Customer service is a key differentiator that affects the profitability of a business. As a matter of fact, many consumers are ready to pay higher prices for products and services if it meant receiving better customer service. Call centers plan an integral role in an organization’s customer service department. However, contact centers are typically inundated with calls which can be overwhelming. In which order should callers be placed in a queue? How to effectively route callers to an appropriate department? The best way that contact centers address these sorts of issues is by using an automatic call distribution software solution.
What is A Call Distribution System
An automatic call distribution system is a software tool used by contact centers that automatically assigns calls to relevant agents based on predefined criteria.
How Does Call Distribution Function
The call distribution process has three steps.
Identification
The first step involves understanding the caller’s reasons for contacting the call center. These systems use variables such as language and residency to tailor the customer experience. For instance, German speakers are connected to German-speaking call center agents.
Queueing
Next, the call distribution platform places callers in a queue using several variables such as:
- Language.
- Waiting Time.
- Reasons for the Call.
It’s important to note that advanced call distribution systems use business rules engines to have more flexibility in call routing.
For instance, these types of systems can be configured to identify callers based on predefined criteria, assigned tags, or information from databases.
As a result, businesses are able to prioritize high-value callers or those who are in front of the queue.
Routing Calls
Finally, callers are assigned to customer service representatives best suited to meet their needs.
Advantages of Call Distribution Platforms
Automatic call distribution systems provide the following advantages:
- Quickly connecting callers with priority.
- Increased call center efficiency.
- Better employee management by routing calls in a timely and systematic way.
The streamlined routing offered by call distribution systems guarantees that callers are quickly attended to, boosting the customer experience.
Building the Routing Strategy
Automatic call distributor systems that route large volumes of calls often use business rules engines to manage their routing strategy.
A rules engine is a pluggable piece of software that executes robust conditional “if-then” statements called business rules.
Contact centers use business rules to outline how incoming calls should be routed various based on their business requirements, such as agent expertise or caller information.
Improving Call Distribution with Rules
By using call distribution systems that also use rules engines business professionals without any technical expertise can:
- Determine how incoming calls are routed; based on time of day, agent skills, or status in the queue.
- Automatically route customers to call center agents using data on sales history, language, or residency.
- Play recorded messages to specific customers based on criteria such as language and location.
When a change in the routing strategy is needed, business rules can be updated instantly by business users without having to wait for the IT department to make the changes.
Conclusion
Automatic call distribution systems that are based on business rules are great for call center teams in different locations that also have many incoming calls.