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Clash of the Titans: VoIP vs UCaaS [Infographic]

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Diksha Gusain

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category Infographics calendar September 21, 2020 clock 7 mins read eye Reads: 544

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If you’re interested in psychology, you may have come across the term ‘choice overload’ or ‘over choice’. It refers to the phenomenon wherein people have a hard time making decisions when faced with multiple—and equally appealing—choices.

This dilemma would likely arise in significant decisions about your business, like choosing the best communication model for your operations. Phone calls and emails have been dominant modes of business communications in the past, but the world is changing by the minute. 

In the current scenario, the key options for modern businesses are two: VoIP Phone System and UCaaS. Both are powerful systems of communication with different target audiences. They serve similar yet diverse functions, and therefore, you need to be mindful of the nuances when selecting your service.

Before you fret, let us tell you that we’ve got you covered. Use this infographic to compare the two cloud hosted phone system, and determine the best solution for your business needs. 

VoIP vs UCaaS Infographic

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is VoIP? 

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a telephony service that allows you to hold conversations over the internet instead of a cabled network. This isn’t your regular telephone that relies on physical exchanges. A VoIP system converts calls into digital signals, in simpler words, your voice is transmitted in the form of data packets through the internet.

This means you can expect high quality calls at all times, even in remote areas without proper telephone towers. If you’re worried about a slow connection causing disruptions in your communications, you can rest assured. Bandwidth prioritisation is a key feature of cloud communications solution that allows you to enjoy quality services even on low bandwidth availability.

Moreover, if your internet connection itself gets disrupted, you have the option of forwarding calls to mobile phones or switching to a backup connection. These instant solutions aim to minimise disruptions, even in strenuous conditions. As a result, your brand reputation takes a boost while you can showcase professionalism with a reliable cloud service in hand. 

Next, let’s discuss UCaaS

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a giant in the field of communication software. It combines voice, video, and messaging solutions and gives a holistic service to budding businesses.

With all your communications synced on one platform, there’s no room for misunderstandings, and everyone can work together in a more informed manner. While on a call with a colleague, if you suddenly remember you have to send them a file—just share it on the chat without disturbing your call. Your management can also monitor agent progress better and thereby, plan effective strategies. 

Therefore, you cannot go wrong with these solutions. VoIP solutions, combined with video and messaging tools, give you the ‘queen bee’ product: UCaaS.

Cost comparison

Understandably, a major concern for decision-makers would be the cost. Will opting for this service burn a huge hole in the pocket of business owners? 

Contrary to what you might think, UCaaS and VoIP are both extremely cost-effective options. In fact, if you compare the upfront cost of purchasing and installing the plans, they’re both cheaper than traditional phone systems. There’s no heavy hardware to add to the expenses, and you don’t need to look for spaces to store the excess equipment. 

You don’t even need to buy a specialised business phone to avail these services—they’re compatible with your preferred device. It doesn’t matter if you’re an Apple supporter or an Android fan. In fact, why stick to phones? You can even use your laptop or tablet to carry on internet conversations efficiently. 

And if that wasn’t enough, there are no costs for regular upkeep since maintenance is automated and handled by providers in a timely fashion. 

Features to die for

A cloud phone service is phenomenally different from a traditional phone. You know that a wired phone system allows you to have conversations, keep people on hold, transfer lines, etc. But what if you could get this—and then a lot more! 

A VoIP phone offers all the basic features combined with cloud benefits. An IVR system provides a pleasant experience to customers, while also streamlining the operations and allowing self-service using navigable keys. 

Cloud phone systems also allow effective management through third-party integrations. You can enjoy features such as call recording and logs to keep track of customer calls and receive timely automated reports and analytics on your email to assess agent performance. 

The voicemail to email feature ensures that you don’t miss important leads. All voicemails are instantly recorded and sent to your inbox, along with a transcript. 

UCaaS takes it a step further. All the features of VoIP are part of your UCaaS solution—with the addition of video conferencing and messaging services. This means your HD audio can be accompanied with crystal clear video as well. 

You can hold effective meetings with this solution—present your ideas and share your screen to allow better communication. Subtle clues of communication arise from our body language, which makes video meetings the key to meaningful conversations. 

Besides, you can add and remove members from calls instantly, and even allow people to join from their browsers instead of the app. Privacy features and the waiting room make this seem like an actual meeting location! 

In addition, messaging tools act as the glue, cementing the 3 aspects of UCaaS together. Collaborate with your team over chat, call, or video. Couple these with powerful integrations such as CRM for easy access to customer data, calendar apps for easy scheduling, and much more.

By now you must have understood that UCaaS and VoIP aren’t very different. UCaaS is basically an upgraded version of VoIP—combining it with other channels. With your changing business needs, you can shift between these VoIP Phone Services & UCaaS Services as you scale up or down.

What’s the right choice for you? 

Simply put, the answer lies within your business itself. The first step is to evaluate your needs. 

If your business is comparatively small in scale, with a limited number of employees, and if your work is segmented enough to not require extensive collaboration, VoIP would be a smart choice. 

On the other hand, if you need to accommodate a growing business, with multiple teams having to coordinate their efforts, UCaaS trends is the way to go. It is absolutely essential to maintain continuity among operations, especially when they’re expanding. Therefore, an integrated solution is more cost-effective than opting for separate services.  

Cases

Let’s consider a few scenarios and evaluate what option would work best there.

What should I do if…

  • I’m shifting to a remote model? 

You can drastically improve remote operations with UCaaS—hold meetings, share presentations and send files online. All your progress will be visible in real-time on the dashboard. Not only can your team members keep themselves on track, but the superiors can also monitor their employees’ workload and performance. 

  • My business is blooming?

With an expanding business, there is a greater requirement for collaboration between numerous employees. Older employees and newer recruits, all have to find a balance, and UCaaS can help create a smooth workflow. You can perfect the internal communication system and further increase profits over time. 

  • I’m changing my business structure to be more decentralised?

VoIP is more common for centralised operations—they’re easily manageable on a smaller scale when there aren’t that many teams that need to collaborate. However, if you’re decentralising your functions, it’s advisable to scale up to UCaaS. When you’re dividing responsibilities among different departments, there has to be increased connectivity between them. 

  • I have security concerns?

There’s absolutely no need to worry. UCaaS and VoIP both provide enterprise-grade encryption and firewall security in multiple layers. Internet conversations are more secure than wired systems. Your cloud stores data in a reliable manner, so you don’t need to lose sleep over this. 

So what now?

Through this conversation, one thing becomes certain: traditional phone systems are even more outdated than Myspace accounts. 

You need to keep adapting to the latest technology. And it’s time to migrate to a sophisticated communication system. 

VoIP vs UCaaS are both extremely potent options. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with either of them. However, choosing the right service for your needs takes your productivity further up a notch. Hopefully, this article has given you more clarity on what would better suit your business needs. 

What’s the delay? Go on and transform your operations right now using cloud communications solution! Talk to our sales team at 1888-859-0450 or drop a mail at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you. 

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Diksha Gusain

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Diksha is a junior content writer at Acefone. As a tech-lover, she aims to bridge the gap between tech articles and non-savvy readers. She’s equally interested in pop culture and worldly affairs. And in her free time, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or discovering new music for her chaotically diverse playlist.

Why Moving To The Cloud Gives You An Advantage In A Time Of Crisis

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Yukti Verma

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category Contact Center calendar September 18, 2020 clock 5 mins read eye Reads: 503

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Technology innovations support businesses, help maintain performance, and sustain productivity during an unexpected crisis. However, engaging employees through online resources continues to be a challenge. 

Cloud computing has enabled on-site interaction irrespective of the location of the employees. It has empowered organisations to function normally in a distributed set-up. 

The cloud-managed service landscape is becoming highly sophisticated and competitive. By 2022, up to 60% of organisations—or more than double the percentage in 2018—will use an external service provider’s cloud service offering. 

Before we delve into the capabilities of the cloud, let us learn more about it.

What is Cloud Computing?

In simple terms, cloud computing enables the functioning of applications on the internet. Traditionally, business applications were dependent upon on-premise servers. Software and applications had to be physically downloaded in the facility server to allow uninterrupted access. 

Once cloud computing came into the picture, users could access programs irrespective of their locations through the internet.

For example, when you update your status on social media, you use the cloud. If you are checking your bill details on the phone, you are on the cloud again.

