call Archives - Live Chat Agent

November 13, 2024

All you need to know about ASA in the call centers

ASA stands for “Average Speed of Answer”.

ASA is a call center key performance indicator (KPI) typically referenced by managers while assessing their team’s performance, efficacy and degree of accessibility to their callers. It is a term pertaining to the service industry where it is also known as “Average Seconds to Answer” and “Average Time to Answer” (ATA). It is further defined as the average waiting time for a caller before he is acknowledged by a service representative.

The mathematical formula is:

Average Speed of Answer = Total Waiting Time for Answered Calls/Total Number of Answered Calls

Factors affecting ASA:

1. Customer satisfaction:

Customer satisfaction is associated with an average speed of answer. This is because the time spent queueing is one of the main factors that affect how customers judge the level of service. Low waiting times do not automatically indicate high CSat. Customer satisfaction is understood from the contact center’s perspective. It starts from the instant when the customer is placed in a queue after they have navigated IVR. As a matter of fact, long or confusing IVR processes can lead to a bad customer experience. This is because lengthy IVR processes cause frustration in the customers. Moreover, they make the customer experience much more drawn out than the ASA figures would ideally indicate.

2. Call abandonment rate:

Call abandon rate is yet another factor that affects the average speed of answer data. In the cases where customers end the calls before they are connected to an agent, their calls do not count towards the ASA figure. Various factors may be responsible for the agents abandoning a call. Of all the possible reasons, a prolonged wait has the highest probability of triggering call abandonment. As a result, the worst offenders, in terms of answer speed, are often discounted from the understanding of the actual figure.

November 12, 2024

Best strategies to curb agent attrition: IV

1. Improve the working conditions:

Agent satisfaction is the key to reducing agent attrition. This can be achieved by allowing agents the opportunity to work from home, on a flexible schedule, or in an office with an ergonomic workspace. This will make them more satisfied with their work and achieve a healthy work-life balance. Simply put, if you want that each agent loves coming to work, you need to provide them with satisfactory working conditions.

2. Choose the new agents wisely:

As a matter of fact, if someone left their last role as a contact centre advisor after six to nine months, there is a possibility that they will leave again. This happens because agents who leave after this time often do so as they realise that there was not much room for job progression in their previous role. Hiring process needs to be more specific so as to find the most appropriate agents. So, in order to reduce agent attrition, you need to consider this factor to ensure that they are aware of possible growth within the contact center.

3. Try to find the right balance:

Agents who are good at taking calls may not necessarily be good at managing people. However, keeping them in the same position for too long may frustrate them due to the lack of progression and move on. Therefore, it is necessary to find the right balance to curb agent attrition. For this, consider developing leadership in the contact centre to find agents who have the right leadership capabilities, such as organisation, influence, and motivation. Also, ensure you don’t make the decision based on call handling alone. Moreover, if you are seen to be helping the agents progress their skills by developing their leadership, you can lower attrition. This is because they will interpret your actions as preparing them for future opportunities and their betterment.

November 11, 2024

Benefits of ANI in customer support centers

As mentioned earlier, ANI is a feature of a telecommunications network for determining the origination telephone number on toll calls for billing purposes. This amazing feature provides a number of benefits to the customer support centers employing it. We have mentioned some of those benefits below:

1. Call forwarding without operator intervention:

An operator call forwarding will become aware of the caller’s phone number and automatically thank them for forwarding their lines as well as give them the option to go to an operator and arrive in check-in mode ready to get their messages. This will reduce the live operator time and subsequently the billable time.

2. Call blocking:

Your answering service can block all the unwanted, irritating calls with the help of automatic number identification.

3. Exemption of call screening bills:

Call screening is the process of evaluating the characteristics of a telephone call before deciding how or whether to answer it. The screening process can be excluded from your answering service bill by employing an ANI system. This highly effective technology can help identify their caller ID and dump these calls before an operator ever has to speak with them.

4. An increase in agent efficiency:

ANI ensures that the most appropriate number is always displayed. With automatic caller ID, the agents will never have to manually select a number. This exempts all the chances of errors. Moreover, it saves them time and effort, thus, increasing their efficiency.

