Call Center Technology: Where Would You Be Without Your ACD
Have you ever spent any time thinking about what the call center environment must have been like without the technology that is available today? Image an environment in which live agents have only a telephone and a notepad to work with, answering questions to the best of their ability and delivering a level of service that customers accept as the only service possible.
Call Center Technology and Its Value
The thought of running a call center today without the standard call center technology is enough to make any manager cringe. The automatic call distributor (ACD) plays a vital role in the distribution of calls to ensure the right person gets on the right call at the right time.
Considering the costs inherent in the operation of your center, you can’t afford to waste time. You rely on your ACD to keep all processes humming along so you can deliver the optimal performance of the center overall. This is the true value in call center technology – improve performance. You have to account for all processes, costs and outcomes within your center and your call center technology ensures you have the tools to maximize the performance of every member on your team.
Call Center Technology Pays Attention to Skill Sets
What does it mean for your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) if the calls coming into your center do not reach the right party? This may mean the customer has to wait on hold, or worse, provide their information multiple times before they get to the right person who can easily resolve that issue. You implemented specific call center technology to avoid this problem, but if you don’t configure your ACD according to the skill sets of your individual agents, you can’t enjoy the most benefit from this call center technology. There is both a right way and a wrong way to run a call center environment – avoiding the skills sets of your agents puts you firmly on the path to the wrong method, risking your place in the market.
Call Center Technology Streamlines Processes
The processes that are inherent in the call center environment are the same that can bog down productivity. You need to be able to keep calls short, while also maintaining an expected level of service and resolving the issue within the first attempt. If you are leveraging call center technology for outbound calls, you need the ACD once again to streamline the process and best match right party contacts with the right available agent. This is easier said than done, but with robust call center technology in place, this approach becomes the standard.
If you are like other call center managers, you can’t image life without call center technology such as your ACD. The good news is that you don’t have to as innovative technologies continue to advance to not only ensure your call center technology includes your ACD, but also that your ACD continues to receive improvements for optimal performance each and every time.