Phone calls remain an effective way to interact with clients. Many customers still prefer speaking with an agent over other digital communication techniques. Companies can ensure that contact centers have productive interactions by using customer calling software.
Key Takeaways:
- Customer calling software is the best way for companies to access contact center functionality quickly and cost-efficiently.
- The best software has CRM integration, external routing, call monitoring, and automation features.
- The software should also permit cloud calling, gathering analytics, managing outbound campaigns, and omnichannel support.
Discover more about customer calling software and its essential features.
What Is Customer Calling Software?
These software platforms are full of features to handle the needs of a company’s contact center. The program permits organizations to process a large number of calls, whether inbound or outbound. Additional features assist in monitoring the interactions and improving the customer experience.
This solution is ideal because it levels the playing field for small businesses. Contact center capabilities were once only the domain of large companies that could pay for the infrastructure and employees to do the work. On-premises centers require office buildings, local equipment, technicians to maintain the hardware, and in-office employees to work the phones.
Call center software gives any business the benefits of a contact center without a sizable investment. Discover nine of the top features.
What Are the Top Features of an Excellent Customer Calling Software?
Customer calling software is best as part of an integrated contact center as a software solution. Look for a CCaaS that has the following features.
1. Customer Relationship Management Integration
A CRM system has become essential for businesses to provide superior customer service. This software allows a company to organize contact data, segment customers, and manage all communications with prospects and clients.
Sales teams and support centers need to be able to access CRM to track the customer journey and follow up on issues. Manually importing and exporting data is tedious and can lead to errors. Integrated CCaaS solutions speed up the process and give a company better access to customer information.
2. External Routing Capabilities
Clients can have issues any time of day, so customer calling software must be able to direct calls to an external contact center, phone, or voicemail when agents are not available. This feature is particularly useful during outages.
3. Call Monitoring and Assistance
Training new agents through simulations and practice is valuable, but nothing compares to real-life interaction with a customer. Supervisors need the tools to monitor and assist agents with calls, which a high-quality customer calling software permits.
Supervisors can listen to calls without the agent or caller being aware, giving them an accurate depiction of how well an agent is doing and common obstacles. Whisper functionality lets trainers coach agents during a call without the other person knowing. Barge features permit supervisors to join an active call to assist when necessary.
4. Automatic Call Distribution
Customer calling software proves to be much more effective than traditional call centers, where agents receive the calls on a first-come, first-served basis. With ACD, a company can employ skill-based call routing.
The system will recognize a previously registered incoming number and send the caller to an agent who has experience with the client’s type of product or a previous history of working with the client. ACD allows for a more personalized support experience that pleases customers.
5. Business Intelligence Through Analytics
Cloud-based contact centers let organizations log metrics, examine the information, and generate reports. A company can determine crucial factors such as the following:
- Average customer time in queues
- Cost per contact
- Call abandonment rate
- Average call length
- Agent idle time
Customer calling software can discover where problems occur in the customer service process, assisting companies in knowing how to adjust operations for greater efficiency. Using the platform for increased business intelligence is a win-win.
Video Embed: What is Business Intelligence (BI) and Why is it Important?
6. Outbound Campaign Management
Businesses that use call campaigns for outreach can stay efficient with features like automatic dialing and click-to-call. An auto dialer calls the next number in a list when an agent completes a call, reducing downtime. The software can help agents call at optimal times by scheduling calls by the time zones and workday hours of the targets.
When agents must select targets manually, click-to-call eliminates dialing mistakes. Agents can click the person or organization they wish to contact and avoid losing time because of inputting digits manually.
7. Cloud Calling Abilities
Modern customer calling software needs to permit softphone voiceover internet solutions that let agents work from anywhere. Remote work helps companies save money on office space and calling equipment. With hosted VoIP, companies can hire quality agents from various locations and scale more quickly with practically unlimited lines.
8. Interactive Voice Response
IVR boosts efficiency by greeting inbound callers with an automated response. A menu with prompts allows individuals to specify the department or individual they wish to connect to. A caller could also use prompts to indicate the nature of the call.
IVR can also share the estimated wait time and direct callers to possible solutions through the website or chat. An automated IVR system provides callers with quicker attention and saves on staffing needs.
9. Omnichannel Support
Though phone calls are still very popular, a contact center needs to assist customers through every channel. Customer calling software integrates seamlessly with chat, email, social media, and website contact with customers.
No matter how a person interacts with a company, an excellent CCaaS can capture information from the individual and preserve the information in one location, allowing agents and representatives to access necessary details in one convenient spot. Omnichannel support provides one more method of delivering impressive, personalized service.
Where Can You Get the Top Customer Calling Software?
The right contact center software has the power to boost your business to greater heights. Get a quote or speak with one of the experts at Intermedia to learn more about Contact Center, a customer calling software with all of these valuable features and more.
Mariel Santos
Mariel Santos is the Director of Marketing Communications at Intermedia
February 6, 2023
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