5. Boosts call backs and connection rates:

ANI helps in increasing call backs and connection rates as using a familiar number will increase the probability that the recipient will return the call. Moreover, recipients are more likely to answer calls from familiar phone numbers or phone numbers from similar area codes.

6. Increases first call resolution on callbacks:

Using ANI recipients can be immediately connected with the most appropriate agent when they have missed a call and thereafter call back.

November 11, 2024

What is an ANI in a customer support center?

ANI is an abbreviation for Automatic Number Identification. It is a service that provides the receiver of a telephone call with the number of the calling phone. The method of providing this particular information is determined by the service provider (such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint, and so forth). Mostly, the service is provided by sending the digital tone multi frequency (DTMF) tones along with the call. This technology is commonly used by emergency center dispatchers to save the caller having to report the information and. It can further be used to help locate callers. Moreover, the telephone company’s 9-1-1 service to a public safety point usually includes the automatic number identification feature. It is extensively used in call centers.

In call centers, it displays the number of the calling party to the call center agent in real time. The call center can use the provided information to forward calls to different people for different geographic areas. Automatic number identification is also employed to describe the functions of two-way radio selective calling that identify the transmitting user.

In cases where the caller ID blocking is activated, the caller’s telephone number and line type are captured by ANI service. The destination telephone company switching office can relay the originating telephone number to ANI delivery services subscribers. Toll-free subscribers and large companies normally have access to to this information as follows:

i) instantly via installed equipment

ii) from a monthly billing statement.

In case of residential subscribers, access to ANI information can be obtained through third party companies that charge for the service. ANI is generally not transmitted when a call is operator assisted. In such cases, only the area code of the last switch to route the call is sent. If a call is placed through an outbound-only VoIP service or some calling cards will cause a non-working number to be sent as the ANI. It is also not supported adequately for calls originated from four-party lines.

November 11, 2024

All you need to know about high-touch customer service

Customer service at a call center is defined as the process of waiting for people to call in with a question and then answering the question or solving the caller’s problem. A high-touch customer service can be regarded as an advanced version of the traditional approach. In this kind of approach, the basic aim is to anticipate what questions or issues callers will have at different instants of time. A high-touch customer service also means evaluating ‘first-call resolution,’ which is resolving the callers’ issue the first time they call. Simply put, high-touch customer service is a category of contact center interaction that requires human interaction. Some contact centers train specific agents to deal with high-value customers and complex problems in order to achieve maximum customer satisfaction.

Software technical support systems employ a grading system for customers. According to this system, the low-touch requests may be handled through mediums such as an online community FAQ section or a customer self-service portal. Such that low-touch customer service often enlists FAQ sections or knowledge bases of articles with how-to answers. On the other hand, the complex issues may require the high-touch approach of a customer service agent who is well-trained in resolving these kinds of problems. In other words, high-touch solutions almost always require human intervention and guidance from a customer service agent for query resolution.

In order to anticipate the problems or issues that customers may have, a thorough study of the data accumulated over time needs to be done. This data is generally based on the types of questions for which the customers contact the call center. This can help identify areas of the program that require more detailed descriptions and information. This data can also be used by the call center employees for reaching out and educating members or customers in a more personalized and proactive way.

November 11, 2024

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: II

1.Optimize call queue settings:

It is a known fact that customers hate waiting when they want to get their queries resolved. The best solution to this problem is modern contact center software. It offers various features to optimize call queues, reduce the wait time and thus exempt FCD. Some of its features are:

i) Queue to voicemail:

Using this feature, customers can leave a voicemail instead of waiting in the queue. This helps in reducing FCD to a large extent as it exempts the need of waiting a single minute in the queue. This further helps improve the quality of customer service and agents’ efficiency as well.

ii) Queue callback:

This feature allows the customers to exit the queue and leave behind their details such as contact information so that they can be contacted back. Whenever the agents are available, they refer to the details provided and call back the customers so as to provide them the required information or solve their queries.

2. Optimize your staffing:

This does not mean hiring a lot of agents but planning the entire process adequately. Optimizing your staffing in order to reduce FCD calls for adjusting your team size based on predicted call volume, especially during the peak time. Workforce management and efficient call center software can be used to do this. Moreover, the historical data can be analyzed to better understand the peak times, and staff accordingly. You also need to consider making contingency plans for those times when employees call in sick.

