Linchpin Technologies of Call Center

New technologies are leading the way in the evolution of the contact center. By the revolution in communication and information technology have led to a boom in call centers across the world. Call centers use different technologies to join with a customer. As focal points of communications, contact centers were the first to integrate voice and data technologies, deploying interactive voice response (IVR) systems that linked caller information with database records to accelerate response and improve customer service.

Today's challenge is providing personalized service that can handle both voice and multi-media contacts (fax, email, voice mail, Web interaction). Enterprises are also incorporating a new array of contact center services such as video, wireless access, and compatibility with personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other smart devices.

There are so many versions of software and upgraded technology in the market to fulfill the requirement of call center. Different major technologies are:

Email Management: Email is the most commonly used medium for customer contact.

IVR: In telephony, interactive voice response, or IVR, is a computerized system that allows a person, typically a telephone caller, to select an option from a voice menu and otherwise interface with a computer system. Generally the system plays pre-recorded voice prompts to which the person presses a number on a telephone keypad to select the option chosen, or speaks simple answers such as "yes", "no", or numbers in answer to the voice prompts.

Guided speech IVR: The Guided Speech IVR approach for call centers is a hybrid model that integrates live call center agents with all the advancements of speech in a new real-time approach for callers. This new approach creates a "safety-net", as the new role for the agent as a guide who assists the automation invisibly helps the caller using human intelligence and transcription to ensure the correct computerized service is provided.

CTI: Computer telephony integration is technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or co-coordinated. 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.

ACD: In telephony, an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a device that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals that agents use. It is often part of a computer telephony integration system.
Predictive Dialer: Predictive dialer systems are commonly used by telemarketing organizations involved in B2C (business to consumer) calling as it allows their sales representatives to have much more customer contact time.

WFM: Workforce Management encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and happy workforce. Sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even the larger ERP systems.

TPV: Third party verification is a process of getting an independent third party company to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product. By putting the customer on the phone (usually via transfer or 3-way call) TPV provider asks a customer for his identity, that he is an authorized decision maker and to confirm his order.

Virtual queue: Virtual queuing is a concept that is used in inbound call centers. Call centers utilize an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to distribute incoming calls to specific resources (agents) in the center. ACDs are capable of holding queued calls in First In, First Out order until agents become available.

Voicemail: It is a centralized system of managing telephone messages for a large group of people. In its simplest form it mimics the functions of an answering machine, uses a standard telephone handset for the user interface, and uses a centralized, computerized system rather than equipment at the individual telephone.

Voice Recognition: VR is the task of recognizing people from their voices. Such systems extract features from speech, model them and use them to recognize the person from his/her voice.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

Speech Analytics: Speech Analytics is a process of analyzing recorded human speech in order to collect information about what was said. In contact center environments, Speech Analytics is used to mine recorded phone conversations between agents and their customers. By carefully “listening” to hundreds or even thousands of calls, Speech Analytics automatically identifies important business intelligence that helps managers reduce contact center costs, increase customer retention and satisfaction, and improve agent performance.

Call Center Technology: PBX - Private Automatic Branch eXchange

A Private Branch eXchange (PBX) is a telephone exchange that serves a particular business or office, as opposed to one that a common carrier or telephone company operates for many businesses or for the general public. PBXs are also referred to as:

PABX - Private Automatic Branch eXchange
EPABX - Electronic Private Automatic Branch eXchange

Short for private branch exchange, a private telephone network used within an enterprise. Users of the PBX share a certain number of outside lines for making telephone calls external to the PBX.

Most medium-sized and larger companies use a PBX because it's much less expensive than connecting an external telephone line to every telephone in the organization. In addition, it's easier to call someone within a PBX because the number you need to dial is typically just 3 or 4 digits.

A new variation on the PBX theme is the Centrex, which is a PBX with all switching occurring at a local telephone office instead of at the company's premises.

PBX System Components

The PBX’s internal switching network.

Central processor unit (CPU) or computer inside the system, including memory.

Logic cards, switching and control cards, power cards and related devices that facilitate PBX operation.

Stations or telephone sets, sometimes called lines.

Outside Telco trunks that deliver signals to (and carry them from) the PBX.

Console or switchboard allows the operator to control incoming calls.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) consisting of sensors, power switches and batteries.
Interconnecting wiring.

Cabinets, closets, vaults and other housings.

