Call management software is the backbone of any contact center. It not only helps your staff handle customer calls productively, but it also brings down your customer care costs through automation.
But what really is call management software and why do you need one as a business? That’s what we’ll find out today. For instance, we’ll define call management programs as well as dive deep into their top benefits to help you determine their importance. Let’s dive in.
What is Call Management Software and Why Do You Need it?
Call management software helps businesses manage incoming and outgoing calls by routing calls with telephone systems, based on predefined rules. These programs offer a wide range of calling features to automate communication flow, such as call queues and IVR menus.
They also simplify call distribution by allowing you to forward calls to the relevant department within a click. You can also enable a bot that automatically forwards calls to the relevant staff as the caller picks one from the given options.
Moreover, having a call management program will let you define call forwarding parameters as you prefer, so you can devise a system that suits your organization.
For instance, when you set up call management software, you won’t need a human being to connect the caller to the sales or technical team. The caller will be able to dial a special digit to choose what they want to talk about and with who.
Apart from that, call management programs are not limited to calls only. They also help organizations manage voicemails. Some of them even allow you to forward voicemails as email attachments to your staff as needed.
Why Investing in the Right Call Management Software is Important for Businesses
A variety of call management programs is available, each program coming with its unique set of features. For instance, a program that offers detailed analytics may lack the remarketing feature and vice versa. So, you must pick call management software that would fit your business needs.
Moreover, we recommend opting for specialized call management programs that are focused on certain features rather than generalizing on all of them. That’s where their different types come in. Their widely popular types include interactive voice response (IVR) and automatic call distributors. It’s best if you pick one that suits your requirements the most.
Must-Have Features of Call Management Software
Here we’ll explore the most important features of the call management program:
Personalized Call Routing
Call routing is an important call management feature businesses should look for in call management software. It refers to forward incoming calls to a certain queue as per pre-defined criteria. This process occurs before someone at your organization picks a call and helps to balance the workload between agents.
The major benefit of custom call routing is it reduces the time taken in handling a call. It’s because call routing ensures the call is forwarded to the relevant agent so no time is wasted in redirecting the call to another agent. It also helps improve your customer care experience as your customers will be responded to right away, without having to wait for a long time.
Self-Service Support
Self-service support refers to customer-initiated processes that allow your customers to serve themselves without needing to contact a support agent. For instance, this feature will allow you to record interactive voice responses (known as IVR) to help your customer solve their issue without talking to a support representative.
VoIP Communication Protocol
VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol. This technology allows answering and managing calls over the internet. The call management software based on VoIP allows managing dozens or even hundreds of calls simultaneously. On top of that, this technology eliminates the need for phone lines, which can be pretty expensive and hectic to install.
The main benefit of the VoIP call management feature is low costs, as you’ll only need to pay for an internet subscription and the initial internet setup. Unlike traditional landlines, it won’t require you to install an extensive copper wire connection across your organization.
Apart from that, this feature gives your agents the flexibility to handle customer calls remotely as long as they have internet access. This means your support agents will be able to provide customer support from their homes as needed.
Virtual Queuing
Virtual queuing is yet another effective call management software feature that helps you improve your customer care experience. It lets your customers skip waiting and put in a request to be contacted by the support agent when available. This way, the virtual queuing system stores the caller’s details and reaches them as soon as an agent is available.
Integration and Automation
As a rule of thumb, you’ll want your call management software to integrate with the other systems and CRM platforms used in your business. So, you must pick a versatile and flexible call management program that integrates with your support platforms.
This way, your call management platform will be able to gather data from the integrated tools to improve the communication flow.
Final Words
A call management program is a must-have for any business nowadays. It streamlines the communication flow to help your staff handle customer calls as productively as possible. But choosing a suitable call management tool that supports your needed features is just as important.
This article breaks down the most important features you should look for when deciding on-call management software. We’ve also clarified that you should seek a call management program that integrates with your CRM platform and other tools.
