What Is Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and How Does It Improve the Efficiency of Inbound Call-Management?
Call Management Features – Automating Efficiency
Automatic Call Distribution can be summarised as a portfolio of call management features that work seamlessly to deliver inbound calls to the call centre agent that is best placed to deal with the call. When you consider the costs associated with the operation of a contact centre within a very competitive marketplace, it is of critical importance to maximise the efficiency of the contact centre. The summaries below provide an indication of the type of Automatic Call Distribution features are available in the marketplace today, along with the type of efficiency savings that contact centres can expect to make by using them.
Percentage Based Call Routing
With many large organisations now operating contact centres in multiple locations, and more frequently in multiple countries, it can be problematic to ensure that each call centre receives a volume of calls that they are able deal with. Percentage based routing allows an organisation to specify the percentage of calls that should be delivered to each contact centre, and the percentage split can be adjusted in real time in order to meet fluctuating call volumes.
Announcement Messages
In the event of a service outage, or a known issue, it is likely that the volume of calls that come into the contact centre will significantly increase. By routing calls through to an announcement message that acknowledges any issues and asks for customers to call back later for an update, it will ensure that contact centre agents are free to continue to deal with other calls without any significant disruption.
Priority Call Queuing
During peak times, it is likely that contact centres will be required to utilise a call queuing system in order to manage the backlog of calls. At times such as this, it is extremely important to manage these calls effectively by prioritising specific types of calls. For example, given the choice, a call centre would rather have an existing customer holding for support instead of a potential new customer, as the existing customer is much more likely to hold the line than a potential new customer.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Menu
IVR menus are a fantastic mechanism for automatically distributing calls for a contact centre as the caller is able to select an option that is most appropriate to their call. For example, a message of ‘press 1 if you would like to order a product’ would automatically filter out new sales calls and direct these calls to the appropriate department.
The features discussed above represents a small selection of Automatic Call Distribution features that are available to contact centres. As you can see from this small overview, there are clear benefits that come from using these features in order to improve operational efficiency of contact centres.