PBX Functions

Functionally, the PBX performs three main duties:

Establishing connections (circuits) between the telephone sets of two users. (e.g. mapping a dialed number to a physical phone, ensuring the phone isn't already busy)

Maintaining such connections as long as the users require them (i.e. channeling voice signals between the users)

disconnecting those connections as per the users requirement

Providing information for accounting purposes (e.g. metering calls)

How PBX Works?



A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is a switch station for telephone systems। It consists mainly ofseveral branches of telephone systems and it switches connections to and from them, thereby linking phone lines.

Companies use a PBX for connecting all their internal phones to an external line. This way, they can lease only one line and have many people using it, with each one having a phone at the desk with different number. The number is not in the same format as a phone number though, as it depends on the internal numbering. Inside a PBX, you only need to dial three-digit or four-digit numbers to make a call to another phone in the network. We often refer to this number as an extension.

ERP gets easier for SMB

Good news for the small medium business (SMB) for which you must be waiting from long time. Now the ERP gets easier for the SMB. A few years back the Enterprise resource planning (ERP) was a self-important expression with expensive software to match. ERP is helpful for the managers to do their responsibilities more efficiently, boost sales and reduce costs. ERP is business management system that gives a support to the mangers of the companies to command of data and workflows to get the clear report of each factors of the business.

The essential part of the business like planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing are also cover with ERP. It also covers activities like inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources. For example, ERP software can automatically indicate to the managers when it notices that stocks have gone down in a sales depot. Dealing with the suppliers is sometimes very difficult for the managers but with ERP it will be easier for a company manager to deal with suppliers.

ERP software is now available in much cheaper rate for small business also because now a day’s number of computer users is increasing day by day. A large group of people are using various kind of software to manage all the official details. ERP software, once a privilege for the global multinational, is available on much cheaper rates.

SaaS (Software as a Service) – It is refer to renting of software over the Internet, much like Web based e-mail. SaaS is also contributing to software becoming cheaper and easier to use. Industry officials say the emergence of SaaS and cheaper ERP software has dramatically lowered the barrier for users. Top ERP solution providers are now targeting just about every company, size no bar Consider the case of SAP, the global leader in ERP software, which once was associated largely with multinational giants.

On November 21, 2007 SAP India announced record-breaking quarterly growth for the third quarter of 2007 with the addition of more than 714 new customers till September 2007, translating to more than two new customers per work day in 2007. "A growing SMB (small and medium business) market, opportunistic investors, and middleware technologies converge to make the SMB market for ERP applications one of the most competitive environments for market growth and product innovation within enterprise applications," ---- Says Gopakumar Sivanandan of SAP India.

A spokeswoman for rival Oracle India spokesperson agrees. "Mid-sized companies are driving India's GDP growth today," she says. Microsoft recently launched Microsoft Dynamics NAV designed specifically for medium sized companies.

“Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to support solutions for financial management, supply chain management, CRM and E-Business." According to Sushant Dwivedy from Microsoft India,

For small and medium enterprises sometimes it was very hard to pay the cost at one time.
Earlier it was required Rs 10 to 15 lakhs can be done at a fraction of the price for ERP software. Though it must be that renting out software involves a recurring cost every month. The onetime cost of an ERP package needs returning costs in training and support and to that extent, renting the ERP software over the Web could be a lot better Consider.

The cost of the ERP for SMB is available for three users at Rs 25,000 a month, for five users at Rs 35,000 a month and 10 users at Rs 60,000 a month. No hardware, no personnel, no software cost is required in addition to this. Oracle and SAP have attractive pricing that make affordability a huge attraction. Oracle starts at as low as Rs 2,800 per user license, though it calls for implementation and support cost Much cheaper versions are also available from the Open Source movement, which uses operating systems based on free, modifiable platforms like Linux. Source – HT Times

According to market researcher Gartner, revenues from business platforms in India grow from $12.1 million in 2005 to $16.4 million in 2006, with all leading vendors posting double-digit growth. The Indian ERP market is expected to see a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 25.2 per cent over the next five years. The market was $83 million in 2004, and is projected to be over $250 million in 2009.

CRM

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM is a methodology and it is used by companies to manage their relationships with customers. Company’s can learn more about internal process for customer’s needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them by using the CRM.

CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers.

The three aspects of CRM are as follows.

1. Operational
2. Collaborative
3. Analytical

Operational aspect of CRM: Operational CRM provides support to "front office" business processes, including sales, marketing and service. Each interaction with a customer is generally added to a customer's contact history, and staff can retrieve information on customers from the database when necessary.

One of the main benefits of this contact history is that customers can interact with different people or different contact channels in a company over time without having to describe the history of their interaction each time. As a result, many call centers use some kind of CRM software to support their call center agents.

