Did you know that 60% of consumers switch brands due to a bad contact center experience? The link between post-sales service and customer experience is vivid. If your support staff is helpful, your customers will be loyal. If not, you’ve already read what can happen.
Now, 60% isn’t a small metric either. You can’t afford to lose patrons at such a large scale. It’s on your shoulders to ensure each customer experience is top-notch. The best way to do so right now is to have robust call center phone systems.
In case you didn’t know this either, voice assistance is still the king of all customer support. In fact, the same study above from Calabrio stated that 80% of customers preferred phone service as their primary support option. Each support experience you create with customers is vital to their loyalty and retention.
To help you learn the importance of call center phone systems in companies, we’ll cover all you need to know about them! You can also use Oppuous’s consultation services and access our marketplace of 1000+ solutions to find the perfect call center phone systems for your brand.
What are Call Center Phone Systems?
At its core, call center phone systems help you route inbound and outbound calls, directing customers or prospects to appropriate agents.
In this setup, when your business receives a call, the phone system lets users provide their information, which is then matched with your CRM system, storing the entire history of a client.
From there, the call center software connects the customer or prospect to the agent, which improves efficiency, given that the agent would be much more focused on resolving the issue rather than data entry.
There are also specifically designed systems such as on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid call center phone systems. The right call center solution allows you to handle high volumes of calls efficiently and automate your call distribution process.
Meanwhile, advanced call center phone systems provide multiple features including call recording, dashboard and analytics, voicemail, multiple phone numbers and more.
Why Your Business Needs a Call Center Phone System
Time to dive deeper into “why” you need call center phone systems. It’s crucial for you to know exactly how these tools drive sales and revenue. Having said that, let’s explore five benefits of using call center phone systems.
Improve Service Speed
The first (and most obvious) reason to have call center phone systems is speed. These tools allow your team to use features like call routing to direct incoming calls to the right agent. This isn’t very time-consuming either. To route calls, users simply have to toggle settings and add pre-set rules.
These rules will define where inbound calls should be sent. There’s also the option to use AI and take things one step further. With AI-powered interactive voice response (IVR), customers can easily get any necessary information and/or connect to a live available agent.
Quick routing means quick resolutions. When your customers connect with agents within seconds, they can resolve any raised issues in a jiffy. This improves overall customer experience and productivity. Maintaining a good customer satisfaction record will lead to more trust, loyalty, and upsells.
Ensure Data is Secured
Protecting your consumers’ sensitive data is by far the biggest responsibility on you. One act of negligence can create havoc. We won’t even go over mishaps like the one Yahoo faced in 2013.
The good news is modern call center phone systems aren’t so naive. They store personal info on dedicated servers or the cloud. Only appropriate agents are then allowed to access customer data. Certain call center phone systems also let you restrict access and choose which employees can view data.
For more assurance, you can check whether or not the software complies with the latest security regulations. Or, you can skip the legwork and visit the Oppuous marketplace here. We host 600+ service providers who keep all their solutions in check with current data regulations and acts.
Track Employee Performance
No, we’re not trying to promote micromanagement here. However, knowing whether support teams are doing their job right is important. Using a versatile cloud-based call center software will let you track each customer interaction.
This helps you learn which agents are performing well and those who could use more training. In fact, this is also beneficial for your marketing team. Getting metrics from contact center software will help you analyze things like customer behavior and call volume.
You can always make improvements and have tabs on all your customer support center operations. If anything, this alerts your agents that you have eyes on every move. Quite handy for times when someone decides to slack on the job.
Do Everything Under One Roof
Calling the support team is a customer’s first instinct. However, this doesn’t mean they won’t use other channels for communication. A great merit of using a call center phone system is that it lets you talk to your customers from any medium.
These can include:
- SMS
- Social Media
Having everything in one place means you don’t have to pay extra cash for subscriptions and maintenance. Plus, it’s always good to have a holistic view of queries and respond to them promptly. Your agents won’t waste time switching to other applications or managing multiple desktops. A win-win situation for everyone!
