Workforce management tools

In today’s contact center, where the overwhelming majority of ongoing expense is related to staffing, optimizing the personnel resource is critical. Getting the “just right” number of staff in place to answer incoming calls, place outbound calls, respond to emails, and handle web contacts. is critical to call center success and profitability. Overstaffing results in spending needless dollars for additional staff, while understaffing will affect service and have a detrimental effect on morale and contribute to staff turnover.

Call center managers have a wealth of performance and service statistics available to them from the ACD and other contact center technologies. Call volume, time-of-day call distribution, and contact handle times are now available, along with much information about individual and team productivity. All this information can be used to estimate future call volumes, predict how many staff will be required to handle the contacts, and determine schedules that best match the workforce to the contact workload.

The Need Workforce management tools

The changing mix of contact volume, coupled with the growing complexity of staff scheduling (longer operating hours, weekend shifts, mixture of full- and part-time staff, etc.) make the problem of workforce management ideally suited for the computer. Workforce management (WFM) software, combined with the historical and real-time statistics of the ACD, is an essential tool for today’s professionally managed call center.

Workforce management tools are used to keep sales and customer call center resources happy. I am familiar with two separate areas where this is most often used:

1. Salesforce incentive management – assuring that sales and business goals are aligned and that sales staff are properly motivated to deliver the right results and avoid compensation issues and disputes.

2. Call center staff optimization – assuring that resources are properly managed and scheduled to deliver superior customer service, provide incentive, track progress and increase retention.

The basic functions associated with a workforce management software system are as follows:

1. Call volume forecasting. A WFM system uses historical and current call information from the ACD and other contact center systems to predict future call volume based on overall calling trends, seasonal factors, and other predictable calling patterns. Forecasts are automatically updated with new information about contact patterns through a direct interface with contact center systems such as the ACD, outbound dialer, or email/fax servers.
2. Staffing calculations. A telephone traffic engineering technique is used to determine the required number of staff based on the forecast workload for incoming calls. This technique, called Erlang C, takes into account the random arrival of calls into the center, as well as the “hold for the first agent” queuing that typically takes place. Other mathematical models are used to factor in the sequential workload of emails and/or outbound calling.
3. Staff scheduling. “Bodies in chairs” staff requirements along with non-productive time estimates (for breaks, trainings, meetings, etc.) are used to determine a schedule requirement for each half-hour or quarter-hour period. A set of optimal schedules is then created based on these requirements and a call center’s unique scheduling rules and constraints. These schedules are then assigned to staff based shift bid rules and employee preferences.
4. Day-to-day performance tracking. Perhaps the most critical component of a workforce management system is the intra-day comparison of actual performance against the plan. Call center management must actively compare actual workload by half-hour to the forecast, and actual number of staff on the phones to the schedule plan. The call center manager needs to see these changes as they are happening, in order to make necessary adjustments to meet service goals.

Cost Justifying Workforce Management Tools

Not all call centers need an automated system to accomplish workforce management tasks. Need is a function of size and operating complexity. Generally call centers with more than 30 agents with an increasingly complex scheduling environment (round-the- clock operations or an increasing volume of emails/faxes, for example) can cost justify automating these functions.

An automated workforce management system generally produces measurable improvements in the following areas:

1. More efficient scheduling. The savings associated with more efficient scheduling can take many forms, including reduced overall staff hours, reduced need for overtime, and identification of overstaffed periods to offer time off without pay. Workforce management system users generally experience a minimum reduction of staff hours of 2 % and average potential is in the 5 – 10% range.
2. Automation of workforce management tasks. Depending on how often forecasting and scheduling tasks take place and to what degree they are currently automated, there is a wide range of potential savings in staff time by automating these tasks with a full-featured workforce management system. It is generally expected that at least 25% of administrative and managerial time currently devoted to the manual performance of these tasks can be saved.
3. Reduction in workforce shrinkage. Many hours of staff time are lost in most call centers due to excessive amounts of non-productive time (time spent not handling calls). An automated workforce management system can provide historical and real- time information on schedule adherence and schedule exceptions for better management and control of staff, reducing workforce shrinkage by 2-5% in most call centers.
4. Reduction in network costs. By creating a set of schedules that minimizes understaffing as well as overstaffing, implementing workforce management results in a more consistent level of service to callers and may reduce queue time and toll-free network costs.
5. Increased revenues. For call centers that realize revenue by answering calls (catalogs, reservations centers, etc.), workforce management automation can help reduce queue times and improve service, thereby reducing the number of abandons and increasing the number of revenue calls completed.