So how does cloud adoption help businesses during a crisis? Let’s find out.

1. Enables remote work

This is the most prominent feature of the cloud. It enables businesses to be operational from anywhere on the planet. All you will need is a reliable internet connection to facilitate work. 

Employees are not restricted to the device they use or where they connect from. This feature of cloud phone service has allowed business continuity to a great extent even during a global pandemic.

2. Enhances team collaboration

Cloud eases centralised access to business-critical information. Your team can simultaneously work on the same document from across the globe. Employees may edit, access, or share documents. 

Cloud-based workflows and file-sharing apps update these documents in real-time and provide complete visibility to a decentralised team. 

Furthermore, cloud-based VoIP systems enable seamless communication among team members from anywhere across the world. This telephony system can be accessed from a common number and can also be integrated with instant messaging, video conferencing tools, and other collaborative solutions. 

VoIP solutions can also be integrated with different CRM and helpdesk software to enhance the team’s efficiency.

This again helps employees stay connected and work as a team during unforeseen circumstances.

3. Improves flexibility and scalability

Cloud-based applications are maintained by a dedicated cloud service provider. You don’t need to have an infrastructural set up in your facility to shift to the cloud. Similarly, you may increase or decrease your infrastructure based on your requirements.  

If you find a spike in business needs during a crisis, the bandwidth of usage can be increased automatically. This can be restored once things come back to normal. This way, the cloud offers a high level of agility to businesses at times of disruptions.

4. Facilitates disaster recovery

Cloud backup is pivotal for businesses. Consider a scenario wherein you lose your data due to a crisis or a cyberattack. The complete technological landscape will become paralysed. 

However, this isn’t the case with cloud communication. The cloud infrastructure saves a data backup on the cloud. This way lost data can be easily restored without disrupting business workflows.

The solution offers data restoration with uninterrupted business productivity.

5. Allows automatic system updates

Cloud communication service providers make sure to take complete charge of the services they offer. This may span across setting up the infrastructure off-premise to regularly updating applications. It also necessarily includes compliance regulations and security updates. 

The service providers run security updates at regular intervals and ensure that your cloud environment is free from security threats. 

This eliminates the need for you to deploy a team to check for hosted phone system updates, thereby saving time and workforce. You are at the advantage of using this workforce to focus on core business activities at the time of crisis.  

6. Reduces costs

Cloud communication services don’t require any infrastructure to be accommodated on-premise. All you need to do is choose a subscription-based model and start operating your applications on the cloud. This helps in reducing hardware costs for businesses.

During the event of an unexpected disaster, you will not need to worry about your hardware. All you need to do is inform your cloud service provider and make changes based on the increase/decrease in the business demand.

This kind of a flexible model saves cost on investment and maintenance, thereby letting you focus on other core business activities.

7. Boosts data security

Security is a pivotal aspect of cloud-based services. The cloud enables centralised access of data, irrespective of the device or location. Though this may improve the flexibility of access, it also increases the risk of critical business data.

94% of businesses showcased an improvement in security after switching to the cloud environment.

Especially during a disaster, sensitive business data can be more susceptible to malware and cyberattacks. Data on the cloud must be secured appropriately.

Organisations need not be worried about this aspect. Cloud service providers ensure regulatory compliance and authenticated access to devices. They make sure that access to data is provided based on the requirements of job roles. 

Only administrators are granted complete access to critical information. Other employees are allowed to work on data that is required to accomplish their job duties.

This involves centralised management that further helps in reducing administration overheads.

8. Offers sustainability

In the current competitive scenario, sustainability is not limited to reducing paperwork in the office environment. It spans across addressing and controlling wastefulness at every step of the business. Adopting cloud communication helps businesses to improve sustainability with less carbon footprint.

The cloud infrastructure works on virtual products rather than physical infrastructure or devices. This supports environment proactivity and boosts energy efficiency also controlling system-related emissions.

Wrap up

Each time the world has faced a challenge, technological revolutions have risen up to the challenge and solved concerns. Cloud is one such emerging value that should be embraced to introduce a productive change in the current business landscape. 

Hopefully, the above-mentioned points will provide a sneak peek into the several capabilities of cloud-based services and how it can help organisations during a crisis. 

Check out Acefone’s cloud communication products and services to unlock your full business potential. Drop us a mail at [email protected] or you can directly call us at 1888-859-0450.

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Create An Intelligent Cloud Contact Center To Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience

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Yukti Verma

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category Contact Center calendar September 17, 2020 clock 5 mins read eye Reads: 544

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In the current competitive scenario, organisations have begun to outperform each other based on the quality of the customer experiences they deliver.

According to a digital trends 2020 report, “Companies that prioritised and effectively managed customer experience were three times more likely than their peers to have significantly exceeded their top business goals in 2019.”

This is where intelligent cloud contact center come into the picture.

These are different from on-premise call centers, which generally lag when compared to intelligent contact centers on the cloud in terms of scalability, user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, maintenance, and integration with internal information systems. 

So, how do you think an intelligent contact center on the cloud can make all the difference? Check it out right away!

What is an intelligent cloud contact center?

A contact center on the cloud is based on high-end technology, including machine learning and artificial intelligence. Adopting the cloud has become imperative for businesses because it equips you with the best capabilities to customise, upgrade, and update your contact center based on the latest customer trends and requirements.

This competency will set you apart from your competitors and will provide you with distinct advantages.

Here, we have consolidated a few important points that you should consider to create an intelligent contact center.

Initiate the Transition to Cloud

Begin with migrating your contact center to the cloud. This will pave the way to unlock omnichannel customer experience statistics.

In the current scenario, customers demand multi-channel availability to be encouraged to contact you. They may prefer to email you one day and contact your customer care representative the next day. When this happens, your contact center should be able to track all these interactions. 

This way, when a customer connects with your business, the agent handling the call will be equipped with a multi-dimensional view of all the previous customer interactions. Such a holistic approach will help the representative competently serve the customer and simply pick up from where the customer had left off in the last conversation.

1. Integrate your Contact center with your Organisation

You should consider your contact center as an extended arm of your business rather than a separate entity. This approach will help you deliver omnichannel customer experience effortlessly. 

To cater to this need, you should unify your internal information systems like the CRM (customer relationship management), WFO (workforce optimisation), and UC (unified communication) systems. 

Integration with CRM tools will provide valuable insights about the customer to your agents. This will include information about the customer’s previous conversations with your organisation, their intent, and preferences. 

The data obtained will support your representatives to serve clients contextually. This, in turn, will result in improving the rate of first contact resolutions and reducing the average handling time.

Again, having a workforce optimisation tool in place can contribute towards better management of the employees. This will include identifying quality management issues that hinder the performance of your agents and genuine scenarios wherein the representatives need the training to improve their skill-set. 

Moreover, workforce management can help in maintaining the appropriate level of staffing, suggest shift changes whenever needed, and help in schedule adherence. These tools also help in closely monitoring agent performances and keep them motivated by providing appropriate recognition and rewards.

Additionally, having a unified communication system in place is cardinal as it will support your representatives to instantly contact peers for help. Agents will be able to contact subject matter experts for clarifications to complex customer queries. They can also instantaneously transfer calls if needed. This will help enhance first-call resolutions and the quality of customer experiences.

2. Focus on Reliability, Security, Best Practices, and Compliance

The advantage of moving to the cloud is not limited to delivering better customer experiences. With your cloud contact center, you will be able to handle instances of high demand or crisis effortlessly. 

For example, if your contact center is facing a sudden surge in calls, all you need is to contact your cloud service provider to scale up its ability. The same does not apply to on-premise set-up. 

Furthermore, you can dial down to the original infrastructure capacity once the demand reduces. This way, you will need to pay only for the infrastructure used, thereby, slashing down unwanted costs.

Again, in times of unexpected crisis, your cloud contact center can continue business operations with the support of a strong data backup. Your cloud service provider can recover data. This way, services remain uninterrupted.

Furthermore, your contact center on the cloud is compliant with important security policies like the PCI, SOX, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley. 

This saves you the trouble of investing additional time and funds to comply with these regulations. Your cloud service provider will automatically take charge of these regulatory needs and ensure that your contact center adheres to these policies.

3. Experience Improved Performances From your Contact center

Intelligent cloud contact centers function based on technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning. It helps easier consolidation of customer data from across the organisation.

