Telecommunications are an obvious necessity for the streamlined operation of any small business or enterprise outbound call center. A business which deals with PBX systems for large calling center needs such as inbound customer service, outbound telesales, and contact centers for ordering can tell you of the large overhead and maintenance costs of managing such call volume. The pricing per minute of the inbound and outbound calling traffic alone can be tough on any sized business bottom line .
One solution to the overwhelming demand of call center costs is VoIP. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) allows the implementation of IP PBX which essentially replaces traditional PBX phone systems via Internet connectivity. Equipment is far less expensive for the operational use of an IP PBX system yet offers more robust features for call center operations such as call holding, messaging, virtual attendantattendant (automated operator), tone prompting, extension management, call routing, background music, and more.
The main advantage over traditional PBX systems is in the way data is able to be handled alongside the voice traffic. Many types of business applications can be used with outbound phone calls seamlessly and simultaneously with features such as call timing, call recording, call region, different customer data, as well as the ability to make all call operations and recording available via servers and electronic mail.
IP PBX enabled call centers may seem like a product strictly made for large enterprises however many savvy small business owners have found the cost effecient VoIP alternative to be beneficial for their small business sizes and quickly are buying in on the cost effective solution. IP PBX technology allows them to appear larger by providing state of the art customer service capabilities for less than their antiquated phone lines or PBX systems that originally came without features VoIP offers. Many business and home offices are able to use IP BX technology starting at under $100.00 a month per line.
In addition to the many call center benefits that only IP PBX can offer your enterprise or business, add on features like conference calling, fax, low cost international long distance, 800 number ad campaign tracking, and more make the technology even more desirable.
A broadband connection is required to begin using business VoIP. Depending on the size and call volume a call center might require, a T1, T3, or Gigabit Ethernet connection. In many cases for home office or small business applications Cable or DSL Internet may be sufficient if call lines do not exceed 4. Much of the bandwidth requirements for your services can easily be assessed and discussed over email or phone with a IP PBX provider or reseller.
When dealing with massive amounts of inbound calls, it can be very easy for any company, regardless of size, to get overwhelmed and overloaded. For this exact reason a breakthrough technology was created to really ease the burden of businesses. This breakthrough is called, Interactive Voice Response, or IVR. IVR is a technology that automates interactions with telephone callers.
Businesses are increasingly turning to IVR to reduce the expenditure of common sales, collections, service, inquiry and support calls to and from their company.
So how does it work? It’s actually very simple. When a customer calls, let’s say to pay a bill, with advanced IVR technology he can pay that bill without ever speaking to a real live person. As soon as the customer calls, the automated agent picks up and asks the caller what he/she would like to do. The automated agent will give the caller a number of very common options, or allow the caller to say, “other". When the caller responds, the advanced system will pick up the response and further assist the customer. If the caller does indeed say, “other", the automated agent will then ask a number of questions to try to troubleshoot the exact reason why the customer is calling and then of course help with whatever needs to be taken care of. If the customer still needs further assistance, the automated agent will then be left with no choice but to transfer the caller to a real live agent. Even so, the company is greatly minimizing the amount it has to spend on real live agents by using the IVR automated agent system.
“IVR capabilities allow callers to get answers to standard inquiries simply and easily, and in seconds, without the need for an agent," says Nathan Torres, Vice President of Technology at Freedom TeleWork, an inbound and outbound call sourcing telecommunications solutions company. “Any company that utilizes IVR is bound to see wonderful results," says Torres. Mr. Torres feels so strongly about IVR because he and others in his field have given companies and businesses worldwide the option and ability to downsize the number of agents they employ, thereby cutting back on unnecessary expenses. What was once a department of 500 employees can now be a department of 50 employees, if done correctly.
There are many other great benefits of utilizing IVR such as: quick and effective problem solving, customer “self service" and possibly the most significant benefit of all, 24/7 customer service. With IVR, a customer can call about a billing summary, get technical support or even pay a bill all at 2 O’clock in the morning, a key feature that can be very costly without IVR.
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