3. Offer self- help service:

In today’s era, customers prefer to get help themselves. A self-service feature on your website or social media profile will help to cut down FCD. By reducing the call flow to your contact center, it will further increase the productivity and efficiency of the agents.

November 11, 2024

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: I

As we mentioned in our earlier post, FCD refers to a scenario where a caller hangs up the call after listening to the notice that ‘our customer care agents are currently busy, your call is important to us, please hold the line’. Fast clear down is a result of the fact that such customers are not ready to wait even a minute or two. This makes it a little harder to tackle FCD in an effective way but by making use of the following tips, it can be curbed to a large extent:

1. Consider employing advanced call center software:

All your call center needs can be met using the different types of advanced call center software available in the market. They help achieve productivity and benefit you in the long run. Using highly efficacious software, your agents will be able to provide exceptional customer service and resolve the customer’s issue in a very short time. This is because advanced software enables the agents to have all the information at their fingertips. So, the moment they start their interaction with the customer, they can refer to the available information and provide the fastest query resolution. Moreover, the software will help to optimize the after-call work of an agent hence, further increasing customer satisfaction and reducing FCD.

2. Train your agents adequately:

When the agents are not adequately trained, they are not completely familiar with a process and this impacts the call. In such cases, the agents are not able to troubleshoot properly. Also, they may have to get help from the seniors on the call which would prolong the overall call time. As a result, the customers may get frustrated with the inefficiency of the agent and ask for the supervisor. In order to avoid all this, and reduce FCD, you need to train your agents thoroughly.

November 10, 2024

A complete guide to call center analytics: II

1. IVR analytics

IVR analytics is a highly effective end-to-end call assessment solution that is a part of customer experience strategy. As a matter of fact, the customers who are greeted by linear thinking IVR systems instead of human voices already assume that their self-service experience is going to be less than favorable. Conducting IVR data analysis helps produce valuable insights that answer many important questions. With insights to these questions, organizations can improve their IVR systems, make them more clear, efficient and user-friendly in responding to callers. Thus, IVR analytics contributes to the success and profitability of companies of all sizes by helping to reduce costs, increase and enhance self-service options, improve first contact resolution, and boost customer satisfaction by providing an exceptional customer experience.

2. Predictive analytics:

Predictive analytics consists of a number of statistical techniques from predictive modeling, machine learning, and data mining that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events. Using in-depth review of past performance in call volume, service level, handle time, and customer satisfaction, the predictive analysis makes it possible to apply past solutions to upcoming problems. This information can also be used in training to boost call agent effectiveness and enhance the customer experience. Predictive analytics help organizations determine which operational changes would be the most effective at improving the call center’s overall performance. As an added bonus, it also reduces handle time and operational costs by providing more effective communication.

3. Call center desktop analytics:

Call center desktop analytics enables companies to capture inefficiencies, improve security, and explore potential coaching opportunities for phone agents. By viewing the phone agent’s activity during the call and capturing all activity on the agent’s desktop, a company can ensure that the agent is using their systems most effectively, and that the systems themselves are functioning properly. Using comprehensive desktop analytics, an analyst can find and remove redundant tasks that increase call handle time and frustrate both agents and customers alike. This would further help in providing exceptional customer service.

November 9, 2024

What is meant by skills-based routing?

Skills-based routing refers to a call-assignment strategy used in call centers to assign incoming calls to the most suitable agent, instead of simply choosing the next available agent. It can be considered as an advancement to the ACD systems found in most call centers. Call centers these days have become larger and have to deal with a wider variety of call types. Skills-based routing comes as a perfect solution to this problem. A successful skills-based routing strategy enables you to increase agent productivity by allowing agents to draw on their personal knowledge and experience base to answer questions faster. this further reduces call-handling time, increases the likelihood of first-call resolution and increases customer confidence and satisfaction.

A simple automatic call distributor (ACD) system might do nothing more than route calls to the next available agent irrespective of that agent’s expertise and skills. On the other hand, skills-based routing allows contact centers to designate agents as specialists in certain products or issues. Basically, skills-based routing is used to assess the skills needed for a particular call by the dialed telephone number and the calling number or caller’s identity, as well as choices made in any associated IVR system. Thereafter, this highly efficacious system attempts to match the call to a suitably trained agent. The basic idea behind the functioning of skills-based routing is that an agent with matching skills will be able to provide a better service and enhance the customer experience.