(To determine an estimated payback period, take the estimated savings from Items 1-5 above for estimated annual savings or divide by 12 for an estimated monthly savings in the first year of implementation. The payback period on such a system can be calculated by dividing the one-time purchase price by the average monthly savings.)

In addition to these measurable cost savings, there are many intangible benefits. Perhaps the biggest of these is the addition of a sophisticated “what-if” planning capability that allows management to forecast and plan staff needs for the short term to respond to unexpected changes, as well as long-term budgeting and planning.

Selection Guidelines

Organizations considering a workforce management purchase should heed the following guidelines:

1. Cast a large net. Invite all qualified vendors to present their products. Insist on a detailed demonstration and ask lots of questions about how the package would work in meeting your center’s specific mode of operation
2. Talk to others that have done it. At a minimum, talk to four or five other organizations similar to yours (in size, type of operation, ACD brand) that have implemented a system.
3. Consider the support capabilities of each vendor. Workforce management software systems are not simple, off-the-shelf packages.
4. Don’t suffer “sticker shock”. Prices for workforce management systems cover a wide range, depending on whether you are considering a single module, or a comprehensive integrated system. Some of the more comprehensive packages may seem expensive, but don’t lose sight of the fact that each agent employee may have a fully burdened cost of anywhere from $30,000 – $50,000 annually. Saving just a couple of employees’ labor expenses can quickly justify the most expensive package.
5. Plan for a successful implementation. During the purchase process, it is critical to communicate and motivate everyone in the center to participate in the process. While implementing workforce management results in a more efficient operation and a less stressful environment in the long run, it is important to realize that such an implementation may mean a cultural change for agents, supervisors, and management in the short term.

Accomplishing Profitability and Service Objectives

Whether large or small, the objective of every contact center is to accomplish the most work at the highest level of service at the lowest cost. This objective is achieved through workforce management. The larger the workforce, the more complex the task, and the more suited the problem is for automation.

Not only do automated systems save substantial management and clerical time, but they can also reduce personnel costs dramatically by optimizing the staffing resource. Benefits include a more precise forecast of future call volumes showing peaks and valleys of calls, exact determination of staff needed for each period minimizing overstaffing and understaffing, and the ability to monitor call center performance and make adjustments as needed within the day. The end result is the ability to handle more calls at a better level of service to the caller at a reduced cost.

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Call Centers India Inc.
Posted by: Sales & Marketing Team

Contact Management tools

These tools enhance Outlook by providing connections to Exchange Server Public Folders, databases and other contact management applications. Now first Describe the point–

What is Microsoft Outlook and why we used?

Microsoft Outlook 2000 is a “groupware” application particularly designed to enhance groupcollaboration. When used with a server running MS Exchange software, account holders share aglobal address book so that they can find and contact others easily. Global distribution lists canbe created for sub-groups such as departments or project teams. Public folders can be createdwhere groups can store and share data and use a common calendar.

Users can view free and busy times on each other’s calendars, send and receive appointments, setup meetings without having to call or exchange e-mails. They can designate others to bedelegates on their behalf and give permission for them to manage their mail or calendar.

Do not confuse Outlook with Outlook Express. Microsoft Outlook Express is the free Internetmail and news program that comes with Internet Explorer. Microsoft Outlook is a full groupware program that works with the Microsoft Exchange server.Some can be adapted not just for sales force automation, but also for project tracking and help desk.

Contact Management tools :