This warehouse of information helps agents  stay equipped with critical customer information that helps them satisfy their customers. Data like call recordings can help you closely monitor agent performances, identify bottlenecks, and rectify them promptly.

Wrap up

Undeniably, intelligent contact center software are the need of the hour. They help businesses offer contextual customer experiences and contribute to the overall performance of the organisation. 

The points mentioned above will throw light on the various advantages of moving your contact center to the cloud.

Connect with our solution experts at 1888-859-0450 to set up a cloud contact center for your business and run your business hassle free.

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

How To Improve Team Performance When Working Remotely?

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Acefone Editor

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category Contact Center calendar September 16, 2020 clock 5 mins read eye Reads: 522

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The year 2020 has undergone dramatic changes in the way businesses and teams function. One of the many is the increase in the adoption of a remote working ecosystem.

Though not all organisations can successfully operate in a remote environment, in the present reality, a distributed and virtual work set-up is necessary.

One often wonders how different is this remote environment from the regular workforce? Are there any specific challenges that organisations encounter?

We may have worked in a regular office space with fixed working hours that demands a consistent check-in and check-out routine. But, without being physically available in an office environment, it may become difficult for you to ensure that your team is performing well.

However, in the discovery of better alternatives, evolving needs results to prove its mettle.

According to populus survey report, remote work makes staff happier, with 55 percent of commuters in the UK reporting increased stress levels due to their daily travel.

Here, we have listed a few important techniques organisations can utilise to improve team performance in a remote working environment: 

1. Proactively Communicate and Set Realistic Goals

You should understand that your employees are new to a work-from-home set-up, just as you are. Clear communication is needed for any success in this virtual environment. Before you begin to measure performances, you should effectively communicate your expectations to the team.

Make sure that every team member is in the loop. Conduct virtual one-on-one meetings. Take charge of bottlenecks at earlier stages. For example, if you feel that some of your team members are not showing up during meetings or aren’t responding to repeated calls, try to reach out to the person and understand if they need help. 

Establish availability, collaborate on the different expectations from the team, be clear about the code of conduct, and provide regular insights about deadlines to eliminate confusion. 

Tracking these parameters will help you better understand your team’s performance and of the business on the whole.

2. Incorporate the Right Kind of Collaboration 

Sometimes, it isn’t enough to communicate just over calls and messaging apps. To derive intuitive insights about the working of your team, you should select the right type of remote working tools. These tools, after all, provide interactive performance analytics.

This way, you can address various organisational needs like assessing project management, web and video conferencing, task scheduling, automation of different business workflows, along with team collaboration and prototyping. 

Furthermore, this state-of-the-art software also provides insights like the average amount of time spent on important tasks. All these metrics will help you measure the performance of your team and focus on collective team actions to drive better growth. 

Again, having the right type of collaboration tool in place will help you obtain enterprise-wide information about current collaboration patterns and if they are effectively helping in meeting organisational targets. Such software also offers a peek into important working trends and their role in supporting the organisation in addressing complicated challenges.

3. Ensure Motivation and Accountability

As managers of a remote working team, it is important that you continuously motivate your members. The sudden shift to a remote working set-up may have them off track with several unanswered questions and concerns. 

Be available to empathise and understand their concerns. Create virtual venues for a team meet-up. Encourage team collaboration and let employees have casual chats and interactions at regular intervals.

Again, do not overlook the need to appreciate accountability within the team. Feel free to reward a team member for their accomplishments. When employees are individually recognised for their tasks, they feel involved and noticed. 

This will motivate them to contribute more. They will feel safe that their efforts are not going unnoticed just because they are working in a remote environment. 

An effective feedback system in place will help you understand glitches in operations or general difficulties faced by your team. Your team members work in the frontline and they are the first to identify any kind of issues with business workflows. 

Working closely with them will help you comprehend business concerns at an earlier stage and rectify them as required. This approach will improve your business and team performance from the get-go.

4. Establish Trust

How does building trust with team members help in improving their performance?

When your team trusts you about critical aspects of business operations, it makes it easier for them to open up about important points that may impact their work. 

Building trust will help your team to share their genuine feedback, experiences, and solutions for complicated problems that are affecting them. They will feel motivated to take charge of critical business scenarios and work for the company’s progress.

Managers should be transparent about expectations and communicate that goals have been set while considering the interests of the employees. They should conduct video calls, interactive virtual meetings, brainstorming sessions to motivate ideas, and one-to-one sessions whenever required. 

You should showcase your trust in your team about measuring the productivity of knowledge work. This will encourage them to work harder, complete their tasks on time, thereby contributing to better performance.

5. Encourage Self-Evaluation

Individual perspective matters a lot for your team members. Especially, when it comes to a virtual set-up, your team may feel ignored in several instances. You may ask them to self-evaluate critical milestones achieved to make them feel involved. 

This approach has dual advantages. It helps you understand what your team feels about the growth of the organisation and also offers an idea about how the team has individually participated in every task. 

Allowing your team to self-evaluate will give you a holistic view of the entire team. You will be able to compare and evaluate employee engagement levels and also work on specific improvisations wherever required.

Parting Words

Helping employees to stay comfortable at work and its impact on team performances are interdependent. Though the current scenario demands organisations to focus more on employee safety and health, individual and team performance cannot be compromised.

Hopefully, the above-mentioned points will help you understand a few considerations that will help improve the growth of your team—and thereby, your business—in a remote set-up.

Acefone can greatly improve your team’s performance while working remotely. Contact our sales team on 1888-859-0450 to find out how.

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Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

How Cloud Communications Are Assisting Healthcare Service Providers During COVID-19?

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Debomitra Das

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category Contact Center Service calendar September 15, 2020 clock 6 mins read eye Reads: 389

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As the world continues to fight COVID-19, doctors and nurses have become the frontline warriors who protect us against a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives. 

The healthcare industry is currently caught in a whirlwind, trying to provide and maintain the highest level of care. In this time of extreme need, what they require is an innovative approach that’s cost-effective and can help as many people as possible. 

Technology is evolving constantly; hospitals can now follow-up with their patients simply through an SMS or a call. A 2016 survey found that 52% of hospitals used at least a few technical services to amplify their operations and happy customers have always supported these competent methods. 

Needless to say, satisfactory customer service equals a strong brand reputation! Indeed, the healthcare industry today faces demands to provide digitised services that would increase overall efficiency. 

Cloud Services is The Answer

Any service that allows communications to take place over the internet is known as cloud communication. It has taken over all industries and is no less than a knight in shining armour. 

Even Steve Jobs, the founding father of Apple, believed that cloud computing (of which cloud communications is a part) has the X factor that can change the world’s technological flow. He had said, “I don’t need a hard disk in my computer if I can get to the server faster.. .carrying around these non-connected computers is byzantine by comparison.”

The healthcare industry, like several others, is facing numerous challenges due to social distancing norms. Lack of proper communication, a limited workforce, and the inability to treat all patients due to lack of space has taken a toll on hospitals and other healthcare companies. 

VOIP adoption for healthcare industries allows them to expand their service sales and boost customer experience (CX) at the same time. And the cost isn’t that high either; these advanced digital tools do not necessarily mean a high capital budget. 

Cloud Providing Exemplary Solutions

Cloud communications provide exemplary solutions tailored to a hospital or clinic’s needs. For instance, patients can connect with doctors virtually to get a proper diagnosis through communication services like video conferencing.

Why Hospitals Should Think No Further Than The Cloud

1. Multiple extensions

Your hospital or medical care center should have multiple phone extensions for better customer support. When a patient calls on your service number, they are automatically directed to the best-suited representative who can solve their problems accordingly. For example:

Thank you for calling the public hospital. How can we help?  

Please Press 3 to state your requirements.

Press 9 to connect to the orthopaedic department representative

Simple directions like these eliminate the chance of miscommunication. These interactive voice response (IVR)-incorporated extensions intelligently route the patients, saving time and leaving a positive impression on them. 

2. Video call and conferencing 

Video calls are the in thing, especially now, amid a pandemic. This feature allows patients and doctors to connect virtually from any remote location. The only thing they need is a stable internet connection. Currently, when there’s a scarcity of hospital beds and people refrain from visiting hospitals, a feature like video calling comes in handy.

Patients can now video call a doctor who’s in another city, and get the same diagnosis they get from a neighborhood clinic. 

