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How to Step by Step Instructions to Deliver Great Customer Experience With Automatic Call Distributor

Bhagirath Sindhav 3 Stories

Monday January 07, 2019 , 5 min Read

It is not out of place to say that a modern call center is only as good as its call center software. Of the many features of the software, one important one is automatic call distributor since call centers handle inbound calls and have agents who must be kept busy besides getting only those calls that fall within their areas of skills. Setting up the automatic call distribution feature will enhance operations. Here is how supervisors in call centers may configure the ACD for optimal performance.

Getting the right software

It is important to get the right, flexible and advanced call center software with skill based mapping if you want an advanced automatic call distributor to give great customer experience. The distributor may work on a primitive boolean logic and route calls regardless of skills of the agent assigned the call. The better solution is artificial intelligence endowed contact center software. The smart ACD should permit configuration for inbound and outbound calls with advanced skill based mapping. This means the assignment of calls should not be inflexible but the system should be able to figure out options and seamlessly reassign. For instance, AI could keep track of responses of customers and decide if an agent is capable of handling the issues raised and then reassign calls to someone more capable. An intelligent IVR is, of course, a must have feature.

Starting

Start with the basic configurations:

Assign a name to the call distributor
Configure how many callers may be kept in a queue and specify maximum wait time. This could become lengthy for human agent responses. Choose to play music on hold.
Before that, configure the intro prompt message the callers hear and press a key to take appropriate action of waiting or opting out or being transferred to IVR or find out which agent with appropriate skills is free and route the call to him.
If an agent is busy with one call then those in queue may receive a still waiting prompt. Configure the interval for the waiting prompt message to be played.
To avoid keeping callers waiting it is better to configure ACD to route calls to the IVR first. 90% of callers may have their issues resolved through IVR, leaving agents more time to handle callers and give better services as well as remain stress-free.

Callback

Some callers may not like to be put on hold. They should be given an option for agent call back so enable queue callback. Those in queue do not lose their place.
Request caller’s name.

Caller experience

There are various settings to be explored and options to use standard voice message or create a .wav file and use that to customize caller experience.
Configure the prompt and give it a name
Configure the transfer audio setting to use standard voice message, not use any at all or use a customized one through advanced setup.
Configure prompts played to caller and to agent in reference to the situation such as play before recorded name, play if agent refuses the call or play when caller hangs up.
Define action to take if there is no response by agent because he is on a call. Extend wait, introduce in-wait messages or just hang up after a message or transfer to IVR.
In case of outbound call, an introduction message may be placed before the agent takes over. Configure timeouts, detection if call is picked up and as to whether it is picked up in voice recorder or by human and then connect to agent.

Agent configuration

Check if agent is working from office system and/or mobile device.
Configure to allow calls only to in-office device, port to mobile or find me/follow me automatic switch to mobile if agent is not in office.
Configure timing settings in the above case.
Distribute calls evenly between agents by assigning minimum and maximum calls as well as call handling times.
Calls may be distributed according to rank, expertise and seniority

Call screening

Configure whether the agent should straightaway receive the call when he completes the previous one or whether he should be given a prompt or whether the call should go to an IVR and then prompt an agent when the caller wants human interaction. Configure the max wait time, max people waiting and finished call prompt options.
Give option to agent to accept or reject call and if he does, automatically roe it to another agent. Configure the DTMF call screening option.

Add agents

Activate this option and create new agent and give him a name as well as PIN. Give these details to the concerned agent.
Enter agent’s phone number and extension and assign weightage based on skill level as well as number of calls to handle.
Activate or leave as it is the call record option.

Manager Panel

Now you can configure the panel that relates to supervisors by enabling live monitoring, barge in and whisper.
Configure how to display agents in various modes such as all modes, not closed, active, inactive and others.

The point to keep in mind is not convenience or running a top operation that maximizes agent utility. It is about giving callers a pleasant experience and that means picking the right call center software with advanced AI skill mapped automatic call distributor and then configuring it from the caller perspective. Two points to keep in mind: Avoid wait times and transfer to IVR immediately. Let callers speak to agents with shortest possible delay and key presses when transferred to IVR.