Congratulations. You’re modernizing your customer service and optimizing the customer experience for your valuable consumer base by adding a fully functioning call center to your business. You’ve meticulously staffed it with the best and most dedicated team of people, who are highly trained in the most up-to-date contact center technologies and fully aware of the modern requirements of customer demands.
Much of your team is bi-lingual, helping cast a wider net to help as many customers as possible achieve satisfaction. Having a centralized operation to handle consumer concerns and questions is not only a great way to build loyalty, but it enables your business to leave behind outdated standards of operation that isolate rather than help your clients.
As you blaze the path to success through top-notch modern customer experience services, don’t leave out some critical features of your call center that can make or break how effective the service is over time. As with any new venture, there are several must-have call center features that you may not have considered for your call center startup.
Solid hardware to equip your new call center agents for the future
Call center technology has shifted quite a bit over time. As companies grow their core enterprises into the latest forms of technology, many are neglecting to make those updates to their call centers. With a startup call center, there is an extra chance to get it right and cultivate a customer experience that looks to the future with the most recent technological advances.
Some of the more major hardware items that it’s important to include in a call center setup facilitate human assistance through automation, and create a smooth foundation for seamless customer experiences. Some of the most crucial hardware includes:
• Cloud-based servers to utilize cloud computing for your call center. As data becomes a more central tool for improving future interactions, cloud-based computing is growing more common, since it provides easier, faster access to data for automated systems to process.
• High-quality digital video technology to incorporate interactive video (IV) into your call center’s customer interface. Consumers are increasingly depending on more autonomous, automated routes to resolve issues before escalating to a live agent, and video capabilities are one of the most popular.
• Robust and secure LAN (Local area network) and adistributor call distributer (ACD) that will route live calls to agents for handling. Similarly, solid phone technology is necessary to enable automated features like automatic call-backs.
• Fast and responsive computer work stations equipped with comfortable, well-working headsets that prevent any challenges to an agent’s ability to perform his or her job reliably. Never skimp on the quality, because you will pay for it in customer dissatisfaction when the technology starts to fail.
Forward-thinking software to establish your call center as a customer service hot-spot
Software found in a call center was once minimal, but today, most successful agents are heavily reliant on a variety of software applications that assist them in doing their jobs and enhance the customer experience. Some of the most innovative solutions found on the market today are part of the world of automation, which supports live agents and satisfies some of the most modern consumer demands.
Here is a run-down of some of the most critical software that your call center startup can’t afford to miss out on:
• Voice recognition software (IVR), which enables the buildup of a full customer database within a relatively short period of time. Having that database makes both other automated processes and live interactions run much more smoothly, thanks to higher predictability and a larger set of information to draw from for resolutions.
• Chatbots create an interface for customers that allows them to get immediate access to possible solutions before the call or inquiry is escalated to other levels of assistance. This is valuable for meeting modern customer demands, which is highly beneficial for a startup call center.
• Quality control management apps like call recording systems give feedback opportunities and allow for continued improvements among agents and for monitoring interactions.
Other factors to keep in mind for a brick-and-mortar call center startup include attention to the space your team will occupy throughout the full work week. Supporting high-quality customer service means first supporting your agents, and generating an environment that facilitates teamwork, productivity, and comfort. Reduce physical stressors on agents by providing ergonomic, functional furniture and a break room for periodic relaxation. Pay attention to the layout of the building, and keep it simple and easy to communicate with other agents and management. Create an environment that provides good acoustics so extra noise can be filtered.
When your new call center is well-planned and painstakingly designed, your customer service will thrive as you provide the modern foundation for loyalty and reassurance.