3. Voicemail to email 

The Cloud phone system’s voice to email feature allows patients to drop a message via email when healthcare workers are unavailable. Clients also have the liberty to record a message that translates into an email. The doctor or healthcare executive can check the email and call the patient back with a solution. This allows representatives to keep track of every missed call. For instance:

Please check your inbox. You have one email from Mr. Brown for Tuesday’s 3 pm appointment. 

The healthcare executive isn’t available right now. You can drop a message. They will contact you shortly. 

4. 24/7 availability 

Your hospital/health center can implement an IVR to ensure around-the-clock availability. Patients won’t have to wait for a particular time slot, which is essential in the case of an emergency. People can even book appointments automatically via the calling menu.

5. Regular maintenance

You won’t have to worry about service maintenance—ever. In addition to guaranteed uptime and fail-proof mechanisms in place, cloud system providers take the responsibility to fix and upgrade everything in the system. 

6. Financially sound 

You won’t need to burn a hole in your pocket to avail these features for your healthcare business. The cloud is quite reasonable, as all it takes is software and server space. Moreover, a single product has all the necessary features to keep things running smoothly. In other words, it helps you reduce overall business costs and keep your budget in check. 

7. Technologically favourable 

It’s almost impossible to face lags or issues in this service. With 99.99% server uptime, your healthcare business can run without any interruptions. Then there’s multilayer security, which assures business owners that there is no data theft. A carefully encrypted system and multiple data backups ensure that no information is lost in the event of an unforeseen disaster. 

With no added infrastructure, you can now accommodate other necessities in your healthcare center. You can also customise services according to your requirements. Need we say more?

How Acefone Helps The Healthcare Industry?

Cipla, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India, uses cloud communication solutions to deliver the best client service all around the country. They’ve done this with the help of Servetel, one of the leading cloud computing providers in India, and a sister concern of Acefone. Servetel has also adapted well to the pharma brand’s changing requirements due to COVID.

Vishal Mane, the senior digital marketing executive at Cipla, says, “We have been using Servetel’s services for the past two years and it has helped us tremendously to assist our clients and patients. There has been a high level of engagement with doctors all over the country for 3 months. Additionally, the volume of calls and SMS has unexpectedly increased due to mass’ inability to visit a clinic these days. Doctors have been able to timely get alerts, SMSes, or emails without any malfunction or lag. With cloud services, it has become relatively easy to meet our expectations of contacting 2-3 lakhs doctors and keep the bulk data safe and secure.”

Now you know why cloud services are the way to go?

Cloud communications have helped its users create an efficient and organised workflow in the healthcare industry. With increasing revenue, this market has seen an influx of customers from around the world. A report by Global Market Insights Inc. states that the Global Healthcare Cloud Computing Market is set to transcend USD 55 billion by 2025. 

Adoption of Information Technology

With such a dynamic industry, it becomes important for service providers to be automated and seamless. As the cloud as everything to make that happen, why wait to make the transition?

Acefone’s hosted phone system for healthcare industry promise to bring a dynamic flow and yield fruitful results for your healthcare business. Contact the sales team at 1888-859-0450 for further information. 

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Debomitra Das

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Debomitra Das is a marketing enthusiast and is currently working in Acefone. She enjoys reading and gathering knowledge about new market trends that give her helpful insights about the current scenario. Sketching, reading novels and writing random pieces inspired by movies are some of her leisure-time hobbies. She believes, the best ideas come when there’s a coffee mug beside! Connect with her via Linkedin and Twitter

15 Customer Service Stats You Just Can’t Ignore [Infographic]

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Kritagya Pandey

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category Infographics calendar September 14, 2020 clock 3 mins read eye Reads: 579

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Ever wondered why most people visit their favourite coffee place again and again? Why is it that some brands are able to retain most of their customers? And, more so, how can one ensure the same customer sticks with them in the long run?

The answer lies in the degree of customer service brands offer to their clients. 

Customer Service Stats Infographic

Let’s go through some revelatory customer service statistics that will make you realise the importance of excellent customer service and why you should extend it!

Keep Customers Happy: These Numbers Will Show You The Way

1. A customer is four times more likely to buy from your competitor if they face service-related problems rather than price or product-related issues. – Bain & Company

2. 68% of customers leave brands because they feel that they haven’t been treated well by them. – U.S. Small Business Administration

3. 64% of customers cited shared values as the primary reason for a strong brand relationship. – Harvard Business Review

4. It costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. – seohosting.com

5. 73% of businesses trust recommendations from friends and family, while only 19% trust direct mail. – Forrester Research

Impact of Positive Customer Experience on Your Customers

1. Customers are likely to spend 140% more on a brand after a positive experience with a business than customers who report a negative experience. – Deloitte

2. Businesses that establish an emotional connection with customers out shadow the sales growth of their competitors by 85%. – news.gallup.com

3. 59% of customers feel that companies should provide cutting-edge digital experiences to feel their business. – salesforce.com

4. Companies that earn $1 billion a year will see an average gain of $700 million within three years of investing in customer experience. – Deloitte

5. 80% of customers say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalised experiences. – eplison.com

Role of Customer Service Channels

1. 66% of consumers have used at least three different communication channels to contact customer service. – Microsoft

2. 33% of customers have contacted a company using Facebook and similar social channels. – Forrester

3. 66% of customer service teams use knowledge bases, compared to 82% of customers who use knowledge bases (e.g., online FAQs). – salesforce.com

What is The Cost of Bad Customer Service?

1. After facing one negative experience, 51% of customers will never do business with that company again.  – helpscout.com

2. 74% of people are likely to switch brands if they find your purchasing process too complicated. – instantsearchplus.com

 

Get in touch with our team by dialing 1888-859-0450  or drop a mail at [email protected] to get started on your cloud journey.

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Kritagya Pandey is a creative and technical content writer, editor, and strategist. She has been writing on customer experience, customer service, artificial intelligence, cloud communication, and more. She invests her time researching the current business, market trends, and studying about social media strategies.

How IVR Solutions can Simplify Customer Support and Ticketing Systems

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Acefone Editor

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category Uncategorized calendar September 11, 2020 clock 5 mins read eye Reads: 541

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When you run a business, customer satisfaction is something you can never afford to overlook. After all, that’s what gives your company competitive advantage and empowers it with high retention rates. However, as your business grows in size, so does the number of customers calling you for support queries. According to Zendesk, internal support teams get an average of 492 support tickets every month, which is a pretty big number when you consider the burden it may exert on your team.

When you crunch these numbers, things can appear even more challenging as we’re talking about more than a hundred tickets a day here! And that’s just the average. The actual number may be much higher for your organisation.

While you may consider expanding your customer support team to handle all these tickets, that may not be the most viable approach. Rather, self-service IVR solutions make a better idea.

Typically, interactive voice response (IVR) is a self-service application that makes it possible for customers to access support and issue resolution easily as and when they require. As they can do it on their own, the IVR system reduces the dependence on support representatives. As this amounts to prompt support and customer satisfaction, you can operate with a smaller team and save up on operational expenses.

Let us see how an IVR can take your customer support to the next level.

Better Customer Support with IVR Solutions

It goes without saying—you should do everything possible to resolve customer concerns immediately. Fortunately, IVR technology is a leap in that direction. The solution enables your organisation to deliver better support without burdening the team with excessive workload and lets them focus on more critical tasks. Let us explain these benefits in detail.

Reduce Repeat Calls

Companies that run call centres track key per-call metrics such as call volumes, reasons for calls, agent identity, and more. With these valuable insights, it is possible to get a customer journey perspective and address critical concerns such as how often your customers call back, and why they do it. You may even be able to identify agents whose interactions result in more callbacks.

While you might also get all this data through traditional call listening, it is often based on small samples. However, IVR-based customer journeys are more holistic and enable companies to identify and examine issues closely. This can help you address the bottlenecks with the right solution, which can cut down repeat calls to a considerable extent.

Increase Self-Service Capabilities

IVR solutions empower ticketing systems with self-service capabilities. Based on the information they gather from the caller, IVRs direct them to the right agent who is capable of resolving their queries most effectively. While this will give them better experiences, the agents will be able to deliver enhanced performance with their special capabilities.

Further, the technology also enables customers to complete certain tasks without even needing to speak with a support agent. This can substantially reduce the agent load and streamline the ticket system for your company. Conversely, you may lose precious customers even if you offer great products and prices but fail to offer self-service support options.

