Virtual Call Center Software

Call center systems introduction

The term "call center" often conjures up images of hundreds of agents working for huge telemarketing conglomerates. However, that's simply not the case any more. Call center systems have progressed to the point that even small companies with as few as 10 agents can get the same powerful call management features as the big players.

Call centers - increasingly called "contact centers" as they incorporate inquires from web and email sources in addition to phone calls - depend on technology. Call center systems address many facets of your business with features such as instant routing of important customers to the best agents, reduced hold times, more efficient scheduling of employees, and detailed reporting.

One distinction to note is between call center software and customer relationship management (CRM) applications. Call center software manages interactions, helping customers and corporations communicate with each other more efficiently. CRM applications are more focused on information, which refers to their focus on collecting and acting on information about your customers. Call center systems need to connect to CRM to be effective, but they don't replace them.

These days, companies large and small are upgrading call center systems for sales, customer service, and internal support. This BuyerZone.com Call Center Software Buyer's Guide is designed to help you evaluate and choose the right call center system for your business. The investment is a big one, so be prepared to spend plenty of time on making sure you choose the right vendor and platform.
Why do you want a call center system?

A modern call center system provides several distinct and important benefits. The three main categories, all of which are interrelated, are: improving customer service, increasing efficiency and reducing costs, and improving management and reporting.

Your evaluation will depend on what's most important to you -- if you see a call center as a "necessary evil," you'll want to focus on reducing costs. If customer service is a cornerstone of your business philosophy, you'll want to emphasize that aspect in your search.

Improve customer service
The right call center system can have an immediate impact on customer satisfaction. Reducing hold times, letting callers know how long they'll be waiting, and connecting them to the right agent or department the first time will all improve customers' perception of your company. This can be an important differentiator for your business, particularly in highly competitive industries..

In addition, customer expectations are higher than ever. They want to get the same service no matter how they contact you - phone, email, or web. They expect you to have their information at your fingertips when they call, and if they called about a problem last week, they don't want to explain the situation again. Upgrading can help you meet these expectations and keep customers from getting frustrated.

Improve efficiency and reduce costs
Depending on the solution you choose, an investment now can reduce your costs almost immediately. You may be able to handle more calls with the same amount of staff, or the same number of calls more efficiently.

Despite the hefty price tag for call center hardware and software, the biggest expense in a call center is people. Since improved call handling can shave 10 or 20 seconds off each call, a call center that takes hundreds of calls per day will quickly save hours of valuable time per agent.

Better manage the call center
Many call centers suffer from a lack of information. You may know how many calls come in per day, but do you know what times of the day are busiest? Which agents have the best time-per-call averages or upsell rates? Or how many callers hang up while in the queue?

A call center system can provide a wide variety of reports that give you detailed information, from live statistics on hold times and drop-off rates to yearly overviews of the entire operation. This can allow you to improve your scheduling of agents, reducing under- and over-staffing with their associated costs, and help identify your most successful agents and those who need additional training.

What about technology?
Some companies approach call center system purchases from a technology angle, instead of one of the business reasons listed above. For example, a company may simply decide that that skills-based routing is essential to their call center planning, or growth requires them to upgrade their entire call center. In those cases, there is usually an underlying business need, but the priority is on solving a technology challenge.

For example, an upgrade might be driven by the need handle your increasing volume of email inquiries the same way you phone calls. has a business reason behind it: meeting customers' expectations of your support processes, and better use of your call center by integrating email management.

If your purchasing decision is being driven purely by technology, we recommend that you consider what business drivers are important in addition to the technology. Recognizing your priorities will help you ask the right questions to narrow your options.
Preparing for a call center software purchase

Most call center software purchases are for call centers that already have a system in place - even if it's a basic business phone system that simply hunts for open lines. Gather some information about your current message flow and call center procedures:

* How many requests do you handle per month?
* Where do your requests originate from? (phone, fax, email, web, online chat?) How many to
* What are your primary calls? (inbound or outbound? sales or service? internal or external?)
* How many agents handle these calls? In how many locations?
* What metrics do you currently use to measure performance?
* What phone system are you currently using?
* What systems will the call center need to connect with? (existing phones, databases, CRM, etc.)
* What's your budget for this purchase?
* What IT resources are available to help integrate and maintain the system?
* How will you measure the success of the new system?