Save Some Bucks
When we say save bucks, we don’t mean a couple of hundred, but thousands! You’re reading that correctly. The beauty of using software as a service (SaaS) platforms is that they’re cheap to maintain ….wait for it, without any compromise on service quality!
All cloud-based call center phone systems are only software and can connect with any headset your agents use. In case things go south, you can use a self-serve portal or get remote assistance.
Additionally, call center phone systems allow you to scale at a low price. This means even if you hire extra workers during peak seasons, you don’t have to buy new physical phones. Instead, all you need to do is increase the number of users on your software monthly package.
Once you’re done, you can go back to the normal number of users. Updates are easy since they’re sent online. So say goodbye to upgrading costly physical phones!
How Call Center Phone Systems Have Transformed Customer Support
Over the years, we’ve seen many changes to customer support. From normal telephone complaints, customer query booths in stores, and the PBX phone revolution to the call center phone systems we have today.
Here’s how businesses have transferred modern-day customer care with call center phone systems.
Call Recording
Back in the day, if it was raining, you couldn’t even hear the other person over the phone, let alone record them. Today, support teams can easily record every interaction with customers and prospects alike.
Using CRM integrations on call center phone systems, they can even create a persona for their target audience. Recordings also let managers close the gap of improper service. With the power to analyze each call, higher-ups can train agents and help them provide better and more personalized services.
With regular practice, you can instill a sense of trust within your patrons on how your support team is not just about getting rid of a problem quickly but is always present to help the other person.
Address Common Issues Quickly
How many times have different customers asked the same thing? We know it can get quite monotonous for service agents when people have similar queries as others. Usually, the ideal move is to take your time and address the concern, right?
Wrong!
For repeated problems, you can create a set of responses that clearly answer the question. Many call center phone systems allow teams to chat in real time while helping customers. Leverage this feature!
Ask agents to list which query is brought up the most. Create content that answers it in a way that satisfies the general audience. Rinse, repeat.
This is why it’s always a good idea to buy call center phone systems that are packed with collaboration features. You can also take this further with AI, but we’ll cover that in detail later on.
Backup for Downtime
No business likes downtime. However, that doesn’t mean we ignore and let it do its thing every time. Using advanced call center phone systems, teams can send company-wide alerts on any potential disruption in service.
In fact, this is where you can consider getting multiple call center phone systems as long as they fit within your budget. Keep one as your main way of communication and the other as a backup source in case things go south.
As they say, “Prevention is better than cure.” By preventing downtime, you can ensure that your customer service hours are never at stake.
Even if you encounter a problem, you’ll always have secondary options to rely on while your IT guys fix things up.
Gain Instant Feedback
How do you know your agents are doing their job well? Sure, you can hear call recordings, but you can only judge conversations on what you think is right. This is where feedback is most important.
In reality, there’s no way to know whether your team’s doing good or not unless you hear it straight from the people you serve.
Wait, how do I ask thousands of people their opinions at once?
We’re glad you asked. Of course, call center phone systems can’t show you the opinion of all customers at once. Here’s when you can add a little extra segment at the end of each service call and ask customers about their opinion on the agent, their helpfulness, and overall experience.
Overall, just be genuine in your approach. Remember, don’t force this onto others. Not everyone may be available to provide feedback at the moment.
To tackle this, you can consider other ways of getting feedback, like:
- Sending emails asking for feedback
- Gifting coupons via mail/SMS in exchange
Once you have substantial data, use CRM integrations available with your current call center phone systems and add feedback provided by customers to work on them in the future.
Leveraging the Power of AI
Gone are the days when your website would only be used to explore your brand and services. However, with call center phone systems today, businesses can harness artificial intelligence (AI) and create extra support mediums such as chatbots and virtual assistants (VAs).
All a visitor ever has to do is interact with your chatbot/VA, and they’ll be given instant service. This comes in really handy when you’re dealing with a plethora of queries. Thanks to continuous learning algorithms, your chatbots/VAs will monitor patterns and find ways to improve.
Moreover, AI can even provide agents with suggestive responses for a particular customer. By hearing and analyzing live interactions, AI systems can provide agents with the knowledge base they need to resolve an issue.