Getting Valuable Feedback

When it comes to having a good ticketing solution for your business, it is not just about addressing the immediate issues. The system should also enable you to identify the weak areas and cover them up to deliver top-notch services in the future. An IVR service lets you conduct customer surveys that offer valuable insights directly from your consumers. This can be of great help for targeting the right prospects, acquiring new customers, and retaining the existing ones. Further, feedback can be used for boosting sales efforts and improving revenue strategies.

Customer feedback with IVR gets as simple as asking them to share their thoughts by clicking a button or filling a form after the call. While callers may be adamant to share facts with a live agent, it is easier to do so with an IVR. Businesses can gather a range of information from the callers, from their feedback on products, agent interaction, or issue resolution quality.

Extend Availability and Accessibility

With conventional ticketing systems, customer support is not always on its toes. When people register complaints in real time, they may have to wait a day or more for help. Surely, this isn’t something they would be very happy and impressed with. In fact, there are chances that you would lose customers for good because people expect instant gratification these days.

However, an IVR solution lets you be available anytime and all the time, whenever your customers may need help. With a self-service system, there are no limitations to office hours, holidays, and seasonal breaks. Most of the time, callers are able get their issues resolved instantly, without even having to interact with a live agent. Instant availability and accessibility is something that impresses people and keeps them hooked to your brand.

IVR Benefits Beyond Support Tickets

IVR solutions are also capable of reducing customer abandonment. A calling menu can improve agent handle time as well. Business benefits of IVR include:

  • Enables businesses to prioritise calls on the basis of their value
  • Allows personalisation of messages and prompts
  • Ensures that customers are routed only to the right agent
  • Obtains key information from the caller during the wait time
  • Improves service standards with call recording and logs
  • Predicts the purpose of calls to enhance customer experience
  • Handles high call volume efficiently and smoothly
  • Reduces overhead costs for business, including staffing

Conclusion

If you run a typical business, your support team may be flooded with a large number of tickets at times. While these can overwhelm you, it isn’t always feasible to expand your team to handle them. Rather, switching to a smart IVR system is a better approach as not only will it streamline the ticketing system but also empower your agents in many other ways. What you really need to do is collaborate with a solution provider you can trust and take your support operations to the next level.

Acefone is a name you can trust because it has helped a large number of clients with diverse needs to elevate their ticketing systems with top-notch IVR solutions.

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Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

Cloud Phone Systems: Your One-Stop Encyclopedia

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Diksha Gusain

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category Phone System calendar clock 23 mins read eye Reads: 720

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Understanding Different Languages

Do you recognise all these languages? You may or may not be well-versed in them, but your clients probably are. The whole world has become one giant marketplace with customers literally everywhere on the globe. 

In this scenario, would you be willing to incur massive costs for communicating with your international clientele? Wired telephony ties you down, and charges you exorbitant amounts for that! 

So what now? 

Fly higher than your competition using cloud phone systems instead; a one-stop solution for all your business communications hosted over cyberspace! 

Here’s everything you need to know about hosted phone systems to get started on your journey.

Chapter 1: Introduction to cloud phone systems

Chapter 2: Emergence of the cloud

Chapter 3: Do you need the cloud?

Chapter 4: Features to look for

Chapter 5: Benefits that help you thrive

Chapter 6: Integrate your way to success

Chapter 7: VoIP regulations to consider

Chapter 1: Introduction to Cloud Phone Systems

Eat or be eaten

Charles Darwin had famously theorised the survival of the fittest. While he painted quite a gory picture, the crux of the matter is that you need to constantly keep evolving with changing times. Did you know that birds are essentially dinosaurs? 

65 million years ago, when the dinosaur extinction happened, some survived because they shrunk into birds. Their beaks could now crack open nuts and seeds buried in the topsoil. 

What I’m trying to say is: don’t stay a dinosaur, become a bird.

Your established traditional telephony system might be a source of comfort, but sticking to it might weigh you down. Instead, switch to the cloud. You can avail amazing benefits that help streamline your business communications and increase efficiency. No wonder 76% of small businesses and entrepreneurs are adopting cloud solutions these days.

You may come across different terms like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling or Internet calling. Don’t be confused; these are synonymous with cloud-based phone systems. With this system in place, you can hold calls over the Web and use a variety of devices to do so—traditional phones, smartphones, softphones, and VoIP-enabled phones.

Rather than maintaining the data on-premise, the cloud hosts all the information on a secure server. On-premise systems take up a lot of space and require regular and expensive upkeep. With online phone systems, not only do you save on high installation costs, but you also incur minimal maintenance and updating costs. Your service provider will take care of it all. 

So how does a VoIP Phone System work?

How Does VoIP Phone System Work?

Let’s put it down simply. Calling over the internet follows a standard procedure: first, your voice gets broken into smaller digital packets and is sent as data to the recipient. Generally, the call is then routed using a cloud-based private branch exchange (PBX). 

This streamlined process allows for seamless communication with anyone possessing a web connection. You can use different devices for this in the following way: 

1. Traditional phone systems: You can attach a VoIP adapter to your wired telephone to host Internet calls. This adapter can be plugged into the wall or your router.

2. Smartphones: You can simply download apps onto your mobile device for efficient communication.

3. Softphones: This refers to calling using computers. Various software and apps can be used for calling. So when you accept a FaceTime call on your Mac, you’re basically using your computer as a softphone. 

4. VoIP-enabled phones: These are similar to traditional phones. But while analogue phones are on a phone line, VoIP phones are connected to a computer network. Basically, you can convert your analogue system into a Web-based one easily, which makes switching to the cloud a feasible option at all times. 

Setting up

Installing an internet-based phone system is super easy. Since there is no bulky hardware to set up, the process is quick, efficient, and most importantly, extremely cost-effective.

You save on precious time as well. In fact, you can switch to a VoIP system in a matter of minutes. 

Imagine this: you decide to adopt cloud communications at the start of the day. All you need to do is contact a skilled service provider, discuss and design a plan that suits your needs and get it installed. And all this before lunch hour! Spend a few hours training your staff about the system and their workflow—and by the end of the day, you’ll have a wholly transformed business.  

Using a call flow

While it’s true that you get a myriad of benefits with the cloud, you need to be able to make the best of its offerings to avail optimal results. 

Call flow refers to the management of how your calls are routed. This becomes especially important when you’re using your cell for both business and personal communications. This flow can be tailored to your preferences, but basically you can set how and when you receive calls, decide where the call will be routed to, and even choose to see the location of the caller. 

There’s so much scope to enhance customer engagement with these features. Use it wisely, and watch your business blossom. 

Chapter 2: Emergence of the Cloud

Contrary to popular belief, the cloud is not the new kid on the block. In fact, it’s got quite a few years on it (think the 1960s). Over the decades, it has slowly crept up to the telecom industry and massively transformed itself. 

A man is simply a sum of his life choices. Similarly, the cloud is what it is today because of its past. If you’re not a history buff, don’t worry, we’ll go through this very briefly. 

In the 1950s, the cloud emerged with the onset of mainframe computing. In this system, multiple users were able to use the capabilities of a single central computer through several terminals. This was widely accepted because of its cost-saving features and resource sharing. It was in the 1960s that the idea of an ‘intergalactic computer network’ was introduced by J.C.R. Licklider.

Then we reach the 1970s. Disco was not the only emergence of this era—virtualisation also began. This concept took mainframes to the next level, as several virtual computers could now be linked to one physical resource.        

The launch of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) in 1988 allowed transmission of both voice and data simultaneously through copper wires. This greatly improved the scope of telecommunications in the following years.   

90s kids will tell you that these were elite times. They’re not wrong. Cloud computing, too, took a leap in the 1990s. You must have heard of VPNs; they’re still widely used. Well, virtualised private networks came into being around this time. 

Emergency Of The Cloud

Earlier, telecommunication companies had to offer services on a point-to-point basis. With VPN, the same quality of data service was now available at a fraction of the cost. Further through the years, the cloud has simply been enhancing. Software as a Service (SaaS) slowly became the norm as the IT industry boomed. 

Lastly, the 2000s. The modern era. After going through all its stages—infancy, adolescence, early adulthood—the cloud is a wise adult, constantly improving itself. Here we witnessed the birth of giants like Amazon and Google. 

The cloud reinvented itself time and again, and it has become an indispensable form of communication. Data transferred virtually has enabled HD voice and video transmission, and made the process instantaneous.