According to manufacturers skills- based routing provides the following benefits:

i) it improves customer service

ii) shortens call-handling time

iii) makes training shorter and easier

iv) increases agent utilization,

v) boosts productivity

vi) increases revenue growth

Thus, skills-based routing has become a major selling point, over the simpler ACD that it replaces efficaciously!

November 8, 2024

All you need to know about call center shrinkage

Call center shrinkage is a measure the time wasted in the call center due to things like vacation, breaks, lunch, holidays, sick time, training and more. Shrinkage is a measure used in contact centers that helps calculate the difference between the number of staff that a forecasting system says is required and the practical considerations of how many employees are available at a particular time.

It consists of two main components namely:

i) Internal shrinkage:

This type of shrinkage is also known as in- center shrinkage. The factors responsible for this type of shrinkage include training, team meetings, unplanned facility breaks, system downtime etc.

ii) External shrinkage:

This type of call center shrinkage is also called in- center shrinkage. It is caused due to sickness, holidays, public holidays, paid breaks etc.

Mostly, call center managers take all these factors into consideration. However, there are a few factors that affect the shrinkage to a great extent. Some of them include lateness, talking to associates, personal calls, and emergencies, leaving early and taking longer breaks. The bottom line on shrinkage is the number of minutes per day that agents are being paid to be on the phone when they are not actually working or available to receive calls or work on customer related issues.

Calculation:

The mathematical formula for calculating call center shrinkage is:

Shrinkage (%) = [Total hours of external shrinkage + Total hours of internal shrinkage] / Total hours available * 100

Call center shrinkage is a major factor in failing to meet service level targets. According to a research, all centers that take shrinkage parameters into account in their forecasting and scheduling achieve higher service levels at lower operating costs. This is achieved by including all call related activities into the forecast and schedule planning process beforehand. This helps in exceeding the expected level of service.

November 8, 2024

Why you should employ a predictive dialing system: II

1. Helps organize and maintain client database appropriately:

Making use of a predictive dialing system can help organize and manage the client database and maintain all relevant records systematically. In other words the manual process of manually scribbling down the notes is replaced by an automated one. Also, it can rework the call structure based on the record of previous calls, so the fear of misplacing the data is eliminated as well. Predictive dialing provides you a separate list of numbers which were busy or had received no answers, so that, you can call these. In addition to this, it also mantains a do-not-disturb log so that the manager knows who doesn’t want to be called again. The entire process helps filter the other numbers which don’t have any potential of generating sales so that the agents can focus entirely on the productive ones.

2. Keeps the database updated:

The predictive dialing system helps ensure the database is always up to date. Relevant information about the customer and past call history are taken into consideration. Also, separate call-back lists are maintained along with the time of preferred calling. The predictive dialing system automatically places the call at the right time, puts an agent on the call and supports him on a real-time basis with the relevant and updated information required to handle the call and solve the queries.

3. Improves administration-workforce relationship:

Sice in this system, workload is assigned by an automated system, so, all the agents get an equal chance to improve. This makes the work challenging and hence, improves the efficiency of each agent working in a team. Also, it helps improves agent morale and makes it easier for them to fulfill sales targets. This further improves the professional relationship between the administration and the workforce.

4. Cost reduction

With this highly efficient system, there is no room for an expensive PBX setup or an operator who manually maintains the call log or routes calls to agents. Thus, it helps in cost reduction to a large extent.

November 8, 2024

Why you should employ a predictive dialing system: I

As we all know, predictive dialing refers to a state-of-the-art pacing mode used to call a large number of customers within a short period of time. Predictive dialing system helps optimize agents’ time by reducing the idle times between connected calls and freeing agents from dialing calls. Predictive dialing gathers statistics related to the duration of calls, how long it takes for calls to be answered, and how often calls are answered. The system places several calls when an agent is about to become idle.

1.Enables call blending:

Predictive dialing system can help blend calls in a call center which deals with both outbound sales and inbound customer service. Calls can be efficiently assigned to the agents if predictive dialer and an automated call distribution system are used in combination. This system provides a provision for keeping the callers on the queue if agents are not available. It further allows the agent to pass on a message regarding the same. Thereafter, the agent can call the customer back and provide him and proceed with the query resolution.