By using the Operational CRM process call centers can easily keep the track of all customers and easily managing Campaigns. It is helpful for enterprise marketing automation and for sales automation.

Collaborative aspect of CRM: - The objectives of collaborative CRM can be broad, including cost reduction and service improvements. Collaborative CRM covers the direct interaction with customers, for a variety of different purposes, including feedback and issue-reporting. Interaction can be through a variety of channels, such as web pages, email, automated phone or SMS.

Analytical aspect of CRM: - Analytical CRM will help call centers to know more analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes. Analytical aspect will also give view of the customer behavior to aid product and service decision making. Analytical CRM generally makes heavy use of predictive analytics.

A full featured CRM software application that performs virtually all of the functions required of a customer response call center.

By using CRM in call centers the sales conversion can be improve. You can expect to achieve this magnitude of increases to your bottom line as well when you follow these proven customer service call center techniques.

Tuning In on Wireless Headsets in the Contact

Call Centers are turning to wireless headsets to help to improve customer satisfaction and CSRs productivity. In a contact center, new wireless headsets help improve call speed resolution of customer problems and enable floor supervisors to remain "on call" and engaged even when they're away from their desks.

Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction level is the criteria of success of most contact centers. While there are many elements that impact customer interactions, the speedy resolution of problems is one of the most important.

Wireless technology helps supervisors resolve the customer grievances in real time without the need to put customers on hold or call them back once they've retrieved the necessary information. Floor supervisors can be more efficient, thus decreasing call time, by moving about the office to perform supportive tasks and actively engage with agents. The latest headsets let users roam hundreds of feet away from their desks, with excellent call clarity, while staying connected.

In the event that a call needs to be escalated to a supervisor, hold time is minimized, since the supervisor is available to answer the call even if away from their desk with the remote call answer/end capabilities of the newest wireless headsets on the market. The supervisor can also visit the agent's desk to lend support and provide quicker resolution.

Whether new hire orientation or a refresher session with a senior agent, keeping the agents properly trained is a round-the-clock task. Wireless headsets increase training effectiveness by allowing the coach to observe agents' key strokes and body language from afar without the agent knowing -- eliminating the need for desk side monitoring. This creates a more natural training environment, where supervisors can gain a true assessment of agent performance.

Guaranteeing Employee Comfort and Convenience
In addition to the well-known ergonomic benefits of headsets, the latest wireless systems provide other features that are useful for contact centers. For example, most headsets now offer extended battery life so that contact center associates can work an entire shift without having to stop and plug in to recharge the battery.

Some systems also offer a base that easily pairs with several different headsets so that as shifts change, agents can immediately start working. Using a shared base also helps lower expenses as contact centers only purchase an additional headset top, versus an entire system.

Maintaining Sound Quality
One of the main elements affecting a customer's impression of a contact center is the sound quality that the customer encounters. Background noise and crackling audio can make a contact center seem unprofessional, no matter how skilled the agent. The latest wireless headsets have noise-canceling microphones that filter background noise and enable crisp audio quality. Digital signal processing (DSP) is a new technology that some of the latest headsets use to mitigate echo and uneven amplitude.

Headsets that are 1.9GHz DECT 6.0-compliant are gaining popularity in contact center environments because they promote clear calls without interference from typical office equipment, like WiFi networks, security systems and microwave ovens. These headsets are particularly attractive because they operate in a protected, voice-dedicated frequency.

Today's wireless headsets are compatible with a variety of telephony infrastructures, including IP, and legacy PBX equipment. This is beneficial, as audio deterioration, like latency issues, pops and ticks, often occurs as a result of incompatible signals or equipment.

It's clear that wireless headsets offer contact centers many benefits that can help improve service and impact the bottom line. As innovations in the space continue to develop, so will the positive affects on contact centers.

Knowledge Base Tools

The basic idea behind a knowledge base is to automate customer support by organizing product support information into an easy-to-find, easy-to-access format. The knowledge base tools can be used by customer support personnel to find answers to common customer complaints, or can be put out on the web, allowing the customer to do their own searching. Some Knowledge base systems used in call centers are as :

• Inbound Call Center
• Virtual Call Center
• Call Center Outsourcing
• Call Center Consultant
• IVR Outsourcing
• CRM Solutions
• Direct Response Marketing
• Call Center Services
• Answering Service
• Political Call System

Features and benefits include:

• Reduces strain on Call Centres by resolving customer queries online
  
• Increases call centre capacity by reducing the number of incoming calls
  
• Improves customer communication channels by providing 24hr customer support.
  
