Business-related interactions and company proceedings are increasingly becoming online, taking into account the convenience and safety of the virtual platforms. Taking into account this dynamic shift, it has become increasingly important to embrace new, improved, and more efficient methods of communicating with customers. Call center Softwares provide an easier and better interface to interact with customers.

What is a Call Center Software?

A Call Center Software is a system that will allow your company to manage and maintain multiple channels of communication like calls, emails, messaging, and WhatsApp. It will also automate the flow of incoming calls through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems.

 

Especially for companies and Communication channels that receive a heavy flow of traffic every day, it is not possible to manually manage all communication. A Call Center Software makes it easier by using Interactive Voice Response systems to create recorded greetings, prepare answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and create various menu options. A Call Center Software is to be connected with a CRM dialer to automate the flow of calls.

 

Another important thing to note is that Call Center Softwares do not always need a separate office building to be set up, you can set them up at home as well. For this, you can go for Call Center work from home software solutions.

 

Apart from a Call Center Software, you might also want to set up a Telemarketing software to reach out to your customers better.

Why Should You Set Up A Call Center Software?

A Call Center Software is the key infrastructure for customer interaction. Proper service management helps in maintaining efficiency, and customer calls give you in-depth knowledge about your operational issues. This helps you to improve even further and serve your customers better. Good Telemarketing software will allow you to manage Communications smoothly and prepare in advance for peak hours. This means that you will be able to work efficiently regardless of if you opt for business Call Center Software or Call Center work from home software solutions.

How To Set Up A Call Center Software?

A Call Center Software can be set up in different ways depending upon your workspace.

For business:

 

1. Determine your needs and choose the type of call center you require:

Three types of Call Center systems are currently available. Depending upon the nature of your business, choose the Call Center system that suits you best:

 

• Inbound: This type of software is designed to receive and manage incoming calls- answering Frequently Asked Questions, and others.
• Outbound: This type of software is designed to make outgoing calls, mainly to push sales.
• Blended: This software is designed to both receive incoming calls and make outgoing calls as and when required.

 

2. Decide how you want the callers to access your agents:

 

• Do you need IVR?

You might choose to connect callers to agents directly or via an Interactive Voice Response system. If you choose to go for the latter, decide if you want to provide just a greeting to the customer, or menu options as well.

• Do you want to go for Self Service?

There are some customer requests that can be handled by IVR itself, like basic inquiries, cancelling reservations, etc, so might not choose to direct these calls to an agent.

• Decide the SOP for after-office hours or shifts

If your company has the same working hours for all, you may choose to divert the after-hours calls to voicemail. If your company provides 24×7 support, you can divert the calls to the next shift of agents.

 

3. Create Agent IDs:

It is highly recommended that you use a CRM Dialer. If you choose to do so, it is advisable to keep the agent IDs the same as the CRM IDs to make the process of integration easier and faster.

 

4. Define Skill groups:

Call Centers connect calls to agents depending upon the customer query or issue at hand. For this process to be successful, agents would need to be divided into various skill groups depending upon their specializations or permissions. For example, a staff with proper knowledge about the refund policy will be allotted to answer such queries.

 

5. Decide upon ACD logic:

ACD refers to Automatic Call Distribution. This system becomes extremely beneficial during peak hours. It maintains a proper balance of workload by distributing calls equitably among the different agents. A web-based call center means that the agents could be located anywhere, but still the process would be carried out properly.

Consider the following factors before setting up your ACD logic:

• Decide Queue Reprioritisation: You would be aiming to keep queues and waiting times as short as possible for all customers. However, you might have some special, valued customers and might want to have their concerns addressed before moving on to the others. If you’re using a CRM Dialer, you can use CRM integration to identify such customers and push them to the top of the queue. Or, you might choose to redirect them to a specially assigned skill group of agents.
• Decide upon sticky agents: If you have some customers that call frequently, you might want to assign them to a particular agent. This way, every time the customer calls, he will be directed to the same agent. This will lead to the development of an understanding and hence an improved level of customer satisfaction.
• Choose your distribution system: The calls that are not being prioritized or redirected to sticky agents will need to be sent to other call center agents. For this, you would need to select a distribution system.

 

6. Decide upon the data Format for your dialers:

This step is only required if you have chosen an outbound or a blended call center software, to set up your dialer. If, for example, you have a CRM Dialer, you will need to “explain” to your dialer about your data format. Your dialer will then understand and be able to automatically locate the list of phone numbers that need to be when you run your outbound campaigns.

 

7. Select a method to gather customer feedback:

Collecting customer feedback and evaluating customer satisfaction levels might provide valuable insight into how you might improve your functioning.

 

Similarly, for those who want to set up a work from home call center, the steps are easy. You just need to designate your office space, set up your phone and computer systems, and decide upon your office furniture.

 

There are many call center Softwares available to help you to set up your own call center either for office or for work from home, like Algorithm solutions. Algorithm Solutions is an integrated, hosted Call Center Software that provides easy CRM integration, telemarketing software, and Call Center work from home software solutions.

How to Choose the Best Call Center Software for Yourself?

Before you choose a call center software, look out for the following features:

 

1. The Software must be adaptable:

Always keep in mind that you might have one kind of requirement at the current moment, but they can easily change in the future. The fast pace of technological advancements means that you need to be ever ready to adopt new industry trends. Your call center software must have provisions to evolve following your needs. One way to achieve this is to choose “No-code” tools, that is, tools that allow you to change services without programming skills.

 

2. The software should allow automation:

Cutting down on manual labor and relying more on technology to get work done is going to be the way of the future. This method will allow you to effectively cut costs. But, cutting down on the physical workforce means reassigning their work. Thus, you would need to automate certain tasks like data entry. The software should have provisions to allow this shift.

 

3. Call Center Software should be user friendly:

Being user friendly does not necessarily mean that the software has to be more vibrant and colorful. What matters is, how smoothly and quickly the tasks are being completed. An ideal user-friendly call center software is one that makes complex tasks as seamlessly easy to do as the simpler tasks.

 

4. The software should be able to work with other systems:

It doesn’t make sense if you are paying for a call center software but still having to scour databases manually for customer data. Your call center software should be compatible with other systems. A lot of the automation would be easily handled if your software can be integrated with and can work in sync with other systems for effective data sharing.

 

5. The software should be reliable:

The efficiency of the work done depends upon the reliability of the call center software. One of the worst defects that a call center software can have is low-quality audio. This can disrupt the flow of work. So make sure to do proper background checks before you purchase a call center software.

Conclusion:

We can infer that a call center can make your customer interaction experience smoother and faster. However, there are tons of call center Softwares to choose from, and if not chosen carefully, they can also disrupt the flow of work. You need to make a wise and informed decision to ensure that your company makes progressive growth.