Call center management

CALL CENTER:

A call center is one of the best asserts a customer driven organization can have becoz maintaining a high level of customer support is critical to obtaining and retaining customers.

Contact centers also track customer call history along with problem resolution.

•      WEB BASED SELF SERVICE –This service allow customers to use the web to find answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. Example, FedEx courier service , Gas Booking System, E-Ticketing.

•      CALL SCRIPTING –This system helps to assess organizational databases that track similar issues or questions and automatically generate a details to the CSR (Customer Service Representatives) who can then relay them to the customer. Example, Frequently Asked Questions.

CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT

A call center is a place that encourages customers to make calls in order to facilitate their easy usage of the product/service offered by the organization. All calls from customers regarding their queries, problems, suggestions are entertained.

It consists of a group of personnel that are specifically trained in handling inbound and outbound customer calls thus catering to customer service needs.

A center is a place where a number of people handle the incoming as well as outgoing telephone conversations of a varied nature with their customers.

Call centers are undergoing major development. Companies are becoming customer oriented instead of product oriented and are investing in CRM. CRM (Customer Relationship Management ) being the customer centred strategy of the decade and finding its roots in customer satisfaction and customer focus, has started to play a very prominent role in the call center sector. How has it achieved this? Call centers are finding that implementing this strategy brings them vast benefits. For example the high potential that call center CRM software has in collecting vital customer data and storing it. This data is entirely essential to the call center and is utilized in its day to day activities. It helps them possess a clearer view of the customer being handled and enables them to give the right answers to customer queries, problems etc. Knowing the customer, his preferences, his purchase history etc all contribute significantly to the better handling of the customer.

A few features available in this system.

1.     Automatic call distribution

2.     Interactive voice response ( IVR) –Cellular Service,#1,#2,#3,#9.

3.     Predictive Dialing.

HISTORY OF THE CALL CENTER INDUSTRY

•      The history of the call center was begins in USA in 1874. (Alexander Graham Bell introduced the voice over wires).

•      May 1877, first telephone pattern was introduced and 6 telephone connections were in use.

•      Nov 1877, over 3000 phones were being connected through wires for homes and business use. During this period, the first call center was created as individual rang operators, who is manually connected their calls through a switch board with a required party.

•      In 1880, the number of phones in use had claimed to 1,33,000. It become more difficult for new or temporary operators to have the knowledge of how and where all the phone lines are connected.

•      First ever 24 hours call centers was an inbound customer service and sales center set-up by pan American world airlines in1956.

•      In 1967 AT&T introduced 800 toll free lines that gave customers a way of contacting businesses at no cost to themselves.

•      In recent times call centers was flourished because industries such as travel,hospitality,banking,and catalog shopping have found value in the concept.

•      They are utilized to provide superior customer service and increase sales to maximize market share.

•      Call center service depends on three factors like- speed, quality and efficiency. The main objectives are

1. Customer satisfaction

2. Business process analysis

3. Employee development and welfare

4. Increase in revenue

5. Analyzing future trends

6. Cost reduction.

CLASSIFICATION OF CALL CENTERS

1.     Inbound / Outbound

2.     International / Domestic

3.     In-house / Out-Sourced

 CALL CENTER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Select a Location for the call center where there is an educated work force.

2. Select the underlying technology component.

3. Decide which channels to support on the call center.

( Mail, Chat, Web Forms, Text Chat, VOIP)

4. Select the software solution,that meet requirements and will integrate with existing systems.

5. Integrate system when feasible.

6. Determine service level agreement and business processes.

7. High and retain staff.

8. Finalize the budget

9. Establish measurement and performance processes.

10.            Establish on –going policies for training and updating CSR.

OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES

1.     Trained man power

2.     Government regulations

3.   Commitment to quality