Missed Call Service: A Boon for the Banking Industry in 2021

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Uncategorized

March 14, 2019

4 mins read eye

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Do you remember how a passbook used to be the only way to check one’s bank balance a decade ago? Standing in long queues to get one’s passbook updated was an exhausting but recurring activity.

Now, you have better ways to keep a tab on your account balance that does not involve cumbersome processes. In fact, you can do a lot more within seconds, like changing your ATM pin, updating your mobile number, and so forth. From cheque book requests to account statements, you can get all the information at zero cost.

Banks even encourage account holders to use these new features:

“If you want to know more about your latest transaction, give a missed call at 98XYZ”

“To get a mini statement of your account, call 891XYZ”

Banking is one industry that is making the most of missed call services. However, have you ever wondered how these services work?

How Banks Utilize Missed Call Services

Over the past few years, banks have constantly rolled out missed call numbers for their customer’s convenience. Private and public banks alike have been including this tool to upgrade their customer service.

Here are a few ways the missed call service proves to be beneficial for banks:

1. Ease of Access

With the hustle-bustle of modern lifestyle, many people do not have time to engage in long conversations. Therefore, they look for more convenient methods for the same.

A missed call service lets them instantly access their bank details or request other actions. This increases transparency, allowing the user to track account updates in real-time. Furthermore, people can avail this service to request information on different schemes and offers.

2. Greater Penetration

Tier-3 cities and rural India still have limited access to the Internet. Missed call services are an accessible method of communication, irrespective of geography.

Let’s say someone wants to seek information about loans. They can simply leave a missed call to receive the desired information. In this way, they do not have to spend hours surfing the Internet, an agent can call them back to assist them.

3. Verification and Activation

OTPs are generally used to verify customer identity. However, a missed call alert is a better alternative since it works with both landlines and international numbers, unlike SMSs.

For example, upon receiving a new ATM card, cardholders can be asked to give a missed call from their registered number to verify their identity. Users can similarly change their ATM pins.

4. Enhanced Employee Productivity

Banks that were worried about employee productivity have now found a silver lining in missed call service. Front desk employees are free from mundane tasks like checking a savings account balance or the last five transactions of different users.

They can now simply ask the customer to give a missed call from their registered number and access their statements.

5. Quick Response

Forgot your PIN? Don’t panic. You can generate a new one within minutes.

The most beneficial feature of the missed call service is its instant response. It enables customers to instantly request for a new PIN number in case they forget or lose their existing PIN. By giving a missed call from their registered phone number, customers can generate OTPs and get the needful done.

What’s More?

The missed call service has proven to be a game-changer in the banking sector, and it’s certainly here to stay. It replaces the tedious process of standing in queues for balance enquiry or authenticating the cardholder’s identity.

Truly, missed call services have eased these mundane processes like never before. In fact, some banks even allow users to transfer money simply by authenticating their identity via a missed call. Additionally, loan seekers can get bank statements easily by sending a request through a missed call.

If the person has multiple accounts within the same bank, just one missed call can update them about the balance of all their accounts.

To Wrap it Up

Missed call services are one of the most convenient modes of communication for banks and their customers. With minimal infrastructure requirements, this service can access a wider set of customers, ranging from urban as well as rural areas.

From public to private banks, everyone is using missed call services to save time and cost. All that is required is the account holder’s mobile number linked to the account in the bank and voila! All is made easier.

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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.

Interactive Voice Response: 8 Ways It Benefits Every Call Centre

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Call Center

March 11, 2019

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Ever wonder how an enterprise manages a haystack of calls, while only employing a handful of operators?

This is done via automation, and one of the perks of automation is interactive systems. An interactive system facilitates interaction between humans and computers. The first interactive systems were a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that one uses every day in the form of Windows and Android operating systems.

With time, these interactive voice systems have evolved. One such evolution has been in the form of Interactive Voice Response (IVR). It is a voice-based interactive system that allows a human to interact with the system by passing input at each step. IVR system has become a preferred choice for customer service departments due to the ease of communication it provides. These systems automate a lot of manual day-to-day tasks and thus are widely used by call centres nowadays.

Below let’s understand how interactive voice response (IVR) has been boosting the call center’s overall performance with its automation.

1. Increased Customer Satisfaction

With IVR, a person interacts directly with the system, basic queries get resolved without human intervention. The ability of interactive voice response to handle multiple clients along with the ease of operation ensures that a call centre enjoys a happy clientele.

Personalised Message

Although the messages are transmitted with the help of machines, it does not imply that the messages cannot be changed or personalised as per our needs. Every message can be personalized based on customer’s or businesses’ preference. This means business can provide a familiar touch to their customers by customising the messages.

High Call Volumes

One of the biggest advantages of using IVR lies in the numbers. With IVR multitude of calls can be answered and routed simultaneously to the appropriate department.

Without IVR, it is difficult to route calls to the right department. Many-a-times customers aren’t even aware of the departments which can handle their queries. Hence, they end up calling the wrong department, leading to confusion. This causes an incorrect redirection by an operator, following which there is a chance that a customer might loop in wrong departments before reaching the appropriate department. With Interactive voice response, the call segregation happens in the following manner.