• Knowledgebase of FAQs can be used by both customers and call centre operatives
  
• Enquiries can be monitored and trends identified

The Knowledge base tools integrates seamlessly with any Callcenter, offering customers 24 hour access to a dynamic self service facility.

Predictive dialers

A predictive dialer is a computerized system that automatically dials batches of telephone numbers for connection to agents assigned to sales or other campaigns. Predictive dialers are widely used in call centers.
History :
While the basic autodialer merely automatically dials telephone numbers for call center agents who are idle or waiting for a call, the predictive dialer uses a variety of algorithms to predict both the availability of agents and called party answers, adjusting the calling process to the number of agents it anticipates (or predicts) will be available when the calls it places are expected to be answered. (The auto-dialer preceded the predictive dialer).

The predictive dialer monitors the answers to the calls it places, detecting how the calls it makes are answered. It discards unanswered calls, engaged numbers, disconnected lines, answers from fax machines, answering machines and similar automated services, and only connects calls answered by people to waiting sales representatives. Thus, it frees agents from listening to unanswered or unsuccessful calls.
Functioning :
The predictive dialer exhibits predictive behavior when it has more call attempts (dials) outstanding than it has agents that are already available to handle calls. The predictive dialing happens when the predictive dialer dials ahead of the agents becoming available or when the predictive dialer matches a forecast number of available agents with a forecast number of available called parties. The matching and dialing ahead perspectives provide the large increases in dial rates and agent productivity.

If a system has 100 agents working on it, the dialer will dial a number of calls sometimes crudely based on a phone line to agent ratio of 1.5:1 or 2:1. This means that for each available agent, the system will dial the phone numbers of two potential customers. As these calls are made to the telephone network the dialer will monitor each call and determine what the outcome of the call was. From 150 calls made, the system will immediately strip out any unproductive outcomes, such as busy calls (these are usually queued for automatic redial), no answers & invalid numbers. Some predictive dialers incorporate "answering machine detection", which tries to determine if a live person or answering machine picked up the phone. This is one cause of the typical delays that one may experience before being connected to an agent.

The advanced predictive dialer determines and uses many operating characteristics that it learns during the calling campaign. However, this level of performance may require a sufficiently large critical mass of agents. Conversely, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a high talk time percentage with a lower number of agents without increasing dropped calls.
Silent calls:

Predictive dialing systems use algorithms to control the ratio of calls to agents. Because a dialer cannot know what proportion of its calls will connect until it has made them, it will alter its dialing rate depending on how many connections it manages to achieve. Occasionally the system will get more live parties on call attempts than there are agents available take those calls. Consequently, the dialer will disconnect or delay distribution of calls that cannot be distributed to an agent. This is known as a silent call or a nuisance call. The called party hears only silence when the predictive dialer does not at least play a recorded message.
Types:
Predictive dialers perform the same function but the architecture and delivery methods can vary greatly between manufacturers. There are several types of predictive dialing.
1. Soft dialers
Software only solutions use ISDN messaging, or a CTI link to provide call progress analysis for calls made. Software only dialers are often cheaper because they do not require expensive telephony components, but in some cases can offer less functionality than more traditional 'hard dialer' solutions, particularly when it comes to detecting answering machines (AMD) and integration with other 'voice' related functions (voice recording, IVR, speech recognition, text-to-speech etc
2. Hard dialers
Hardware dialers use dedicated telephony switches to perform call progress analysis and answering machine detection. Those switches usually have two main types of connections, agent audio and external audio. The agent audio connections are usually simple T1/E1/ISDN etc. telephony spans which are connected directly to an existing PBX (although other connection types that do not require a PBX are available such as Analogue or VoIP connections). When an agent first logs in for the day, the dialer will place a call from the switch directly to the phone on the agent's desk.
3. Smart predictive dialers
Smart predictive dialers combine voice broadcasting with phone agents who are prepared to handle calls initiated by the dialer. Answering machines, busy signals, and no answer calls are processed in a manner similar to that of a normal predictive dialing system.
4. Hosted predictive dialers
Typically, the only requirement for a firm to use a hosted predictive dialer system is a computer with an Internet connection and a telephone line for each agent.

Hence A predictive dialer can dramatically increase the time an agent spends on communication rather than waiting: a 2002 survey indicated an increase in talk time from twenty minutes in the hour to almost fifty. The system is most suitable for low quality lists and large numbers of agents; a high contact rate can overwhelm the system.