Of course, the journey to becoming a massive technology was not without hiccups. Through multiple trials and tribulations, we now have VoIP technology: with a multitude of services and huge potential to boost all kinds of communications. 

You can read about the emergence, importance, and future of the cloud in detail in this paper about cloud computing, published in IJSER. 

Chapter 3: Do you need the Cloud?

Short answer: YES. 

Long answer: Before entering the maze of features you can avail with the hosted phones, let’s address a more primal concern: how do you know when it’s time to switch to the cloud? 

Honestly, it’s been time for quite a while now. Nevertheless, there are some signs that indicate it’s time to move to internet-based communications: 

  • You have increasing concerns about the security of sensitive data. 

Business communications involve confidential trade information. In this extremely competitive landscape, it is essential to have a secure and reliable communication channel. 

  • You’re burdened by network issues hampering communications. 

Your best clients could be located in an isolated area—with no phone towers in the vicinity. Moving communications to the internet ensures that the wide reach of wireless technology can ensure high-quality calls. 

  • You’re looking to expand your business.

While expanding is a hoot, its lengthy process in a traditional set-up is decidedly not. Rather than suffering through the arduous upscaling of your wired network or with expensive hardware installation, opt for a cloud set-up. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s unbelievably scalable. So you can continue your growth without qualms, and update your system timely and conveniently.

  • You feel you’re not meeting client expectations, and possibly losing customers.

This is every business’s worst nightmare. Acquiring customers is hard enough, but retaining them is an even bigger challenge. If your firm is lacking in technology and the associated holistic assistance, customers might consider switching to a competitor who does offer them a more user-friendly experience. 

  • High consumer traffic is getting hard to handle.

If you’re starting to miss calls and are hurrying through customers in the face of a booming business, that’s a definite red flag. Ditch the wires chaining you down straight away. The cloud offers several features to help handle and streamline large flows of calls.

Chapter 4: Features to look for

We’ve seen how the limitations of a traditional phone system can hamper business growth, so now let’s learn how to turn that frown upside down. Yes, it’s finally time to explore what features you can (and should) expect in your cloud phone system.

Use this checklist to ensure that your provider serves you with the best-in-class features in the industry: 

#1 Unified communications 

Undoubtedly, this is one of the greatest and most widely used services in the IT communications industry. The mere simplicity of having all your correspondence on a unified platform aids in its popularity. Voice. Video. Messaging. All-in-one. It almost sounds like a mantra, no? 

Your agents save on valuable time and are able to hold better conversations. In fact, the focus here is not just on communication. UC essentially promotes collaboration, which greatly improves productivity and leads to optimisation of business operations.

You can do so much more than just talk—send and receive files, share screens, sync calendars and integrate with other apps. 

#2 Multi-level IVR

“Thank you for calling Acefone, your call is very important to us. Please hold while we connect you to a suitable agent. Press 1 for product queries, press 2 for refund policies…”

This was a classic example of an IVR greeting. A virtual receptionist can handle all basic queries and route the specific ones to a sales or customer service rep. 

How smart your IVR is can be the x-factor that makes or breaks your business. Navigable key input menus are a common feature of this service. But instead of making the menus long and boring, you can just add multiple layers of menus to streamline the calls. 

Additionally, intelligent routing can be used to direct the calls to the best-suited agent, in terms of skill, availability or even continuity of previous interactions. 

#3 Free phone numbers

You cannot talk about cloud telephony without considering free number services. If everything else can be virtual, why not switch to virtual numbers as well? Apart from being easy on your pockets, these numbers are actually free for the customers to dial. That’s an amazing incentive to promote inbound calls.

Toll free number as the name suggests, are toll free for the callers while the company bears the minimal charges. They’re also called non-geographic numbers because they can be used anywhere in the country without local restrictions.

Furthermore, they usually start with a highly recognisable 0800 or 0808 pattern, which helps build credibility and improves your brand reputation. 

You can even opt for vanity numbers to improve your contact’s recall value. Let’s take an example: 0800-PET-SHOP is very easy to remember, while also reinforcing your brand’s name in the caller’s minds. It simply translates into the corresponding numbers on the keypad. In this case, your actual number to be dialled is 0800-738-7467.

#4 Number portability

Now you may be thinking: all my customers know my established number, so I don’t want to change it and potentially lose connections. 

You won’t. Number portability has you covered. Simply integrate cloud services with your existing number to enjoy all the benefits while also retaining your customers. You clients will be none the wiser; all they’ll know is that your services drastically improved. A happy customer means a happy business!

#5 Call recording and monitoring

They say you can never take back words. That’s certainly true, but the human mind does tend to forget words very often. With call recording features, you need not worry about losing any information. Easy access to the recording allows better call analysis and customer service, while also helping out in times of disputes. 

Live monitoring also aids communication. You just recruited new agents? No need to worry about their slip-ups that might cost you customers. Managers have the option to whisper or barge in on calls if the need arises.

#6 Find me/Follow me

Your hosted phone system can be more loyal than your faithful dog. Give one command, ‘follow me’, and it will do so till the time you ask it to stop. 

Find me/follow me is a technology that allows you to receive calls no matter where you are. Not only does it route calls to different locations, but it also calls whatever device you’re using at the time. You can assign the system to call multiple devices—parallel ringing—so anyone free is able to answer. 

Sequential ringing is truly a ‘find me’ feature. This means that for certain urgent calls, your devices will sequentially ring till picked up. So first your office phone can ring, then your office mobile, followed by your personal cell, and finally, even your home phone. This ensures that you never miss an important call.

#7 User-friendly admin portal 

An intuitive dashboard is a one-stop solution for all your communication needs. You can receive real-time updates on the progress of your agents, and guide them better for increased efficiency. 

You can even track the progress of larger projects and maintain collaborative efforts. Analytics allow you to gain useful insights about customer preferences which can be used to modify future campaigns. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Graphic reports help visualise data better and ultimately give you complete insights about your operations. 

#8 AI features 

Artificial intelligence has significantly advanced over the years. You can now use AI to make your life so much easier. For example, speech-to-text features can do all your typing work for you quickly and accurately. 

As we discussed before, AI can be programmed to forward calls to the right recipients every single time. There’s no need to waste time on manually looking for free agents to route customer calls. 

Another amazing feature you need to look for is voicemail-to-email. Any call received after work hours can instead be converted into a voicemail, and instantly have it sent to your inbox so that you always stay notified. In fact, AI can also automatically create a transcript of the recording for you to look over anytime. 

#9 Music on hold

Finally, it’s time to talk about music. If you’re feeling down, just listen to a happy song. If you’re bored, entertain yourself with some song and dance. If you’re travelling, create a vibe with your playlist. 

So why not use the magic of music to increase customers’ experience with your brand? Practically speaking, there are times when you simply cannot avoid putting people on hold.

While your customer is waiting, play some music for them instead of an annoying beeping tone, the agent will finally face a happier client and increase the chances of retaining customers

As you can see, there are plenty of features of a VoIP phone system that you can use to boost your business. You may even think of the cloud as a cornucopia, with features flowing out in abundance.

Chapter 5: Benefits that Help you Thrive

Hey, that rhymed! Speaking of rhymes and children’s fiction, who can ever forget the famous fairytale: Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack plants magical seeds that grow into a huge beanstalk. When he climbs it, he finds the giant’s den filled with enchanted goods. Tone this tale down a bit (a lot actually), and you can find similar parallels in adopting a cloud phone system for your business. 

A simple investment in an internet-based telephony system can cause unprecedented growth and optimal results for your business. The customer is king in this tale, and a VoIP service allows you to impress and secure clients with its multitude of benefits. 

Benefits of Customer Service

With an internet phone system, your efficiency and reliability increase, and you can improve the quality of your interactions. Therefore, you’re able to increase the overall service experience for customers. A happy customer is a repeat customer. 

Let’s explore some of the many benefits you’ll be sure to enjoy with a VoIP phone:

#1 Lower cost, higher returns

Isn’t this ideal? You pay less for so much more. There is no expensive hardware or extra costs for set-up. In fact, you can enable VoIP service on your existing business phones to enjoy uninterrupted workflow. 

Timely automatic updates are done like on any other software, which means you can enjoy an up-to-date system at all times without any additional expenses. 

Put your haggling skills to rest. The best service providers in the industry provide bespoke cloud solutions. This means that you can tailor a plan specific to your needs and only pay for the features and number of lines you want to use. 