Auto Call Distribution (ACD)

In this process, no workforce is invested upon routing. Also, in all inbound calls, the first respondent is IVR, i.e., all basic queries are handled by the IVR. Only cases that require complex reasoning are handled by agents.

Auto Call Distribution (ACD)

ACD is an intelligent system that forwards calls to the most appropriate agent. It is the backbone of call centres, as it identifies callers and based on their demands routes the call to the required department. ACD can identify a frequent or priority callers based on their number and can move their calls up the queue.

2. Enhanced Performance

With an organised menu structure, Interactive voice response on its own can sort most customer queries which increase the overall performance of the call centre. Thus, a call centre can now employ most of its workforce towards queries that need special attention, and which cannot be performed without an agent’s assistance. Hence, IVR can exponentially improve the performance of the call centre. As a result, it reduces the burden of the agents in the following way:

Reduced Financial Burden

Implementation of IVR requires a lot fewer agents which cuts down the business expenses by a substantial margin.

Reduced Operator Burden

An IVR is programmed in a manner that serves both the client and the agent. When an agent receives enquiries of their expertise, they can work way more efficiently. To most businesses, this is a major step toward empowering agents.

3. Decreased Avg. Handling Time

Average handling time is the average of the total in-call time of every agent. This is the total time spent on a call, from the moment the call was answered to when the call gets disconnected.

IVR greatly reduces the average handling time of the call centre. Most of the times a customer does not need to talk with a representative. Also, since ACD technology diverts the call to the best-suited operator, the time required to resolve the issue is minimized.

4. Decreased Call Abandon Rate

Abandon rate is the percentage of incoming calls that are abandoned by the call centre before connecting with an agent. In the call centre, the maximum number of calls answered simultaneously is the same as the number of active agents.

For instance, if a company has 100 lines but employs 20 operators, only 20 simultaneous calls can be answered. However, with IVR in play, every call is answered irrespective of the queue size.

5. Increased Process Efficiency

By routing calls to the right departments, and by resolving most queries at the interface itself, a call centre saves much of its time and money. This lets the agents be involved in high-quality customer service tasks.

6. Pre-recorded Messages

With IVR a company can use pre-recorded messages. These are especially handy when a company needs to advertise or introduce new offers. For instance, in an upcoming festive season, a company can record a bunch of messages and play the desired voice messages at the most suitable moment.

7. Call Routing

A much important aspect of a call centre is the constant efforts to improve their agent’s performance. For this, a call centre needs to keep track of all the calls and analyse them thoroughly. With IVR System, every call gets recorded automatically. Most IVR providers don’t implement any additional fees for call recording. This ensures a smooth and hassle-free improvement in services.

8. Outbound IVR

Although inbound IVR is quite helpful when considering the abundance of incoming calls, outbound IVR is extremely beneficial for outgoing calls. With outbound IVR, a call centre can send basic reports, collect survey responses, and provide alerts and reminders. Also, by integrating CRM with outbound IVR, a call centre gets to reduce the dependency on agents and still manage to deliver personalised messages to each customer. Outbound IVR is not that largely discussed, however, its role in the betterment of customer service is immense.

Take Away

By now it is established that a call centre benefits immensely from interactive voice response. Where inbound IVR is extremely important for handling all inbound queries and suitable routing of calls, outbound IVR simplifies the tasks of outsourced call centres. In today’s day and age, an IVR is not just important but has rather become a necessity for call-centres.

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Toll-Free Solution: An Asset for Healthcare Industry

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Toll Free Numbers

February 25, 2019

4 mins read eye

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When visiting a hospital or a clinic, one is bound to think over the long line of people waiting to book an appointment. In today’s time, one can book their flights, get their food, buy clothes and get more done, merely by placing a call, but to fulfil the basic amenity of visiting a doctor one still struggles through long queues in the hospitals.

In this blog, we’ll be looking at the various problems faced by the healthcare industry and how toll-free number have proven to be the best solution for them.

Eliminate Manual Administrative Tasks

The biggest issue in the healthcare industry is with administration. Long queues for appointment is where the lack of organized administration is observed most. And the first step in healthcare journey is booking an appointment. This is where maximum frustration is faced, the rest of the journey becomes a drag.

To avoid such tussle, a hospital needs to acquire toll-free number service. With toll-free solution, a hospital can book multiple appointments simultaneously on the same number. Patients will not have to be physically present inside the hospital premises to book an appointment. The same can happen with a mere phone call.

Also, most vendors provide Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services along with the toll-free solution. With IVR the requirement for administrative personnel is greatly reduced. IVR itself can handle most calls, book appointments automatically, check the availability of a doctor, provide immediate ambulance assistance among other things.

This saves time for both patients and hospitals. Patients no longer have to wait in queues or languish between operators to get to the right department.

Higher Client Engagement

A person can handle only one client at a time. Without toll-free services, client engagement is quite low. Hence lack of automation and its effects are observed among the ruckus of long queues and suffering patients.

Also, the reliance on manpower for administrative tasks leads to a substantial expenditure of time and money where it is not required. Not only appointments but IVR can handle most queries by itself. This begs the question that when state of the art equipment can be used to treat patients, then why should manpower be invested in everyday repetitive tasks.

Patient Management

Though administrative tasks can be easily handled with IVR, patient management can be easily handled when your system is integrated with Customer Relationship Management (CRM). This makes it easy for hospitals to maintain a patient’s history. Upon a call from a patient, their previous medical conditions can be easily identified.