24-7 PersonalCRM	Customer relationship tool that integrates mail, contacts, workflow, and lead management. Also features spam blocking, customizable templates, automatic creation of contacts from incoming messages.
Account Tracking	Unsupported Microsoft sample form application.
ACCPAC CRM	Web and WAP-enabled customer relationship management application with two-way Outlook integration for contacts, calendar, and tasks.
ACT!	Contact manager, integrated with Outlook for e-mail, calendar, task, and activity functions. Includes tracking of outgoing faxes, merge to HTML mail with attachments, ability to view ACT! contact databases in Outlook address book. Contact databases can be shared.
ADAPTcrm	Multi-featured CRM system with two-way, live synchronization with Outlook. Back end is either Microsoft SQL Server or Pervasive.SQL. SDK available.
Add2Exchange for Contacts	Exchange add-on, enterprise-wide Outlook contact folder synchronization solution which synchronizes any combination of Outlook contact folders- private (mailbox) and public (group). For mobility, this solution works with any PDA, Pocket PC (cradled/wireless) or Smartphone and Outlook Web Access.
Advocate 2002	Case and billing management software that integrates with Outlook 2000’s contacts, calendar, tasks and mail.
BizAutomation CRM	Customer relationship management application built on Outlook and Exchange 2000, with sales force automation, customer service, and marketing and campaign management modules. Supports access via Outlook, web browser, or Pocket Outlook on a PocketPC PDA. Integrates with QuickBooks Pro 2003. Available either for in-house installation or by subscription as a hosted application. Version 2, now supports Exchange 2003.
Business Contact Manager	CRM add-in for Outlook 2003 included in retail and volume license versions of Microsoft Office 2003 Professional and Small Business Edition. Also see:  Business Contact Manager FAQ  Introducing Business Contact Manager  Support WebCast Introduction to Business Contact Manager
CallPlan CRM for Outlook	CallPlan extends the usefulness of Outlook’s Contacts to provide true CRM, and organizes tasks, opportunities, e-mail messages and documents in one efficient application. Use one tool, within Outlook, not separate tools for CRM, task management, and document organization.
ContactGenie DataPorter	A contact import and automated distribution tool for Microsoft Outlook 2000/2003 enabling processing of new contact information as it’s received. Supports Outlook custom forms, user-defined fields, user-defined input record selection and contact updates/deletions with field update options. Supports all major file formats including Microsoft SQL, MySQL, XML, and Outlook contact folders. Can be run via command line for unattended scheduled operation. Available in Pro, Personal, and Remote editions.
ContactGenie Importer	Import tool for Outlook contacts that lets you set up multiple field mapping templates to handle the Excel, Access, Visual FoxPro, dBase, or delimited text files that you import regularly. Can handle user-defined fields, import from Access queries or linked tables, and perform unattended imports on a schedule.
FootPrints for Exchange	Issue management solution for Exchange that could be used for a help desk, customer relationship management, software development, or other applications where you need to track “issues” and their resolution. User interface is via the web or custom Outlook forms. Connects to Exchange GAL and Active Directory, uses Exchange to send updates and alerts, and stores its data in SQL Server or Access. Web-based calendar can send and synchronize appointments with Outlook.
Gold-Vision	Customer relationship management application based on Outlook, Exchange, SQL Server and Internet Information Server. (Formerly CRM-Vision)
GoPro CRM	Customer relationship and case management system for Exchange 2000 for handling client interactions from phone calls to documents. WAP add-in for mobile access also available.
MX-Contact	Customer relationship management system for Outlook using Exchange public folders, structured like a relational database. Handles contacts, appointments, tasks, journal items, documents, and mail messages, as well as companies and opportunities. Can automatically copy contacts that a user owns from the public folder to the user’s mailbox Contacts folder. Includes tool to import into Excel for reporting, plus pre-defined Crystal Reports reports.
OfficeClip	Set of intranet collaboration applications that offer synchronization with Outlook. Available for local server installation and as a hosted application.
ONYX Connect for Microsoft Outlook	Integrates Microsoft Outlook’s scheduling and contact management with the ONYX Customer Center tool for managing, sharing, and viewing all customer information.
Opportunity Manager	Customer relationship manager tool for Exchange 5.5 SP4 or Exchange 2000 to manage contacts and track incoming and outgoing messages, appointments and documents. Pipeline module controls the sales process. Includes time tracking and reports, plus indexed search to find data in both documents (including .zip archives) and Outlook items. Software development kit available. In English, Danish and German. Does not trigger the Outlook Email Security Update prompts.
OutBooks	Connects Outlook 2000 or 2002 to a QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Accountant 2002 database so you can send bulk mails, create Outlook contacts and distribution lists from QuickBooks customers, and create appointments, tasks, and journal entries for QuickBooks customers.
OutlookCRM	Outlook-based company/customer relationship management tool adding a custom toolbar and digital dashboard to the Outlook interface. Based totally on Exchange public folders (or for single users, Personal Folders .pst files), so all data is available offline. Provides synchronization between public task and calendar folders and users’ personal folders, mail merge, consistent categorization, and customized searches. Separate OutlookCRM Reporter tool transfers data to Access for report development. New features include support for Outlook 2003, customizable toolbar, automatic folder synchronization, enhanced mail merge, and attachment processing.
OutlookInside	Contact management tool for Outlook 2000 or later, storing information in an Access database. Tracks correspondence and other items, and shares that data with everyone in the organization. Can associate any contact with any company. Performs merges to Word and keeps a record of the documents created. Maintains a group calendar collating colleagues’ appointments.
Pivotal Relationship 99	Customer relation tool based using Outlook, SQL Server and Exchange Server. Heavy emphasis on the needs of mobile users. Separate SyncStream for Outlook tool also supports offline users.
Prophet	Prophet is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook users which allows users to take advantage of Outlook’s task, calendar, contact and email features while adding sales tools such as opportunity management, sales reporting, and information sharing/collaboration. Version 3.0
Public Contact After Reply	Public Contact after Reply for Outlook (Public CAR) is an addin for Outlook which automatically creates an Outlook contact after you reply to an email. Free.
QwikQuote	Generate customized sales quotations that include Outlook data, and link the quotes back to the Outlook contact. Can be networked to maintain a central price list and generate unique quotation numbers to multiple users.
Real Estate Management System	Manage real estate contacts, property locations, and campaigns from within Outlook.
RealLegal Practice Manager	Comprehensive legal practice management software for managing clients and cases. Workflow items created in the tool appear in Outlook using Exchange Server, and vice versa.
Sales Tracking	Unsupported Microsoft sample form application.
SalesCTRL 2000	Sales force automation database that integrates with Outlook tasks, appointments and mail, plus several accounting packages. Includes capability of doing bulk mail with attachments.
Salesforce.com Microsoft Outlook Edition	Log sent and received email messages and log them into the Salesforce.com hosted customer relationship management service. Users can also keep Outlook contacts, tasks, and activities up to date in Salesforce.com.
Saleslogix	Sales force automation and customer relationship management application using SQL Server or Oracle and providing two-way synchronization with Outlook contacts, tasks and appointments. Can also import messages and link to contacts.

