Industries across the world are modernising at a frenzied pace as technology is quickly changing the way many companies work.
Contact centres - a core component of customer service for many companies - aren't far behind. Features of call centre technology like interactive voice response or skills-based routing are encouraging businesses to upgrade their phone systems so that they can leverage the applications that come with them.
Shift in philosophy
There's a change in corporate philosophy taking place in some of the world's most respected organisations. For years many businesses were strictly product-driven, especially during the infancy of personal computers and other devices. But, as more companies entered the game, the consumer become priority No. 1.
The customer experience has become priority No. 1.
While more buyers take into account the complete cycle of purchasing a product, enterprises have come to understand that customer experience plays a big role in providing long-term value. Simply put: Nobody wants to be on the phone for hours and not receive an answer to their problem.
Understanding this shift, many call centre managers have adopted new business phone systems that help make their employees' job responsibilities easier through leveraging intuitive software.
Ushering in a new era
While larger companies can invest in a vast infrastructure to accommodate the growing needs of consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses have to work with limited resources. Because of this, certain features can hold immense value.
For example, some of the advantages of interactive voice response are:
- Uniform voice menu for every caller.
- Extended hours of customer service with help of automated responses.
- Handle higher call volumes.
But interactive voice response on its own isn't what's elevating the productivity, efficiency and overall ability of call centre employees. The most effective platforms will also offer innovative functionality like skills-based routing, which gives management the ability to assign the majority of calls in real-time to experienced agents, allowing trainees to progress at their own speed.
Interactive voice response provides a number of advantages for call centres.Many industries are using technology to provide data and metrics on performance, but those figures have been limited in contact centres in the past. New business phone systems give management an intuitive dashboard that shows streaming statistics on key areas like available agents or call quality, and also allows them to hop on calls and immediately start recording for training purposes.
As we enter a new age where premier customer experience can make or break a company's annual revenue, call centres will need improved tools to deliver on a consistent basis. Contact a Fonality representative today for more information.