In case of emergencies, this is vital, as a patient’s history can be identified as soon as the call is received. This empowers the doctor at the scene of an emergency to administer drugs, without worrying about reactions. This, at times, helps in critical life and death situations.

With CRM in place, a hospital can send customer reminders, deliver reports, provide updates on existing reports, and schedule appointments when needed. To top it all off, this can be done without any human indulgence. This saves time and money, further, the manpower can be utilized in the more critical areas.

The integration of toll-free number with outbound IVR can send an emergency alert and provide fast assistance by helping in terms of the contacting nearest ambulance, sending advance notification to a hospital to arrange a doctor.

Emergence of Medical Tourism

With India’s medical tourism aiming to share 20% of the world’s market capital by 2020, toll-free solution is inevitable. India is having a cut-throat competition in medical tourism. Every company want to provide a hassle-free service to its clients.

Clients, on the other hand, are looking for fast medical support. Toll-free number incorporation with IVR allows a company to receive and manage multiple calls simultaneously. No manpower is wasted upon this, and hassle-free personalized IVR is appealing to the client.

Takeaway

In doing so, toll-free numbers are going to be the most integral part of such systems. Toll-free numbers in themselves will help increase the extent of medical tourism in India. When integrated with IVR they will help eliminate administrative burden. When integrated with CRM they will provide for patient management. When integrated with apps they will form the basis of life-saving phenomenon.

Now, that the facts are established, it is clear that “asset” is only an understatement. As healthcare industry advances, toll-free solution will be the requirement for it.

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Brand Your Business with Toll Free Number

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Toll Free Numbers

February 20, 2019

4 mins read eye

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With any business, branding is a major factor for success. Because brand name sells itself. The thing common with all brands, irrespective of industry, is observed from the quality of customer service they deliver. And the first point of customer service is delivered from the point a customer contacts your business.

One thing every big brand has in common is providing their customers with the facility to contact them without having to worry about the hefty call charges which come along with them. Big brands want to reach out to customers in the smoothest way possible. And thus, having their own business toll-free number is one important aspect they never want to miss out.

What is Toll Free Number

A number which is chargeable to the destination rather than the origin of the call is a toll-free number, i.e., instead of the caller, the expense of the call is paid by the owner of the toll-free number. In India, these numbers begin with 1800.

Let’s understand how these toll-free numbers are good for business who are looking to brand and promote these numbers.

National Presence

Toll free number allows a business to establish a national presence. These numbers allow a business to have one number across the country. The area code of incoming calls helps route the call to the right branch. Having the same number provides authenticity and reliability in the eyes of customers.

Portability

A big advantage of the toll-free number is that it is portable. Once a business buys a toll-free number, it becomes the owner of that toll free number. Just like cell-phone numbers, a toll-free number can be ported to a different carrier. Once purchased a toll-free number becomes a part of the business assets.

Flexible Routing to Remote Locations

At times, businesses require call routing to remote locations. This is easily done with toll-free numbers. A business can route calls made at their toll-free number to any remote landline or mobile number. Most vendors provide routing service free of cost.

Your Number Is Your Marketing Tool

Yes, it’s true. A toll-free number can be more than just a number for your business. With vanity numbers in play, one can use toll-free as a marketing tool of their business. This can be done in multiple ways. Netflix used a toll-free number to share clues for the upcoming season of stranger things. Mercedes used 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES.

Similarly, a pizza company may use 1-800-FOR-PIZZA. This can be dialed as 1-800-367-73992. Also, vanity numbers can be like mobile numbers, for instance, 99999PIZZA; this can be dialed as 9999973992.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Toll-free numbers provide improved customer satisfaction. When customers don’t have to pay for queries regarding the business, they feel valued. This adds loyalty in customer relations, increasing customer retention rates.

Integration with CRM and IVR

Toll-free, when integrated with CRM, can identify the calling customer, determine what services they have opted for, their history with the business. Also, toll-free with CRM allows a business to provide multiple services without employing human resources. A business can provide client reminders on due dates of payments, requirement-based service updates, and an addition of new services.

Another advantage of integrating CRM with toll-free is subscriber-based marketing. A business can market exactly what their subscribers have subscribed for. This ensures that clients don’t get junked by unwanted alerts.

Reduced Expenditure

The biggest advantage for businesses looking to become brands lies in how they can save from using toll-free numbers. After all, feasibility is the heart and soul of any service. Toll-free numbers greatly reduce the requirement of agents in the business. Incorporated with Interactive Voice Response, toll-free numbers are quite capable of handling all inbound calls. Since IVR can solve most queries by itself, a business gets to employ its manpower only when an operator indulgence becomes a must. Because of this, a business gets to save on its human resources expenditure.

Easy Setup and Maintenance

The time required to set up a toll-free number is usually in hours. Once set up, a toll-free number is quite easy to maintain. With an uptime of more than 99.9%, a toll-free number hardly ever face issues. Especially cloud-based toll-free numbers. Since these are managed at data centers, every care is taken to ensure continuous operation.