We should include these tools for those that don’t have direct Outlook interfaces but do offer synchronization with Outlook. By these tools we can best utilize of the Outlook’s Utilities and it is more comfortable .

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Call Centers India Inc.
Posted by: Sales & Marketing Team

Call logging systems

As soon as you start looking at any call logging product you are immediately dragged into their literature. Their literature immediately starts shooting out questions such as:

• Which departments make the most calls?
• On average, how long do staff spend on a telephone call?
• Which supplier is cheapest?

Whatever you do, security should be an important consideration. The data emanating from the switchboard can reveal all sorts of detail. What call logging data is available to who is an important, and sometimes neglected, consideration.

Before you start you need some sort of perspective before you get dragged in.
Most suppliers of call loggers concentrate on the economics of the operation and presume that this will be the overriding interest for everybody. This is not always the case. Even a small break of service for organization has the potential of losing his organization thousands of pounds while his traders sit idle.

For commercial organizations, which areas you focus on will depend on the circumstances you find yourself in. It could be that you are involved in a cost cutting exercise and the economics are vital to you. On the other hand if business is booming you may be less interested in costs and need to focus on questions such as “Do I have enough capacity to deal with the current level of traffic the business is generating?” “Are we missing potentially valuable calls?”

The essence of call logging is simple. It is made complicated by the constructs that are placed on it by the user and the carrier.

The following animated graphic depicts call logging and how the various parties contrive to complicate it.

Step. 1 The PABX collects data on the elements depicted in this diagram. When a call is made it records which extension is connected to which trunk line. The PABX also records the digits that were dialed and the date and the time of the call and the duration.
Step. 2 Not many organizations describe themselves solely in terms of extensions. Most organizations describe themselves in terms of the people that work for it and to to an organizational structure as simplistically depicted here.
Step. 3 Extensions are then related to the people.
Step. 4 – Step. 8 The carrier uses the dialled digits to interpret the nature of the call. These digits are used as one parameter to cost the call. Calls can be broadly classified into Local, National, International, Special Rate and Mobile calls
Step. 9 The Carrier further complicates the call costing by varying charges depending on time.

The PABX (or switchboard in common parlance) has some processing capabilities. It is able to switch traffic and keeps track of time. It is essentially on the labelled elements in Step. 1 that that the PABX generates Call Detail Records (CDR’s) also known as SMDR’s (Station Message Detail Records). It captures the dialled digits and may, depending on the make of the PABX, be able to capture the Calling Line Identifier (CLI) for incoming calls. The telecommunications company can pass these details to it. The routing of calls in the above diagram is not always from extension to trunk or vice versa. There is also the possibility of extension to extension, an internal call. Some PABX’s also allow trunk to trunk calls – this is the mechanism used to perpetrate large-scale frauds. Calls can also be transferred either by the originator or the receiver. Add to this the possibility of conference calls and even the definition of what a telephone call is becomes elusive.