2. Encourages unbiased delegation:

Predictive dialing system encourages unbaised assigning of calls such that all the available call agents have calls to attend. Since all agents on the team are expected to be equally competent professionally to handle any call, so, equal opportunities are given to all of them. Also, this eliminates the chances of the agent ignoring a call.

3. Allows call monitoring:

Employing a predictive dialing system means, it is possible to monitor the performance of agents through the integrated call monitoring and recording interfaces. In addition to this, these systems also include in-built reporting tools that allow the managers to extract the performance reports of each agent. Based upon these reports, agents can be provided with adequate training in order to improve the agents’ call handling skills and hence deliver an exceptional customer service.

November 6, 2024

Steps to design an effective quality monitoring process

Quality monitoring process aims at evaluating the agents in an effective manner. It is employed to identify the calls failing to meet predefined standards. Thereafter, you can make informed decisions to make the process better, faster and quicker. The following steps need to be followed when trying to design an effective quality monitoring process:

1. Determine and define the objectives:

The very first step of this process is to determine important goals. Once it’s done, these goals need to be defined along with intended results. Based on the goals and intended results, tasks should be assigned to the various individuals.

2. Educate the agents about the process’s merits:

When you decide to install a quality monitoring system, you may face resistance from the agents. You can combat this problem by explaining the merits. This would encourage them to support you.

3. Call selection:

Non-routine customer calls need to be selected for greater effectiveness of your QA program. These calls include the ones:

i) that were transferred multiple times

ii) those were either shorter or longer than usual

iii) that originated from certain geographies or customers

iv) that involved some particular activity on the PC screen of the agent

4. Conduct a monthly audit procedure:
Conducting a quality audit procedure can help examine the various qualities and skills like adherence to processes, product knowledge, call control, courtesy, empathy, accuracy, and clarity of voice. The scoring evaluation should be capable of reflecting the goal of a contact center. Moreover, scorecards or quality monitoring forms should be arranged by categories.

5. Make use of process maps:

Consider creating and documenting a process map for the call center’s quality monitoring system. The document should describe responsibilities of people, their roles, and the techniques/tools to be used. Calls recording should be employed and the agent must listen to his/her own calls from time to time to conduct a self-assessment.

November 6, 2024

All you need to know about call scoring

Call scoring is a process that enables you to derive additional benefits from efforts to analyze recorded calls for information. This process can benefit customers, agents and company sales and marketing plans. It provides a systematic means to conduct these reviews and identify the weakest areas of agent performance. Moreover, it lets you know the steps necessary to improve the agent’s performance.

Contact center call scoring can be regarded as a useful training and management tool. Scorecard is an essential element in the entire process. Using this scorecard and setting contact center standards, you can improve your contact center performance. Call scoring can be done by determining whether:

i) the customer was met with a friendly greeting or not

ii) he/ she was asked their name and was it used during the call

iii) the agent keeps a positive attitude across all customer contacts

The very first step in the call scoring process is to determine what elements are important in each customer engagement. This is followed by a process of knowing how each effort should be scored against these pre-determined criteria. As a matter of fact, most of the scorecard elements are fairly standard and are derived from dividing a call into segments. Moreover, the calls can be scored on a 1-10 scale, or 9 in the form of A-F letter grades.

A basic open-middle-close format is employed in many companies. This approach focuses on determining:

i) how the customer is greeted

ii) how the problem or question is resolved

iii) how the call ends

iv) whether the agent was able to answer all questions

v) whether the agent was friendly when the caller was hostile

vi) if any upsell opportunities were missed

Once the scoring has been done, the results can be shared with each agent. Additional training can also be scheduled in cases where the agent performance falls below the expected level.

November 5, 2024

Benefits of using speech analytics: I

As we mentioned in an earlier post, speech analytics refers to the process of analyzing recorded calls to gather customer information to improve communication and future interaction. The information cumulated using speech analytics can be used to discover information relating to strategy, product, process, operational issues and contact center agent performance. Moreover, it can be leveraged to identify areas in which contact center agents may need additional training or coaching, and can automatically monitor the customer service provided on calls. Easing out a number of processes at the call center, speech analytics provides a number of benefits.