Takeaway

All of this can be handled just by implementing toll-free numbers. Geo-locations can be identified by the first few digits of the incoming caller number. Toll-free number integrated with CRM can help identify the type of crowd. Thus, the toll-free number can determine the peak time to employ the best personnel. Simply put toll-free number are a must for every business aiming to become an established brand.

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Why Your Call Centre Should Have Low Average Speed of Answer

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Contact Center

February 8, 2019

6 mins read eye

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A call centre’s success is dependent entirely on what quality of customer experience it offers to its audience. To measure the service quality, there are few metrics which have been set in place to generate an idea about where a call centre stands among the competition. One of the most critical criteria that says it all about a call centre is the Average Speed to Answer (ASA). This self-defining metric of quality is what we’ll be discussing in detail in this article.

Basic Overview

ASA for a call centre can either make or break their path towards success. ASA tells the consumers how reliable, quick and efficient a call centre can be when it comes to delivering quick answers to customers. It is measured as the average time it takes for a call centre to answer incoming calls. The most idealistic call centres have the lowest ASA numbers which mean that they can reply to a customer inquiry almost instantaneously.

How To Find ASA For A Call Centre?

Finding the ASA for a call centre is as easy as calculating the average of the waiting duration within calls. For example, if there was a total waiting period of 30 minutes of 10 incoming calls, the ASA can be denoted as 30/10 which comes out to be 3 minutes of average waiting time for answering an incoming call. As it might be obvious, higher ASA numbers mean that a call centre takes more time to answer calls than what is desired and hence, speaks of their unreliability.

How Can A Low ASA Benefit You?

There are innumerable benefits to boast a low ASA score. Some of which are detailed as follows: –

1. Reduced Abandonment Rates

Abandonment Rate, in regard to a call centre, is defined as the number of incoming calls that are dropped before their query gets resolved. It is crucial to have low abandonment rates to provide a better customer experience. If a call centre has a low ASA number, then it technically means that they take relatively less time to answer an incoming call which further means that there are fewer calls being abandoned.

2. Reduced Costs

If a call centre has a low ASA score, then it means that there are more than enough employees engaged in answering incoming phone calls. Since the more a call has to wait before being answered, the more are the costs that the call centre has to bear to sort out the long waiting queues. A higher ASA number can be a probable sign that a call centre requires more hands behind the company to function properly.

3. Lesser On- Call Durations

The more a customer has to wait in the queue to get their query answered, the more frustrated or angry they will become. It’ll always take longer to end a frustrated customer’s call since they initially need to be pacified before they can clearly express their queries. This adds to the on-call durations which ultimately leads to longer waiting queues for other customers. The cycle repeats itself with every frustrated customer. Hence, a lower ASA is considered ideal to reduce total on-call durations and by further derivation, simplify the entire process of answering calls.

4. Increased Agent Satisfaction

When the agents don’t have to deal with frustrated customers, it increases their level of work satisfaction. This increase in satisfaction among employees implies a reduced number of unhappy agents which ultimately means more hands are answering calls. Moreover, if the employees are satisfied with the workspace, they inevitably will give in the best of their efforts towards their work which also mean increased customer satisfaction.

5. Increased Customer Satisfaction

When customers don’t have to wait in long queues before they can state their query for resolution, it leads to an overall increased customer satisfaction rate. Along with the reduced waiting times, since a lower ASA also guarantees a better agent satisfaction, customers would be treated well by the agents which further enhances the customer satisfaction rate.

6. Better First Call Resolution Rates

First Call Resolution (FCR) is defined as the situation where a customer’s query is answered within the first call they make to the call centre. A better FCR rate essentially symbolises that a call centre agents are well-versed with the frequent queries and are capable enough of solving them within the first attempt.

Since a lower ASA number means less frustrated customers, agents can clearly understand their problem and therefore, can come up with an appropriate solution. Since customers prefer calling in when there is a high FCR rate, a lower ASA score becomes ideal in this scenario.

7. Increased Number of Leads

If a call centre can report an increased customer satisfaction rate, it would mean an increased inflow of leads which further translates to an increased income for the company. An increased number of leads would inevitably mean more potential for scalability for a call centre in the future.

8. Increased Agent Efficiency

When an agent doesn’t have to divert their focus on pacifying customers, they can strategise their efforts in solving customer’s query.

How to Decrease overall ASA?

Reducing ASA demands consistent efforts and dedication. The following are a few steps that, if followed diligently, are efficient in reducing ASA significantly:-

1. Implement Mock Tests

A high ASA can be a probable cause of an understaffed company. The only solution to the same would be to hire more reliable agents into your company.

2. Implement Mock Tests

A high ASA can also mean unsatisfactory performance of few agents. As a solution, one should implement mock tests that simulate a conversational environment like that of answering an actual query of a customer. This helps to analyse each agent’s reply towards a specific query from the customer and hence, would help you to pinpoint the root of the inefficiency.

3. Organise Incoming Calls

You should ensure that incoming calls are directed to agents in a fair manner and not all towards a single agent. By ensuring this, you would be distributing the calls equally among the employees who can then answer calls within the minimum period.

4. Implement Newer Technologies

Within advancing technology, one should embrace every enhancement towards in the current technology and should be open about implementing change for the better. A prime example would be the use of artificially intelligent bots to answer the frequently asked questions for the customers which only redirects the call to a human agent if requested so by the customer. This would significantly reduce the waiting queue and will further improve the ASA scores.