The PABX normally generates records as calls are made and received. It sends the details out on, usually, a serial port. This data is then captured by the call logging system.
This is the simple single site model.

The million and one details that we spoke of earlier derive from the constructs that are put on the end of the lines and complexities that have been imposed by telecommunications companies on the passage of time.

The majority of extensions, in most organisations, relate to people. The people in turn are related to an organisational structure. Most call loggers require you to import this detail, thereby giving them the capability to generate reports relating to people or organisational entities. Some extensions are fax machines, while others may be modems – yet more detail that you may choose to report on. Internet access is also an issue; it will depend on the nature of your network whether your PABX generates call records corresponding to your internet access.

The cost of a call is determined by a number of factors. The destination of the call, be it local, regional, national, international, mobile, pagers, personal numbers, special rate services or premium rate services is one factor. The carrier and the service chosen within a carrier are others. The day of the week and the time of the day at which the call is made are yet others. It may be a particular number that attracts a special discount. It could be that with this carrier you have exceeded a certain threshold value for the charge period and all calls are now subject to some discounted rate.

Within each of the factors that affect a call charge that we have identified above there is yet more detail. To illustrate, consider international calls – there are 43 different rates in one carriers service.

If you’re going to run a call logging system the description of your organisational structure, together with employees and their extensions are going to have to be input to the system. Furthermore your external network needs to be described, what trunk lines are connected to which carrier. The system will also need costing tables. You should also recognise that this data needs to be maintained or it will get out of date.
Not All Call Loggers Are The Same!

The essential functions of a call logger are
1. To collect raw data from the PABX
2. To cost the call and add missing details such as destination or origin
3. To provide some sort of reporting capability.

Call logging has been around for a long time – over 20 years. In those days it wasn’t just the 2 bytes of the date that they thought about making savings on; processors were a lot slower as well, and this meant they weren’t as adept at multi-tasking.
The result was that the 3 functions above were often separated, and extra hardware was sometimes added – such as buffer boxes.

The whole ethos of traditional call logging systems has been for the system to sit there and collect data, and then wait for someone to dream up some questions to ask it. This is too passive a role for such systems.

The e-logging philosophy as embodied by Telecost is to act, not as a passive agent in monitoring your telephone system, but to act as an active agent. It monitors the performance of your telephone system in real time and actively informs you, via e-mail or other mechanisms, rather than waiting to be quizzed the much sought after but so rarely attained shift in the paradigm! They’ll all be trying to copy it soon, but we’re not worried we have a significant lead and we’ll be building on it for at least a year

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Call Centers India Inc.
Posted by:Sales &Marketing Team

Computer telephone integration

CTI sells its range of voice solutions via the NEC Global Sales Distribution Network and works closely with NEC in the Asia Pacific, South East Asia, Middle East China South Korea, European, North and South American markets.

Computer telephony integration (CTI) is technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or co-ordinated. As contact channels have expanded from voice to include email, web, and fax, the definition of CTI has expanded to include the integration of all customer contact channels (voice, email, web, fax, etc.) with computer systems.

The following functions can be implemented using CTI:

• Calling-line information display (caller’s number, number dialed, IVR options)
• Screen population on answer, with or without using calling line data.
• On-screen dialing. (Fast dial, preview, and predictive dial.)
• On-screen phone control. (Answer, hang up, hold, conference, etc.)
• Coordinated phone and data transfers between two parties.
• Call center phone control. (Logging on; after-call work notification)
• Advanced functions such as call routing, reporting functions, automation of desktop activities, and multi-channel blending of phone, e-mail, and web requests.
• Agent state control. (For example, after-call work for a set duration, then automatic change to the ready state.)

Forms of CTI

Generally, there are two forms of CTI.

First-party call control
First party call control operates as if there is a direct connection between the user’s computer and the phone set. An example of this would be a modem card in a desktop computer, or a phone plugged directly into the computer. Typically, only the computer associated with the phone can control it, by sending command directly to the phone.
Third-party call control
Third-party call control is more difficult to implement and often requires a dedicated telephony server to interface between the telephone network and the computer network. Third party call control works by sending commands from a user’s computer to a telephony server, which in turn controls the phone centrally.

CTI Application Event Flow
A typical CTI application manages the event flow that is generated by the telephony switch during the lifecycle of a call. This typically proceeds along the following sequence:

• Set up
• Deliver (ringing)
• Establish (answer)
• Clear (hang up)
Other call events that can be handled by a typical CTI solution include the following:

• Hold
• Retrieve from hold
• Conference
• Transfer

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Call Centers India Inc.
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Quality monitoring systems

According to statistics a majority of call center companies still actively ‘live monitor’ agents or use cassette recorders. Now this is designed to move these call center operations into the 21st Century.