1. Helps manage operational and performance issues:

Speech analytics can be used by call center managers to monitor customers and call center agents simultaneously. They can actually keep an eye on their performance in order to make sure regulatory requirements are met. Moreover, this highly efficacious technology can be used for coaching call center agents. Well trained agents are efficient enough to resolve customer queries which further improves first call resolution and reduces call volume. In other words, operational and performance issues that occur throughout the enterprise can be tracked and managed, hence, resulting in improved service quality.

2. Provides valuable insights regarding marketplace:

Not only call centers but the entire enterprise can benefit from speech analytics. As an example, sales organizations can leverage the power of this amazing technology to identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. The tools engaged in this process can actually be used to track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Sales managers can utilize the data gathered using speech analytics to learn about how a particular up-sell or cross-sell impacted a customer’s level of satisfaction. They can also determine how different customer demographics respond to the offers, using this technology. This does not end here! Personalized up-sell and cross-sell opportunities that meet a customer’s specific needs can also be created using this wonderful technology.

November 5, 2024

Call blending and its unmatched benefits

Call blending refers to the capability to make outbound calls while also being able to receive inbound calls, all in one easy technologically created the system. It helps in the equal distribution of calls among the workstations in a call center. This means that all the agents have the same workload which further leads to increased customer satisfaction. These days, call blending is being used by a number of call centers to maximize the productivity of agents without overworking them. This process is entirely automatic as an agent finishes with an outbound call and becomes free, a tone will emit from his or her headset signaling that the line is connected to another caller.

There are a number of benefits of using call blending:

1. It increases customer satisfaction:

When you allow your agents to take both inbound and outbound calls at the same time, a number of incoming calls lowers down. This causes the workload to be equally distributed such that each agent receives the same number of callers. Since everyone stays busy and productive, the number of net calls accommodated in a day boosts up which further results in a higher satisfaction level from your customers.

2. It helps cut down on expenses:

Call blending enables your agents to take inbound and outbound calls which cut down your need to hire more employees. Thus, you can save on your payroll. With proper training, each agent can take on the responsibility of handling both inbound and outbound calls. Also, they can carry out the task without sacrificing the quality of customer service calls.

3. It helps accommodate customers’ needs efficiently:

With call blending each agent is provided with all the necessary information through utilizing a feature called screen pop. This enables all your representatives to respond more intelligently to their calls. Thus, with sufficient information on hand, an agent is able to accommodate a customer’s needs effectively.

November 4, 2024

Your guide to call center schedule adherence

Call center schedule adherence is an important terminology related to call centers. It refers to the common metric used in the call center to determine whether or not call center agents are working the amount of time they are scheduled to work. Schedule adherence can take into account time spent on breaks or do non-call related work.

Measurement:

Schedule adherence is measured as follows:

Total time a call center agent is available for call work / The time they are scheduled to work

The result is expressed as a percentage. Most call centers define a target schedule adherence percentage that allows for some free time beyond the known scheduled lunch and break times. However, there are instances where agents to go out of adherence as call center schedules tend to be complex.

Importance:

Call center schedule adherence is a crucial call center metric that ensures smooth transitions between shifts assigned to the agents. These days, web-based call center scheduling solutions have become essential to track schedule adherence in real-time with automatic alerts. You can leverage these tools for an appropriate calculation of schedule adherence. Moreover, these tools can be used to track adherence in real-time. Thereafter, these adherence reports can be shared with agents and they can be told how they are doing as it is important to give regular feedback regarding adherence statistics.

Web based tools for workforce management — Web-based tools for workforce management

You need to consider informing and educating your agents before implementing a new program. This is vital in order to reduce negative backlash from your agents in such cases. Agents need to understand the relevance of schedule adherence and how it affects the call center’s performance. Also, providing incentives by rewarding agents that adhere to their schedule through recognition within the team, will further motivate them to perform better and deliver exceptional services.

November 3, 2024

Call abandonment rate and its elements

An abandoned call refers to a call or any other type of contact proposed to a call center but ends before any communication takes place. Call abandonment rate better known as “Abandon Rate” further refers to the percentage of inbound phone calls made to a call center or service desk that are abandoned by the customer before speaking to an agent.