5. Train Your Agents

An extensive training session for the agents before they directly come in contact of the customers can go a long way. Agents without an appropriate training program would usually have difficulty in answering a customers’ query within the first call which drastically effects the FCR rate of a call centre and hence, takes a toll on the ASA scores. Therefore, an exhaustive training program for the agents is essential to maintain a low ASA score.

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Auto Attendant vs IVR: Which Solution to Choose and Why?

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IVR Service

February 5, 2019

4 mins read eye

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Having the right telephony phone system is imperative for running a successful business. With the advent of new technology, it has become important to select the most advanced tools to ensure proper and efficient functioning of an enterprise. Auto Attendant and IVR are two similar systems of telephony though they undoubtedly have some notable differences. Additionally, these systems are quite renowned in the world of business because of their utility and efficacy.

Auto attendant, also known as auto-receptionist, refers to a telephony system that routes the calls to different destinations such as mobile devices or landline phones, without the intervention of a human operator or receptionist. Many auto attendants also offer a simple menu system which provides the users with a number of options. These options can be used for navigating through the system. In addition, a digital receptionist may also allow a caller to contact a live customer service agent.

On the other hand, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a smarter auto attendant. The technology allows the users to communicate with a computer through Dual Tone Multi-frequency (DTMF) signals generated by the telephone keys. IVR offers a sophisticated and advanced level of interaction with the callers.

Difference between Auto-attendant & IVR

It is feasible that auto attendants and IVR systems may offer the same capabilities and perform functions in a similar manner. However, it cannot be denied that these two telephony systems have some great differences.

First and foremost, an automatic attendant revolves around the telephonic options that you receive when you call a number. It transfers calls to various accessible communication platforms on the basis of your needs and requirements. Whereas, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is better in terms of interaction, response and technology.
An auto attendant lacks voice recognition technology and this is where IVR comes into play. It offers a much-advanced level of interaction with the computer.
It is true that both the systems of telephony aim to get rid of human intervention. Nonetheless, IVR indeed has a better interactive ability and offers more options in comparison to an auto attendant.

Which Option to Choose & Why?

There is no doubt that the auto attendant is a great and efficient telephony system. However, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a better technology in terms of performance and the results that it delivers. Here are some of the advantages of choosing IVR over the auto-attendant system.

1. Enhanced Customer Service

By making proper use of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, a client will feel more satisfied with the prompt and quick service. An immediate response will be provided to the customers once they pose a question or make a query. A customer can save a great deal of time with the speedy and informative response just by following all the essential instructions from the menu. Customer wait time will reduce along with the high call volume since the call will be answered in the first ring without any delay.

2. Better Production

It is clear that call routing results into better process efficiency. Routing is quite advantageous as it saves time and enhances the overall efficacy. Along with that, it allows entrepreneurs and businesspersons to prioritise call as well. Additionally, the waiting time declines and your company is able to handle a large volume of calls with the assistance of IVR systems.

3. Efficacious Call Routing

The information from the caller is collected by the IVR system. The issue is addressed by the agent after the call is successfully routed. An IVR system can undeniably lead to a great decline in the holding time. Eventually, the fast response time and excellent quality of service offered by IVR will ensure that all issues have been solved and the customers are happy with the results.

4. Progressive Speech Recognition

The speech recognition becomes advanced as IVR can recognise multiple words at the same time. In this way, customers can get a quick response. The system will direct inbound calls in a speedy way with the combination of directed speech and button pushing.

5. Reduced Costs

IVR system significantly reduces customer service costs. It is even cheaper than IM and SMS interactions. Anyway, the automation rates are bound to increase if the managers offer the customers with several options to meet their specific requirements.

6. Self Service Options

The best thing about an IVR system is that it makes the clients self-sufficient. This leads to the improvement of overall customer service. Moreover, the customers can get prompt service along with the reduced waiting time. Another advantage is that customers can make inquiries according to their need. In addition, the simple and easy menu options are an added benefit.

7. Personalised Caller’s Information

An IVR which has been designed with caution and dexterity works in an extremely efficacious way. IVR does not only benefit the company but the customers, as well. They get instant updates about the subsequent sales and special offers by using the modern system of telephony.

Still confused about choosing IVR, read more through this blog here-how choosing IVR steps up your businesses’ customer experience.

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10 Points to Add in Your Checklist While Testing IVR – Part 2

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Contact Center

January 30, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

In part 1 (10 Points to Add in Your Checklist While Testing IVR), we had explored below IVR testing points which companies should check before launching their IVR for customers.

IVR Greet Callers Warmly
IVR has Limited Menu Options
IVR Announces the Option Before the Description
Self-Help Options Are Providing Correct Results
IVR is Giving the Option to Connect with an Agent

Continuing the IVR check, in this part, we will discuss five more testing points to ensure your IVR delivers accurate and high-quality query resolution.

6. IVR has Minimum Average On-Hold Time

This is an indispensable part of IVR testing. Most customers are not willing to spend their time waiting in queues while using IVR.

In a study which surveyed 2500 customers, more than 60 per cent believed that they are not pleased to be kept on hold for more than one minute. And 32 per cent answered– keeping on hold should be eliminated while using such an efficient method of communication.