#2 Feature-rich solutions

I know we mentioned features earlier. But their variety and scope deserve an encore. These features provide extreme flexibility to businesses, especially in non-traditional work environments these days. 

There’s no denying that flexibility is of the utmost importance for a budding business. 

Picture This: Due to some personal issues, your best employee is suddenly tasked with taking care of their kids alone. This means they need to drop and pick the kids from school, have supper prepared, and take out some quality time to spend with the little ones. At this point, if you can offer your employee flexible working hours and the ability to work on the go, you won’t suffer the loss of agent output. At the same time, the quality of work will improve when the employee can focus their attention on work without worrying about personal matters. 

A work-life balance is essential for staff satisfaction and to prevent burnout. 

Similarly, if you’re looking to expand your operations and wish to deploy international centers, cloud phone systems can offer unparalleled communication and collaboration. Set up a global base with a web-based business—not only can you recruit international talent, but you can also serve customers worldwide seamlessly. 

You can sail the seven seas, climb the highest mountains, and still stay connected to work as long as you have access to the Internet. 

#3 Reliability

The world works on trust. At the core of any relationship is a mutual feeling of trust between the two parties. Therefore, proving your reliability to customers is even more important than having the most expensive equipment and talented employees.

Customers will trust you when you show them that you’re always available to them. Most cloud service providers guarantee 99.99% uptime, so your operations will never be interrupted. 

Reliability and Security

Additionally, enterprise-grade encryption and firewalls are provided to build your brand’s security. Sensitive data can be stored and communicated safely with VoIP. Customers can be assured of the safety of their data and respect for their privacy at all times. 

Moreover, disaster recovery plans ensure no data is lost in times of emergency. You’ll experience minimum downtime and be able to resume operations as quickly as a flash.

#4 Scalability 

We can’t ignore this benefit when talking about VoIP phone systems. The world is dynamic, and one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us is that you never know what hurdle you might have to face and when.

Today you may be a small business, tomorrow you could expand exponentially. The cloud offers you the option to scale up or down at will. Instead of wasting money on buying or storing away heavy equipment, you simply add or remove lines with one click on your online dashboard. No-fuss, no paperwork, no problem.

#5 Simplified management

As your business blooms and you bring more people under your wing, it can get harder to manage and keep track of the staff. As a business owner or manager, you can’t be expected to manually track your employees and their progress.

A system hosted on the cloud can eliminate this problem entirely. An admin portal with real-time progress reports and call analytics helps you with that very issue. You can easily identify problem areas to focus your attention on and increase the efficiency of your operations.

Integrations with powerful CRMs allow you to serve your clientele better. Keep records of call logs, store and update customer data, and easily call them up—all using a single screen.

Let’s discuss this more in the next chapter.

Chapter 6: Integrate your way to Success

A fist is stronger than five fingers.

Even if you’re availing benefits of a cloud phone system, a CRM, a calendar app, and a project tracking app separately anyway—why stop there if you can enhance the experience further. 

Integrations act as the stairway to take your business to the next level. The most commonly used integrations would have to be customer relationship management tools or CRMs. You may be familiar with companies such as Hubspot, Salesforce, Zoho, etc. Essentially, these apps allow you to keep track of customer details and agent progress in real-time.

A lot of mundane tasks like updating tasks and progress on portals are undeniably essential. But instead of spending needless hours on these routine tasks, CRM integrations can automatically update the required platforms for agents. Agents can instead focus on essential tasks while managers can get timely updates about their work. A complete win-win.

Calendar integrations, as you can imagine, are crucial for managing meetings and collaboration. You can plan your day, week, month, and year’s tasks through the calendar and schedule deadlines accordingly. 

The integration ensures that all your employees also have easy access to this calendar and can adjust their work to fit with the schedule. Basically, when everyone is on the same page, there are fewer chances of any misadventures. 

Think of all your tools as pieces of a puzzle. They make sense when they’re put together and create a whole picture. This is what happens when you integrate separate apps. The weakness of one application gets covered, and rather changes to strength, when combined with features of other apps.

Let’s consider a typical day in your call center enhanced with integrations. 

Your sales agent Joe logs into his system and first checks his notifications and task sheet on the unified portal. The notifications could be from any of the apps—for example, Trello notifies you when a certain task is due by the day. He can then check his calendar and schedule to figure out what his priority tasks are. 

Once settled, Joe needs to make an important sales call to a potential lead. He searches the customer’s name on the portal and immediately has all the information displayed on his screen. He now knows the details of the previous interaction, and what the customer is really looking for.

When he connects to the client, automatic call recording starts for analysis purposes while the system starts creating a transcript. During the course of the conversation, Joe can refer to the customer data at any point, and immediately contact his superior for queries without switching screens. Once the call has ended, the recording and transcription, along with any files shared, get stored in the CRM portal for easy access the next time around. 

Meanwhile, if any urgent task has come up for Joe, his supervisor can forward a task notification without necessarily interrupting the call. He can be notified at any frequency as determined by the urgency of the situation—while this task also gets added to his task sheet and the admin’s progress tracker. 

In this way, the integration of various important apps help Joe work efficiently, save time, and build meaningful relationships over the course of a single day.

There is a multitude of integrations available in the market these days, serving more tasks than you ever thought necessary even. If you incorporate these innovations into your center, you’ll smoothen your entire operations swiftly. Don’t just take my word. Try it for yourself. 

Chapter 7: VoIP Regulations to Consider

As a business owner, you need to be completely thorough in your research before purchasing any sort of system. Regulations are present in every industry to create order. For example, if you get a business phone number, you have to follow certain set timings for promotional communications. It’s important that you’re aware of VoIP regulations in the UK that every provider adheres to. 

Here are a few points to keep in mind for hassle-free operations:

  • ITSPA stands for the Internet Telephony Services Providers’ Association, a body founded in 2004 to represent VoIP providers in the UK. First and foremost, you should ensure that your provider is registered as a part of this organisation so you can be assured of its reliability and professionalism. 
  • As you know, Ofcom is the UK’s communications regulator. Every service provider has to comply with its guidelines at all times. Check out its Electronic Communications Code for comprehensive guidelines. 
  • It is important to note that the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1996 deems it unlawful to establish, install or use a wireless station without Ofcom’s license—unless granted exemption. Therefore, make sure you, as well as your provider, have the relevant licenses before starting your operations. 
  • In addition, there are quite a few EU regulations that are important to keep in mind. For instance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU legislation governing the collection, storage and use of personal data, implemented in the UK under the Data Protection Act of 2018. You can read more about the GDPR and the Data Protection Act in the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) guide. Under this act, if you process personal data, you’re required to register and pay a fee to the ICO (unless exempted). 
  • The European Telecommunications Framework promotes competition, improves market functioning, and guarantees basic user rights. The main purpose here is to benefit consumers with increased choice, low prices, high quality and innovative services. Read on about the framework here
  • Roaming Regulations: International roaming was abolished in the EU in 2017, which means that domestic prices are to be charged for calls and SMSes to and from the UK and EU nations. 
  • ITSPA has also welcomed the Net Neutrality Regulations that will be enforced by Ofcom, promoting open internet. Since blocking internet traffic on commercial grounds is prohibited, there is an environment of open and inclusive web use. 
  • The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 20033 (PECR) prohibit organisations from making unsought live or automated marketing calls to subscribers that are registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or have not consented to receive such calls or messages. 
  • Refer to Ofcom’s Caller Line Identity (CLI) guidelines here. The CLI consists of the caller data as well as a privacy mark which dictates whether the number can be shared with the call recipient or not. 

While these points aim to give a brief idea about existing laws and guidelines, it is imperative to consult with an expert for comprehensive analysis before you make your purchase. This chapter’s content can give you a basic idea to aid in an informed discussion about your service needs. 

Conclusion

If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a pat on the back! You now possess extensive knowledge about cloud phone systems and their scope. The telecom industry has been on a long journey, from Alexander Graham Bell’s invention to the modern-day smart devices. It only makes sense to grow with the times and adopt the best practices for your firm as well. 

VoIP makes life easier—for you, for your clients, and even for your customers. Every successful business needs congruence between these three elements in order to function smoothly. 

Of course, this is not the end. In an ever-evolving world, the scope for internet-based phone systems is also ever-increasing. Developers are constantly striving to innovate and bridge the gap between customers and businesses even further. So what are you waiting for?