Call center quality monitoring , random sample call recording, VoIP recording and 100% call logging are only reliable way to ensure a positive customer experience and now with Many call center size doesn’t prohibit purchasing a solution due to budgetary constraint. They continue to offer the mid to large call center the advantage of quality monitoring at thousands of dollars less than the competition

Quality monitoring systems have reached such sophisticated heights that a customer’s voice can register certain decibel levels indicating anger, foul or harsh language, and even the use of a competitor’s name. This type of call monitoring system alerts a manager so they can intervene and save the call-and keep a customer happy. Call monitoring can run the gamut from recording and evaluating call strengths and weaknesses to calibrating to limit variation in the way performance criteria are interpreted.

Call monitoring is an essential tool to help hold a call center to certain quality standards and to help both parties view those standards the same way. Call monitoring is subjective with many factors having to be considered when judging quality.

Quality monitoring systems Include Screen Capture and eLearning technology Now call center quality monitoring software measures agent performance and skill levels with scheduled recording and monitoring. The system includes QA recording, screen capture, comprehensive and customized agent scoring for total agent evaluation with extensive, management reporting.

Quality includes the following:

• Callcenter record server software
• Callcenter Supervisor Record on Demand (ROD)
• Callcenter agent evaluation with user definable scoring
• Screen Capture for agent desktop video recording (synchronized to audio)
• eLearning Management Technology
• Remote installation
• Remote training

Research shows that the process of monitoring calls in its self is not enough to produce results. Feedback needs to happen in a timely manner and be perceived by the person receiving the feedback as relevant, unbiased, practical and objective.

Added to this the theory taught on training courses does not translate into practice, or tangible results. The primary reason for this appears to be that agents and supervisors have difficulty in adapting and applying the skills developed on training courses into practical everyday situations.

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Call Centers India Inc.

Voice response systems

Efficiently accommodate participant queries about their account values, their requests to change investment options and deferral amounts, to request a loan and check loan balances, or simply to change their Personal Identification Number. Eliminate hours of manual entry with a voice response unit (VRU) from Edify. Relius Administration’s Voice Response System add the services the market demands without adding additional burdensome manual work.

The voice system gives you:

All control of the VRU performed from within the Relius Administration system. Setup of the VRU for a new plan and any modifications for existing plans is simple, and requires no extra waiting or cost. There isn’t any need to be an expert on another software system.
Minimal maintenance. Periodic hard disk backups, and updating your Voice Clips to the database when your options changes are all you need to do.

Customizable menu format. You pre-set the options on a per plan basis. For example, Plan A may allow a participant to request a loan, whereas Plan B may not. Or, for each plan, you can decide how many business days are allowable for a change to be initiated, the service/transaction fees, who gets billed, and more.

The synthesized speech is created from a pool of words that are strung together based on the input of a human operator, and the pool only contains a limited number of words as there are a limited number of combinations of words that are necessary for the train station’s purpose; financial institutions also use voice response systems to aid customers in getting account information over the telephone. The same principle applies here — since the financial institution only needs to provide the caller with a limited amount of information, it does not need to be able to generate spontaneous sentences in response to customer inquiries.

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Call Centers India Inc.

Use predictive dialers; you’ll increase agent productivity within your Call Centers.

If your employees are still manually dialing their telephones to contact customers, you’re not driving maximum revenues per agent. Predictive Dialers have been used in world-class businesses for years to increase sales, live contacts, or collections – anywhere from 150% to 300%.
Predictive dialer, an automatic telephone dialing system that dials from a list of numbers and turns the call over to an agent when a human responds. It increases productivity in a call center, because the agents can spend their time talking rather than waiting for calls to go through as well as hanging up on busy signals and answering machines. The couple of seconds of pause you often hear when you answer a call from a telemarketer is the time it takes for the system to determine that you are a live person.

Predictive Dialers help in doubling the sales per hour per agent. A 50% increase in sales could give a 100% increase in profits.

The system predicts when agents will finish the current call, and the system will dial out another phone line while agents are still talking to customers. The phone call is passed to an agent instantly after a customer picks up the phone. It takes 30 seconds to manually dial a phone number and let it ring four times. If the customer doesn’t answer the agent has to remember this and call the customer later.

But with a dialer, detection of disconnected phone numbers, or fax machines and passing only live calls saves a lot of agent’s time. The system allows the agent to talk to at least two people in the same time it takes to manually dial and reach one person and agent productivity increases by 150% to 400%.

Predictive Dialers help in saving management time too. The program maintains do not call lists, organizes data like sales, leads, call-backs etc. This can help agents to decide which times of day work best to call, finding the best lead etc.

Predictive Dialers help control leads. Once a number has been called by the system, it will remember what time the call was placed, outcome of the call, and will not call the customer again until asked to.

Predictive Dialers give a real-time feedback and the manager can monitor and maintain optimum performance and productivity.

The real-time displays give information about inbound queues, current status and statistics, dialer statistics, and list performance. It helps to identify agents who have exceeded preset goals, monitor and train an agent for immediate corrective action and feedback.

Predictive dialing removes the remedial tasks of manual dialing and frustration on not achieving the target calls and figures. It boosts the agent morale.

Most companies experience return of investment within six to twelve months.

Typical Features
Features of a hosted predictive dialer are generally derived from the hardware versions.

Outbound Calling

• Call List Management
• Answering Machine Detection
• VoIP/PSTN Blending
• Screen Pops Support
• Automated Caller ID
• Agent Worksheets and Scripts
Compliance
• Do-Not-Call Support
• Abandon Rate Management
• Call Recording and Playback

Agent Productivity

• Multi-Party Call Conferencing
• Call Transfer
• Call-Back Scheduling
• Session History
• Customer Lookups
• Remote Agent Support
• Agent Customization
• Live Internal Chat

Quality Management

• Training Mode
• Agent Monitoring
• ACD Status
• Agent & Campaign Statistics
• Performance Statistics

Reporting

• Call Log Reporting
• Campaign Reporting
• List Performance Reporting
• Agent Performance Reporting
• Disposition / Call Completion Reporting

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Call centers India Inc.
Posted by :Sales & Marketing Team

IVR Technologies are perfect for businesses looking to boost their productivity and achieve cost savings.

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, and represents software applications accessible from a telephone. Simply put, an IVR system lets callers obtain, exchange, or input information with a computer via touch-tone phone without a human intermediary. IVR systems automate the input and retrieval of information. IVR systems are perfect for businesses looking to Boost their productivity and achieve cost savings. Telnet uses innovative IVR solutions to supply its customers with easy-to-use interactive voice response applications.

IVR systems provide the basic software which allows the use of voice self services. In contrast to assisted services, which require the active involvement of a call center agent, IVR systems will pre-qualify the caller. This can be used to relieve the agent or to create a fully automated voice application. At the same time, they form the basis for call-center independent value added services such as ring tone downloads location-based services, lotteries or contests. IVR’s provide customers with 24-hour a day, 7-day a week access to business information and various services through a simple touch-tone telephone.

Below are just a few of the Industries were IVR application technologies are used.

Financial Industry: Tele Banking Solution, Mutual Funds, Credit Card Account information, Stock Trading, Financial Bank Transaction.

Call Centers: Call center employee screening, Customer satisfaction surveys, Client survey/questionnaire administration, Panel data collection.

Corporate Organization: Order entry and status, Training center, Automated Attendant, Call Centers

Education: Course Registration, Student Registration

Entertainment/Sports: Ticket Sales, Sports Schedule, Interactive TV, News Clipping

Government Organization: Vehicle Registration, Tax Office, Ticket Citation Payment

Health Care Organization: Appointments with Doctors, Clinical research surveys, Bed Checking, Time and attendance verification, Home Care Check-in

Manufacturing Company: Certification and Testing, Component availability, Order Entry and Status

Telephone Company: Third Party Verification, Conferencing, Cellular Feature Activation, Cellular Roaming, Line Testing

Transportation: Airline Fly Status, Airline Scheduling, Shipping line global checking

Retail: Dealer or Store Locator, Order and shipping tracking, Directory Assistance, Order Processing, Market Research (surveys and polls), order entry transactions

Telemarketing: Automated Dialers

IVR technology can support analog and digital telephone systems, although the latter can process many more calls at the same time. The voice board that processes each call has only between 2 and 24 ports in analog systems, but between 30 and thousands of ports when digital. Since the number of ports determines the number of simultaneous calls the system can handle, an analog system can only process a maximum of 24 calls at any given time.

Requirements for IVR Technology

1. Easy telephone access for clients
2. Affordable telephone charges for the client or MFI
3. Centrally-stored data accessible to the call flow application
4. Frequent data updates so clients can access accurate account information
5. Secured databases to prevent unauthorized phone-based access

Now a days IVR technology makes phone a powerful business tool for Organization, the simple telephone instrument becomes a powerful input/output device through which all kinds of transactions can be performed with assured security and data integrity.

Posted by: Sales & Marketing Team
Call Centers India Inc.
http://www.callcentersindia.com/

e-mail ! Most useful way of communication in respondents business.

Electronic mail (e-mail) is a store and forward method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving text messages, graphics, sound and video messages over electronic communication systems.

Email is now one of the fastest ways to gain or lose potential customers because of its ability to deliver information fast to an enormous amount of people. After sending an email you are no longer in control of the effects of the message and can only wait in suspense.

For example: an employee of your company started off his/her day in a bad mood. A potential customer emails them with a trivial question and they reply with a brash tone. Do you think that the recipient will use your company? On the Internet word travels fast. It takes me 3 minutes to send email to 50-100 people. Therefore your company can lose 100 current or potential customers with the brash email sent out by your employee. This can happen in a matter of minutes.

What’s the difference between writing personal e-mails and business e-mails? Personal e-mails only represent you. Business e-mails, though, represent you and the company you work for. People who receive them not only form opinions about you but also about your company. So, business e-mails require careful writing, editing and proofreading.

Using Email Effectively:

Email is an effective means of communication for business and personal use but it also has some disadvantages.

Advantages are:

1. Email is effective in providing quick answers to yes and no, type questions.

2. Email is effective in finding the right person in an organization or company to answer your question.

3. Email is good to make appointments for busy people.

4. Email can distribute information quickly to many people for the time it takes to email one person.

The disadvantages are:

1. Email can become time consuming for answering complicated questions and misunderstandings can arise because cultural differences in the interpretation of certain words. The telephone is much better for providing detailed answers or if you feel that the question is not absolutely clear.

2. Email can compromise the security of an organization because sensitive information can be easily distributed accidentally or deliberately. Email should be entrusted to well trained and trusted staff members.

Email can become impersonal or misunderstood so consider these points:

1. Be concise and to the point.
2. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation.
3. Make it personal.
4. Use templates for frequently used responses.

For more information
Call Centers India Inc
Posted by: Sales & Marketing Team

Call Center Technologies

Today, companies are recognizing that being able to deliver a high-quality customer experience through call center technology is of major strategic value to the organization. Technology has played a vital role in customer service outsourcing. Rapid advancements in information and communication technology have led to a boom in call centers across the world. Call centers use a variety of technologies to support contact with a customer.

Call centers have been aided by a range of telecommunications and computer technologies, including automatic call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), and computer telephony integration (CTI), which allows the actions of the computer to be synchronized with what is happening on the phone. The latest internet technologies allow “virtual” call centers to be established across a company’s telecommunications network without physically putting all the people in one office.

Technology is transforming the traditional call center, allowing staff to be in contact with customers in a number of different ways.

Technology Usage Level in Call Centers

Technology —————– Percent of respondents

1. Email —————————————– 62
2. Voice response systems —————– 61
3. Quality monitoring systems ————-53
4. Computer telephone integration ——–51
5. Call logging systems ——————– -49
6. Contact Management tools ————- 46
7. Workforce management tools ———–43
8. Wallboards / reader boards ————–42
9. Advanced network services ———— 38
10. Knowledge-base tools —————– 35
11. Predictive dialers ——————— —18
12. Web-enabled call center ————— 8
13. Multimedia queues ——————— 13
14. VoIP —————————————– 9
15. Speech recognition ———————- 7

Finding the right technology is not an easy task, but the first steps must be to determine the organization’s needs, and to link customers with the information and services they require quickly.

Various technology options are available to an outsourced customer service center and the selection of technology that will be used by the center needs to be done intelligently. That should provide the following six essential requirements:

1. Availability: The applications and services should be available during the specified time of operations. The system should also be available to the customers without making them wait for a long duration.

2. Manageability: The system should be easily reconfigurable and should enable the center to quickly customize the applications for any new services and scripts requested by the client.

3. Quality of Service: The voice and data services should be reliable and should have a pre-specified quality level.

4. Redundancy: There should be adequate protection against system failures and data loss. Adequate back-up plans in case of any system failures should be made so that the operations are not hampered.

5. Scalability: Modular increments in the system capacity should be feasible.

6. Security: Technologies used by the center should ensure prevention of loss and theft of client data.

For more information

Call Centers India Inc.
http://www.callcentersindia.com/
Posted by:Sales & Marketing Team