Thus, it is evident that having an average on-hold time which nears up to one minute or more is dreaded by the customer. As a result, you need to deploy optimized routing and call-queue strategies to ensure minimum on-hold time and maximum process efficiency.

7. IVR Understands DTMF/Voice Responses Correctly

Voice and DTMF responses are the two popular methods used in IVR for customer interaction. These options ensure that customers can find answers to basic queries without human assistance. Hence, you cannot afford to overlook this basic IVR functioning while testing its effectiveness.

To ensure your IVR can comprehend and distinguish different customer responses, you must test all the possible customer responses. In the case of DTMF inputs, make sure all the touch tones are recognized accurately by the IVR system. On the other hand, in case of voice responses, ensure all kind of human voices and tones can be understood by your IVR system accurately.

8. IVR Can Handle Unexpected Call Overloads

Not testing the call load capacity of the IVR is a major mistake made by businesses. It is easier to handle the lower number of calls when the business is growing at a steady pace. But to handle the rapid rise of the business or sudden surge in the number of customers, an IVR needs to be well-designed and thoroughly tested.

Therefore, if you aspire to scale your business in future, consequently, the number of callers, then you must test the number of calls IVR can handle smoothly. Perform rigorous call load testing to ensure your IVR can large number of calls.

9. Call Routing Strategies Are Correctly Mapped with Departments

Every caller should be routed to the most skilled agent to maximise the effectiveness of the query resolution process. It not only makes the process easy and quick, but also increases the First Call Resolution (FCR) of the call center.

However, if the routing process is faulty, i.e., routing structure is incorrectly mapped with the departments or agents, then repercussions can be increased waiting time, inefficient query resolution and as a result, dissatisfied customer.

To avoid any such routing inconsistencies, check your routing structure and strategies. The algorithm used for call routing should connect different departments accurately as per the caller’s response. Call routing strategies such as skill-based, priority-based and more, can be implemented to optimise the call flows.

10. Error Handling on Incorrect Input

While interacting with IVR, there are high chances caller might press the wrong key input. Reason for such situation can vary from a simple human error to figuring out the right menu option for the customer’s query.

The problem arises when a customer gets stuck in the endless loop of menu options due to error in response. Consequently, with no other solution, the customer is forced to disconnect the call. As a result, it knocks down the overall customer experience of a brand.

Thus, it is imperative for an IVR to test such error possibilities and provide solutions to handle them. Exit options such as “Press * to go back to previous menu option” can be of great relief while handling such erroneous situations.

Conclusion

Testing is a fundamental step in any product development. In addition to handling an error, it provides a real-world usage of the product and informs you of the possible loopholes, beforehand. As IVR will be used by wide number of customers including potential as well as existing, the importance of IVR testing increases by multi-folds.

The above points are few of the IVR testing cases which you can implement. However, to exhaustively test your IVR, you need to be well aware of your customer’s pattern and expectation which varies as per industries and businesses.

To understand more about how IVR works, read this blog post or call us.

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10 Points to Add in Your Checklist While Testing IVR – Part 1

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

January 25, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is getting widely adopted by businesses irrespective of their size. And the reason behind the wide acceptance of IVR has been the acceleration in efficiency it has offered to everyday business processes. IVR has also been a lifesaver in handling mundane tasks such as answering a never-ending number of phone calls or solving basic customer queries.

While IVR has become a popular option among business, on the other hand, there are a significant number of customers who encounter a disappointing IVR experience which hampers their customer journey with the brand.

So, in order to avoid poor customer service, a company needs to put in their best foot forward while designing an IVR. Before getting started with the development, it is important to create a blueprint of the IVR by keeping in mind all the touchpoints of customers’ journey.

Once the IVR is developed, the next step is to perform IVR testing before putting it to use. However, in haste to launch IVR this step often gets neglected by the businesses, and they end up delivering unsatisfying customer experience. Thus, before putting your IVR in customers’ hand, companies should invest time in IVR testing in order to examine the delivered customer experience.

Let’s have a look at the below checklist which will equip you with points for thorough IVR testing.

1. IVR Greet Callers Warmly

It is important for your IVR to welcome every approaching customer warmly. Therefore, the persona and voice used in the IVR should be welcoming and natural. If voice greeting of your IVR sounds robotic, monotone or less humane, then possibility of losing the customer in the first point of connection increases drastically.

Thus, always make sure that your IVR welcome message

Has a warm, clear and audible voice
Does not use industry jargons
Has a consistent voice texture throughout the IVR
And is not filled with company introduction or offers

2. IVR has Limited Menu Options

The customers want to be quick in finding the answers to their queries. Overcomplicated menu structure can affect the efficiency of the whole query resolution process as providing more than 3-4 options confuses the customer. High chances are that most customers might even forget the initial menu options till the time they reach the last option.

During IVR testing, inspect if the number of menu options provided to the customer is more than four. If the list contains more than 4 options, then you must evaluate the importance of every option and trim it to the minimum.

3. IVR Announces the Option Before the Description

Press 1 to connect with the Sales department.

We are familiar with this IVR approach where the option (Press 1) is stated before the description (to connect with the sales department). But only a few companies have realized the setback of this approach.

Announcing the option before the description affects the recall of the option. As IVR has a list of options to announce and customers have a short attention span, the probability of customers remembering the option after the description reduces to a great extent.

