Following last year’s shelter-in-place mandates, many industries adapted to remote strategies for retaining customer loyalty and providing a quality customer experience. Large numbers within key demographics have now made the switch to online ordering and feedback communications. As customer service remains the top priority for any business, especially within the service industry, technology has come along to help companies meet the demand for remote customer interactions.
No matter the company, a call center solution is the ideal way for an organization to stay on top of customer needs. With seamless remote workflow and key functions, contact center software is quickly becoming an industry standard. Here, we will look at just 4 software upgrades that your company’s call center can’t do without.
1. User-Friendly Mobile App
If providing a quality customer experience in regards to customer service is among your chief concerns, keep in mind that many people use their mobile devices for seeking customer support. An ideal outbound call center software should include mobile app functionality as part of the phone system. This allows the customer and your contact center agent can interact seamlessly through the traditional phone system, as well as your company’s website or affiliated mobile app.
Aside from incoming calls, a mobile device feature can also provide your customer service agent with notifications of incoming calls or unanswered calls in real-time. As a support team member, this allows even “off-the-clock” employees to stay ahead of potentially high-volume customer interactions, aiding in the workflow with call routing. The best call center solutions will have mobile functionality in mind for both the customer and your support team agent.
2. Outbound Calls and Inbound Calls
When agent productivity relies heavily on the abilities to both answer incoming calls and make outbound calls for needed managerial assistance in real-time, this function is invaluable. State-of-the-art call center solutions take this necessity into account, including among its key features a digital switchboard for just this purpose.
If your chosen contact center platform features both outbound calls and inbound calls within its protocols, it’ll more than likely also handle such items as call recording, interactive voice response, and voicemail, as well. Be on the lookout for these key features, as they work in tandem with a good outbound call center software for uncompromised workflow and 24-7 customer service.
3. Live Chat Functions
A great way to ensure the highest rate of customer satisfaction is to integrate live chat features. Aside from a call center software’s ability to produce excellent call quality, it can be equally important to have non-verbal communication options for customers contacting agents directly from a web browser or via texts. In an emergency situation, customer needs may occur during their work hours or while they’re in a public place. In those instances real-time assistance may not allow a live call, making a live chat feature the most logical alternative. In this case, the customer doesn’t have to act as a caller, nor require a phone number for service.
In addition, when a contact center platform offers live chat functionality, it can be coupled with the service agent’s ability to bring up that customer history and previous invoices while the chat is in progress. This can be the right solution for making a streamlined customer experience that is completely remote, without any loss to the agent-customer communication in less time.
4. Cloud-Contact Center Solutions
A crucial aspect of any customer service communication is the speed at which contact center agents can respond to an incoming call or live chat inquiry, as well as resolve the issue. In order for this customer interaction to have both as much speed and efficiency as possible, the service center software should be constructed for cloud-based capabilities. By not relying on a traditional landline or older hardware, the cloud itself can handle the scalability of high-volume calls, as well as multiple phone lines.
Even a small business will be able to retain multiple contact center agents, and the cloud-based software can ensure that an agent is always standing by. As long as that agent has access to the company’s cloud abilities, good WiFi, and the needed hardware, they can provide the best customer experience entirely from a remote location. A cloud-based contact center software with multiple lines also makes it easier to route calls and link up with managers if needed.