Get in touch with our team by dialing 1888-859-0450  or drop a mail at [email protected] to get started on your cloud journey.

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Diksha Gusain

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Diksha is a junior content writer at Acefone. As a tech-lover, she aims to bridge the gap between tech articles and non-savvy readers. She’s equally interested in pop culture and worldly affairs. And in her free time, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or discovering new music for her chaotically diverse playlist.

How Can Managers Ensure Better Work-Life Balance For Employees

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Yukti Verma

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category Operations calendar September 10, 2020 clock 5 mins read eye Reads: 576

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Striking the right balance between personal and professional life is a huge challenge. With office schedules busier than ever, it’s vital to effectively juggle between professional responsibilities, family commitments, and spare equal time for self-care. 

As employers, you may not be directly responsible for providing your workers with a perfectly balanced lifestyle. But, you can proactively assist them in maintaining their routine. 

The company policies, decisions, values, and expectations your company offers the employees helps them support their work-life balance. 

Let us now understand why it’s important for employees to maintain a work-life balance and how it impacts the overall work atmosphere.

Why is Work-life Balance Important?

Employees who have better control over their lives tend to maintain quality relationships with their management. They build an attitude of handling personal problems at home and leave their professional commitments at work.

Such motivation and lack of stress reduce conflict in the workplace and boost the organisation’s productivity. 

Moreover, employers who focus on maintaining an improved work-life balance attract skilled and dedicated candidates for their job openings. They also enjoy lower attrition rates, better loyalty, and superior in-house expertise. 

Here, we have consolidated a few important points that employers should consider while ensuring a balanced environment for their staff:

1. Make a Flexible Work Schedule

According to a report by Onrec, 78% of workers had a positive impact on their quality of life due to flexible work schedules.

Workplaces no longer bind employees to the conventional 9 to 5 working models. Employees appreciate the freedom to work on their time. Undeniably, every employee is different and has a different working style. 

Some may be productive during the day and others in the evening. They can establish better control of their professional lives if they get to choose their preferred time-window.

However, it’s necessary to communicate expected deadlines to your staff even in the absence of a punch-lock system. You can even implement the concept of ‘summer hours’ where your employees may work for half-days on certain Fridays. 

Other than that, try to distribute workload equitably to make sure no employee is overwhelmed. Tools like Time Champ can help employers monitor workloads and ensure employees aren’t overwhelmed, fostering a healthier work-life balance.

These efforts will motivate your workforce to improve productivity and the quality of the work environment. 

2. Motivate Transparency 

Ensure that your employees’ aims are aligned with the organisational objectives. They should be clear about the company hierarchy and everyone’s responsibilities in the organisation. 

A portal or an internal database that shows information like the designation and individual roles of executives must be considered. It improves transparency, inculcates a feeling of belongingness and involvement within the organisation. 

3. Facilitate Work-from-home Options

Several employees feel that half their stress comes from spending hours in traffic every day to reach the office. Though it can’t be avoided, you can provide an option to work from home

This move will demonstrate your trust in the employees. Your staff will have the freedom to work in their own space and this will foster a sense of accountability. 

4. Encourage Team-building Activities

Team building exercises are important to help nurture collaboration within your team. Events like escape rooms, puzzle-solving activities, and trust exercises are a great way to do this. You can also host outdoor events that help your employees break free from the mundane office routine.

Try inviting employees with their families as a way to further involve teams and build better work relationships.

5. Maintain an Open-door Policy

Communication is cardinal for the growth of any organisation. Though there are companies that have their top tier executives sitting with other employees, an open-door policy means fostering better communication.

This enables your employees to reach out to anybody across the company for professional or personal help. Offering counseling services in-person or over the phone helps your employees manage stress better.

Your workforce should also have a positive attitude and utilise these services, and seek help without any hesitation. They should be open-minded with their schedules and make it a point to communicate to their managers if they are under undue stress. 

These efforts ensure maximum productivity and consistently high-performance.

6. Insist on Regular Breaks during Working-hours

Employers can make sure that their staff follows healthy working habits in the office too. However, employees are equally responsible for effectively taking charge of their work-life balance. One such way is to take frequent breaks even in the middle of tight schedules.

Employees should take short breaks from their desk once every two hours to clear their minds. This habit not only revives them mentally but also positively impacts their productivity and reduces stress levels.

7. Offer Childcare Benefits

It is a huge challenge for working parents to manage their children. It can be a source of constant stress but employers can reduce it by offering childcare services within the office premises. In fact, access to a center close to work would also suffice. 

This way, employees can have their children nearby and safe. This reduces childcare stress to a great extent.

Wrap Up!

To think beyond regular working models has become a prerequisite. The overall workforce deals with several types of concerns, thus it’s important to maintain a balanced work-life scenario to achieve success. Employees and managers can come together to create a more balanced, productive work-life environment for all.

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

5 Simple Things Successful Call Centre Managers Do Every Day

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Yukti Verma

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category Contact Center calendar September 9, 2020 clock 4 mins read eye Reads: 496

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Call center managers have varied and fast-paced jobs. They need to be able to think on their feet and be adaptable at all times. Successful call center managers should take time each day to prepare and keep a close look on their agents. This way, they can ensure the best possible customer service is delivered on each and every call.

No matter where your customer service agents are based, as a call center manager you can ensure that you keep on top of the day-to-day running of your hosted contact center

Let’s go through five basic strategies that call center managers must follow to optimise their contact center operations.

1. Monitor Analytics and Real-time Statistics

Call center managers should take some time each day to check the dashboard in the online portal and use analytics to see whether call waiting times are at an acceptable level. You can use these analytics to make important decisions or change employee roles if you need more support to handle high volumes of calls.

By monitoring, you can see exactly when your busiest periods are and can use this information to determine staff hours for the weeks ahead. 

Ensuring you have enough coverage on your phone lines means a less stressful working day for you as a call center manager. These analytics can also show which employee may need more training or support to deal with complex customer inquiries.

2. Collaborate with your Team

With a hosted phone system, you can collaborate freely with your team no matter where they are in the world. With conference calling, you can connect with your staff with just a few clicks and can run meetings to update them on any important information or changes they should know about. 

Keeping up lines of communication is a great way to motivate your team and ensure they have everything they need to deliver excellent customer service. Particularly with a remote team, creating a sense of teamwork and inclusion is important for both the performance and mental health of workers, so this is an essential element to factor into your day.

If you have a sales team, team meetings can serve to encourage salespeople to perform even better. It gives them a chance to share information and motivate them to do better everyday.

3. Look for Opportunities to Educate and Train Staff

Well-trained staff perform better, are happier in their roles, and deliver better results for your business. So, it is important for call center managers to regularly look for ways to educate and train their teams. 

By using Acefone’s online portal, you can see detailed analytics and check the call waiting time, call duration, and listen to call recordings. This helps you see whether some agents are taking longer to deal with the customers than others and can discuss with them if they need additional training to help solve customer issues.

Call center managers can also monitor call recordings, to see how agents interact with customers. Using these real-time insights, managers can train new staff on what to expect and share good examples of a call with the team to help them learn from the successes of their colleagues. 

Call recordings are an excellent way for managers to see exactly how agents are interacting with customers and use the insights to train their staff.

4. Be Available to Share your Expertise

Contact center managers should be available to share their expertise and guide their agents through complex issues. If you are managing a contact center, then you will have picked up expertise in dealing with customers, which you can use to help your agents learn new and effective skills.

With a cloud-hosted phone system, remote workers can connect with you easily via conference calling or by dialing your extension number. The ease of connection and communication means that you can share ideas and answer any questions your agents might come across. 

Building relationships with your agents wherever they are and strengthening your team’s knowledge at the same time make your team highly efficient.

5. Search and Recruit Top Talent all over the World

Successful call center managers should always be checking recruitment sites for the more valuable additions to their teams. By searching through a worldwide talent pool, the managers can ensure that they hire the best agents no matter where they are based. 

As hosted phone systems can enable remote working with an internet connection, workers anywhere in the world can join your team and start delivering excellent results for your business.

By recruiting the best agents, your team will become more successful and, in turn, you will be a more effective manager. Talented people all over the world can even help you develop your skills, and can show you different ways of working that may enhance the performance of your whole team.

To find out more about how a hosted phone system can help call center managers run a more successful team, call our advisers today on 1888-859-0450.

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.