In such scenarios, the customer is left with no other option other than traversing through the whole list again. Thus, to eliminate any such scenario, always make sure that description is stated prior to the option, such as

To connect with the Sales department, Press 1

This multiplies the chances of receiving an accurate response in the first attempt and reduces customer frustration.

4. Self-Help Options Are Providing Correct Results

Every quality IVR is designed with self-help options to ensure their customers can resolve basic queries on their own without having to wait for the agent’s assistance. These self-help options provide a speedy issue resolution to customer queries; thus, are the most preferred choices by customers.

As the customer relies on a self-service option to find answers, it becomes highly critical for the business to ensure their IVR provides accurate information. So, while testing your IVR system, ensure your self-help options are working correctly.

5. IVR is Giving the Option to Connect with an Agent

“Connect with an agent” is the second important option after self-help, which a customer looks for while using an IVR. So, along with other menu options, it is imperative for the business to provide an option that can connect them with an agent.

During IVR Testing, make sure to provide an option to the customers which connects them directly with the agent without any added hassle. Also, ensure to place this option in the first level of IVR to avoid any complexities in the search process for the customer.

We will discuss the remaining 5 points in our next blog – IVR Testing Part 2.

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How to Enhance Customer Service Using Voice Broadcasting

Acefone Editor

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Voice Broadcasting

January 16, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

In the business world, the customer is the ultimate boss. Every company aims to provide its customer with an undaunted experience, be it during sales or after-sales support. Voice Broadcasting is one such customer-service tool which ensures a quality customer experience.

The first customers of voice broadcasting were the general public, targeted by the government to share information.

The broadcasting of music and talk via radio started experimentally around 1905-1906 whereas commercial usage came into existence around 1920 to 1923. The first broadcasting, however, was a morse code transmitted from a temporary station by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895.

Later, commercial businesses found various methods to voice broadcasting in order to enhance customer service and attract leads. Two popular methods used to create marketing leads with voice broadcasting involve firstly, delivering a pre-recorded interactive message and secondly, the voicemail message. However, nowadays various methodologies have been developed to enhance customer experience.

In this blog, we’ll be looking as to how customer service is enhanced with the help of voice broadcasting.

PERSONAL TOUCH

In contrast to a written message, with voice broadcasted message a customer experiences familiarity rather than the distant feel of texts. It provides a comforting experience to customers. Moreover, voice broadcasted messages can be customized with regards to what influences each customer.

Also, a policy of gratitude expression, such as “Thank you for calling XYZ company”, is also being employed by companies to express their indebtedness to each customer. These personalized messages at the end of every voice message add warmth to the customer experience, which was previously possible in only person-to-person interactions.

CONSISTENCY

Using voice broadcasting, a company can maintain message consistency while reaching out to their customers. Without voice broadcasting, a company needs to hire callers in order to communicate with their customers; this makes the process a lot slower. Moreover, the chances of providing the same experience to every customer become dimmer, and the scope of message inconsistency during calls affects the whole experience.

Also, the limit on the number of simultaneous calls renders the process hectic. On the other hand, with voice broadcasting, a company can ensure on-time delivery and can out-dial and retry each unanswered call.

WIDER RANGE OF AUDIENCE

With voice broadcasting, one gets to reach out to a wider range of audiences. Businesses can easily reach out to people living in different parts of the state/country and to people who did not get the opportunity to learn to read or write.

This is also handy when a company wants to reach out to customers who are visually impaired. In the case of customers with such challenges, voice broadcasting takes another step forward to exterminate the line of differences among people.

CUSTOMER REMINDERS

This is counted as the most important aspect of voice broadcasting. It ensures that customers are never late in completing everyday tasks such as timely renewal, bill payments, attending scheduled events and more. In case of emergency alerts, it’s imperative that a voice broadcast is delivered to a customer as messages and emails can get lost in the never-ending list of spams.

Also, when a new policy is launched, it is often needed that the customers are updated in order to share their willingness or unwillingness to enroll under the same especially when updates are required to be provided by the customers. Hence a timely reminder ensures that the customer is always on time in giving out their details.

Lastly, in the cases of delays and re-adjustment of services, be it flights, trains, or a mess at a cinema hall, voice broadcasting service proves to be of immense help.

DND FILTERATION

Finally, with DND filtration, a company ensures that they are only reaching out to customers who want to hear them, and thereby avoid creating an unnecessary ruckus. This also ensures that they are pertaining to government guidelines.

ANSWERING MACHINE DETECTION

At times when calls are diverted to answering machines, it is more suitable that a different message is broadcasted. For this, an intelligent system is embedded in a voice broadcasting system that identifies whether a live person or an answering machine has answered the call. This ensures a diligent service is provided.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

A company can also opt for interactive voice broadcasting to ask for customer’s input in order to use it for press 1 campaign. This is often used in cases where a company wants to opt for a poll to introspect the perspective of customers for a new service, they might be looking forward to starting or updating an existing one.

Press 1 campaigns are also useful for political campaigns. Parties can host press 1 campaigns to influence people or spread awareness. They can also use voice broadcasting service to find more people who are willing to volunteer for a party or want to join the party. Implementing this with live call transferring, a company can turn potential clients into long term associates.