Types of abandoned calls:

Short abandoned calls:
Calls abandoned in the IVR:
Transferred calls

Calculating abandon rate:

The mathematical formula to calculate abandon rate is as follows:

Abandonment rate % = [Number of Calls offered – Number of Calls handled] / [Number of Calls offered] * 100

There exists a revised formula for the above calculation which excludes shortly abandoned calls ( occurring due to various reasons):

Abandonment rate % = [Number of Calls offered – Number of calls abandoned in 5 seconds – Number of Calls handled] / [Number of Calls offered – Number of calls abandoned in 5 seconds] * 100

Common mistakes regarding abandon rate calculation:

i) Excluding short abandoned calls:

Generally, calls that abandoned in the first 5 seconds are excluded due to two reasons:

Customers dial the wrong number and only realize when the call is connected.
They dial the right number but think they may have dialled a digit incorrectly and then hang up and redial just to be sure.

ii) Failure to measure calls abandoned in the IVR:

The correct procedure of calculation is measuring the abandon rate from the telephone network side of the system and not the agent queue. But unaware of this fact, many people fail to measure calls being abandoned in the IVR. The reason being that they had chosen to only start the statistics from the moment that people left the IVR and joined the queue proper.

iii) Counting transferred calls as two different ones:

This is yet another mistake that people often make. It is not a correct method of abandon rate calculation if you count transferred calls as calls that have been handled twice.

November 2, 2024

Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: II

1. Minimize call escalations:

In order to improve first call resolution, you need to analyze your call center communications to find out the most frequently escalated calls. Once you understand the issues that prompt these calls, take steps to minimize the escalations. These steps may include more training, larger number of self service options on the website, change in business operations. This would help increase the FCR stats as customers don’t have to call too often.

2. Make use of group chats:

Group chats enable all members of the help desk to add information about issues they might be having and they can post questions about issues they might not be familiar with. Some of the softwares that can be used for this purpose are Google Hangouts, Lotus Notes Same time and Skype. You can leverage these softwares to boost your first call resolution stats insanely.

3. Avoid miscommunication:

Miscommunication occurs when either the customers or the agents start assuming things. As a result, customers call again as they are not very sure how the matter will be resolved. This further results in a decrease of FCR stats. So, agents have to be very careful to avoid any chance of miscommunication. For an effective communication, customers must be made aware of all the aspects of the case so that there is no need for them to call again to confirm.

4. Offer incentives and rewards:

Offering incentives and rewards is an enticing method to improve the FCR stats. You can have a monthly award for the highest level of FCR and special incentives for the team if they achieve their targets. You can consider instituting incentive programs among employees who hit the requisite numbers. This incentive can be tied in with other perks and can be in the form of bonuses, promotions, recognition and more.

November 2, 2024

Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: I

In our previous post, we talked about the importance of FCR for call centers. You are now familiar with the numerous benefits that first call resolution can provide you once you start using it in your organization. Now, let’s look at the some of the effective strategies that can be employed to improve your first call resolution stats:

1. Leverage knowledge database:

In order to boost the FCR rate, knowledge database can be used as a powerful tool. Provide updated, highly informative and quality knowledge databases to your agents. Make sure that the articles in the database should be clear and concise, with good instructions on how to fix the issues. The knowledge database should be efficient enough so that the agents do not have to scroll through tons of unnecessary information.

2. Train your agents and provide them superior analytical tools:

Invest in training your front line agents in all the necessary elements related to your business operations. Properly trained agents can do little even if they do not have good customer service tools and resources at their disposal. To boost the FCR stats further, you can even consider investing in an efficient live chat solution that identifies where the other person is chatting from. You can deploy tools with superior analytics capabilities and knowledge resources that make updating your FAQs and knowledge base easy.

3. Monitor call quality:

Monitoring involves checking call quality, making sure the agents are not being rude and checking that the right processes were followed . In cases where the agents miss an easy FCR, a helpful email should be sent informing them of where they went wrong and what they can do next time. Meetings can be set up in those cases where the agent is making consistent mistakes and the FCR level is far below what it should be.

Tag: call

All you need to know about ASA in the call centers

Factors affecting ASA:

1. