the responsibility to provide the right answers to customer queries without any pause or losing focus. Thus, with Call Center Management Software, companies can streamline their inbound and outbound call center processes and can offer superior customer support. This software enables your agents to meet customer expectations with minimal effort. It automates the flow of incoming and outgoing calls to enhance agent efficiency and call center performance. Let’s learn more about the features of this software.
Important Features of Call Center Management Software
Before moving ahead to invest in call center technology, it is essential to consider why your business needs call center software. You should know how this software will help your calling team in resolving their issues. Here is the list of essential features which most of the companies want to have in this software.
1. Automatic Call Routing
A contact center software automated the process of both inbound and outbound calls. Call centers can use IVR or interactive voice response systems to present menu options, and create greetings and answers to frequently asked queries to resolve customer issues electronically. An IVR technology also connects the customers calling for support to the most relevant agent at the push of a button. Likewise, your customers can also access simple information like business closing hours or address details without talking to the agent. This helps your agents to manage complex inquiries and reduces call wait time.
2. Integration with CRM Technology
Besides the IVR system, the Call Center Management Software can also be integrated with your sales and marketing CRM software to maximize efficiency. This integration empowers companies to forward their calls, get detailed information about the customer on call and prioritize calls based on their importance. It ensures that your agents remain proactive while calling prospects to provide personalized services. As this technology provides you with all the information you need about your customers, your agent efficiency increases as a sales agent.
3. Automated Call Distribution
Your agents can be busy with leads and customers when any other customer places a call in your call centers. The automated call distribution feature ensures the routing of calls to only relevant and available agents instead of queuing other busy agents. Additionally, companies can also preset call distribution considering different parameters like time and location of call.
What Else to Expect?
4. Auto-Recording
Companies want to know the quality of their calls and the way agents handle customers on calls. Listening to the conversation is the only way to achieve this feat. This need has prompted call centers to record both inbound and outbound calls, a significant feature of today’s call centers. With auto-recording features, call center administration can measure their agents and call center performance and can take the right course of action to ensure quality services. This feature is also important for training and coaching purposes.
5. SMS Tracking & Voice or Email Transcription
Sometimes, messages get lost in communication on calls. However, companies can utilize the potential of an SMS tracking feature to monitor messages sent to or received from prospects or leads. They can also figure out some messages that can be converted into automatic scripts so the company can send them to customers in case customers are not able to receive calls. Call center software also enables agents to get the transcript of calls and online chats. This facility further helps in quality control and customer engagement.
6. Real-Time Analytics & Reporting
Call centers use multiple communication channels to communicate with customers. With real-time reporting features, administration can get detailed reports of their call center performance and agents. They can get information about the number of calls made or received, call duration and their quality. This insight helps businesses to make date-backed decisions and fix general issues with their call center team of agents.
7. Flexibility & Versatility
Contact center software provides flexibility when your team works from remote locations of the virtual call center. This is because it does not need a complex setup, costly hardware or wide office space. Moreover, call center software keeps the ability to adapt to any industry ranging from real estate to education and insurance. Call centers can use this technology to streamline telemarketing, sales, support and more processes.
Which Call Center Type is Best For Your Business?
Investing in contact center software is indeed a big deal. Thus, before moving ahead to invest in the solution that fits best for your business, you should know the difference between cloud-based and on-premises call centers.
1. On-Premises Software
Legacy, traditional or on-premises software needs in-house servers to operate while companies keep these servers in physical locations. Moreover, experts manually manage IT updates and maintenance on-site. Shortly, companies have full control over on-site contact center software. They utilize local phone lines instead of internet connection to manage inbound and outbound calls. Landlines offer better phone call quality than cloud-based software and do not need a stable internet connection to work. This software is a good solution for those companies looking to get full control over their software or want to ensure the security of their customer information.
2. Cloud-Based Call Center Solution
They are more flexible, cheaper and scalable solutions that serve as an alternative to on-premises software. Furthermore, this software is a good choice for companies working remotely or have tighter budgets. Companies do not need physical space for keeping in-house servers or other hardware as the cloud stores all the data. They don’t have to pay the maintenance costs required in on-premises software. As cloud-based systems do not need a physical location, companies can employ their agents anywhere around the globe. They can also appoint agents other than their time zones to provide round-the-clock support.
Final Thoughts
Call center management is a process of managing routine call center operations like incoming and outgoing calls. These operations range from scheduling appointments, employee training, reporting and managing customer interaction during incoming and outgoing calls. The right Call Center Management Software gives you control over leads and allows you to offer enhanced customer experience. Cherry Berry UCM can assist you in achieving your dream of managing your incoming and outgoing calls efficiently. Call us today to meet our experts and take your business to the next level.