Using AI is also helpful in implementing automated skills-based routing. They can easily transfer any call to the best-suited agent depending on factors such as keywords or language.
For instance, a Russian-speaking customer will automatically be connected to an agent who knows the language.
Is Scalability Important in Call Center Phone Systems?
The answer is always YES! All successful call center phone systems and teams have one thing in common— proper investment. With proper investments, you can keep improving your call center agents and improve the type of service they provide with appropriate training.
Overall, it’s a good way to ensure that you don’t make last-minute hasty decisions to onboard short-term freelance/contract agents that end up costing you much more.
How Can You Scale Your Current Call Center Phone System?
Once in place, your business will be required to upgrade with the new workload. Here are some ways to scale your call center phone system.
Monitor Data That Matters
A lot of times, you’ll see managers evaluating metrics they don’t even need. There’s no point in listening to every single conversation between your agents and customers. What’s really going to matter are specific KPIs in call center phone systems. These include:
- First Call Resolution: The foremost priority for any support team is their ability to resolve an issue within the first attempt. If your team is lacking in resolving problems within the first call, then you can take further action, such as training sessions.
- Pick-up Times: While it’s not important to pick up calls on the first ring, you should ensure that your agents are answering calls in under 30 seconds. If not, then consider adding more agents to your call center phone systems.
- Peak Hours: Every business has its peak hours when customer complaints/queries flood in. Analyze the days and times when customers call your helpline the most, and make sure that you have as many agents as possible to attend every call.
Onboard More Agents
The oldest trick in the book to scale not just call center phone systems but any business process is to have more people work on it. Although, this doesn’t mean that you should hire a hundred agents out of the blue.
Let every batch of agents spend at least a quarter in your company before hiring others. This helps your current team get a good idea of your brand values and goals. When you’ve got enough long-term agents, you can consider adding more to the team.
Additionally, try making the hiring process easier via online documentation and knowledge base. Rather than your employees spending hours teaching potential recruits, you can direct everyone to a single source for obtaining any information about your company.
Keep Integrations a Priority
All call center phone systems work best when paired with other applications that take assistance up a notch. Tools such as Zoom, Slack, Google Drive, and HubSpot are just some of the many applications that work in great conjunction with call center phone systems.
This is where you should consider getting call center software that provides a wide range of integrations with multiple types of platforms, such as UCaaS, CPaaS, and IaaS.
Introduce Automation
Imagine all your agents getting the information they need within seconds. This is exactly what automation provides to call center phone systems. Once implemented, automation features allow your agents to focus on the conversation better while getting all relevant info stored on your CRM (customer name, address, preferences, etc) instantly.
Automation opens the doors for your agents to provide more personalized services and is a great time-saver for businesses.
How Can Businesses Optimize Call Phone Phone Systems?
To improve customer satisfaction and engagement simultaneously, businesses have to learn how they can optimize call center phone systems. It’s no rocket science, either. As long as you can implement features that align with your customer goals, you’ll be good to go.
Let’s look at two examples and learn how businesses can optimize their current call center phone systems.
Make Queues
Instead of making your customers listen to elevator-level music, you can hold queues and provide the option to leave a message. Once your customers do so, they’ll be contacted immediately once an agent is available again.
The beauty of this call-back feature is that with modern-day call center phone systems such as Dialpad, you can take it one step further. Platforms like Dialpad let your customers leave a text and allow you to set the duration for every queue before people are redirected to leave a voice/text message.
Keep Track of Performance
Every week/month, try comparing your best agents’ performance. It’s key to note that while call center phone systems may be machines, agents are not. They’re human beings who may perform well one day and horrible the other.
With performance tracking, you can view which agent is currently struggling and provide any assistance before their quality of service lowers more. This way, you keep quality management (QM) under control while also ensuring that workers don’t experience silent burnout.
Make or Break Your Biz With Call Center Phone Systems
Overall, call center phone systems can make or break your business if not managed properly. Having a robust channel of customer support can be your ace card to retain customers. Although, with an abundance of options out there, it is crucial to pick one that meets your requirements, satisfies customers, and is within budget.
To find the best call center phone systems that help you achieve all of the above, visit the Oppuous marketplace today!