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9 Myths About Cloud Telephony Services

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Cloud Telephony

January 11, 2019

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Cloud technology is reforming the modus operandi of various services at this age and era, to which telephony remains no exception. Cloud telephony is a cloud-based telephone service that has changed the course of traditional telephone services.

Although cloud telephony has well established its roots in the world and is globally recognized for its benefits, certain myths about it are still in circulation. In this blog, we will be looking forward to disposing of such myths and establishing clear facts about it.

Top Myths About Cloud Telephony Services That Businesses Should Know

Myth 1

Setup is expensive and requires rigorous training.

Fact

The installation of cloud telephony services is quite simple, and service providers can usually establish a fully fetched system in a few hours. It’s true that cloud telephony services have complex algorithms at the back end. However, the front end is user-friendly with the necessary information and lacks any irrelevant buttons or information, providing a delightful user experience. Since there are no hard-wired line systems involved, this dissolves the cost of establishing an on-premises system, rendering the remote cloud-based telephony system a lot less expensive and producing a better Return on Investment (ROI) in the long run.

Myth 2

Once installed, portability is quite hectic.

Fact

Cloud telephony systems allow one to relocate to any location they see fit while still retaining the same number they previously used. Devoid of the traditional hardware-based wired PBX systems, cloud-based telephony is much like plug-and-play. Also, since the data is at cloud servers the probability of loss of data while moving the business is none.

Myth 3

Cloud telephony service is insecure.

Fact

Cloud telephony service is very secure as vendors that maintain large data centers handle the task of data storage. They are aware of the sensitivity of the information stored and the damage it may cost when rendered in wrong hands. Such vendors usually employ high-end technology to pertain from any loss or misuse of data. To top it all off, cloud telephony service providers themselves cannot overhear or attain call recordings, rendering all information safe and authorized.

Myth 4

The quality of calls is reduced.

Fact

The quality of calls, when referring to cloud telephony is largely dependent upon the quality of one’s internet connection. If there is a decent internet connection, then the quality of cloud telephony is way better than traditional telephone systems.

Myth 5

Monitoring and recording of calls in case of cloud telephony is tough.

Fact

Cloud telephony is quite easy to maintain. With the surplus efforts put in by the back-end developers at various stages, it’s quite simple to monitor, manage or route the calls, as per one’s requirement. To the front-end user, these tasks happen by a simple click of a button, thereby providing a much-adored user experience. The dashboard or web portal provided by a service provider makes it quite efficient to record and maintain calls.

Myth 6

Upgradation and expansion in case of cloud telephony service is expensive.

Fact

It’s quite easy to upgrade and expand cloud telephony service. This comes because of the simple fact that hardware-based private branch exchange (PBX) systems are by far more demanding than cloud-based telephony systems. Being wired, traditional-telephony systems require the presence of an on-premises engineer and setting up new lines is anyways a tedious task. With cloud-based telephony, there is no need for on-premises hardware PBX systems. Additional lines can be easily added as the business grows. Since a cloud service provider always keeps several lines ready for disposal, the request to add lines can be met within hours. This results in faster initial installation and more rapid expansion shall the company need it.

Myth 7

It will eliminate the need for IT jobs.

Fact

Installing a cloud telephony service does not require a company to let go of their IT employs. However, the role of the IT department is modified at large, requiring them handling the responsibilities of adding new users, updating auto attendant, and maintaining and editing policies. By this, a company’s IT department is employed towards more fruitful tasks, rendering the department more efficient and feasible.

This ensures that a company is performing more efficiently and deploying resources smartly and right where they are needed.

Myth 8

Cloud telephony services are only for large enterprises.

Fact

It can’t be more wrong to say that cloud telephony services are only for large enterprises. There are multiple benefits of cloud telephony service that a business irrespective of its size can enjoy.

Firstly cloud-based telephony systems allow one to serve at multiple locations by utilizing just one phone system. Thus, there is no need to maintain multiple phone systems. With cloud-based telephony, a company gets one pricing policy across multiple locations.

Secondly being the latest technology, they include automatic upgrades. With the implementation of a central control panel system, management is way more comforting. This saves cost, provides easy support, and increases reliability.

Thirdly, one gets to build a better reputation and rapport for their company. This allows one to pick up calls from wherever they are, a luxury previously only practiced by large enterprises. Thus, one can face competition against larger enterprises by providing the same services to their customers, devoid of any hefty fees.

By this, a small enterprise can save upon their expenditure on human resources, while enjoying a happy clientele.

Myth 9

Issues at data centers cause termination of services.

Fact

This is perhaps the biggest and most propagated myth concerning cloud telephony service. Since most service providers employ multiple data centers, if there ever occurs an issue at one data center, another automatically gets allocated so that services may resume smoothly.

Although, it’s quite improbable that a problem may arrive at a data center, even if it does one will be shifted to another data center without even realizing it, ensuring smooth operation at all times. In this manner, cloud telephony services are far better than traditional telephony services because a problem with traditional telephony services involves the presence of an engineer who would first detect the issue and based on that might even need to change phone lines to restore connectivity.

TAKE AWAY

In lieu of the facts above, it is evident that cloud telephony services are quite the necessity of enterprises, irrespective of the scale of their operation. Hence, enterprises should not get coaxed by the various myths that circulate regarding cloud telephony services.

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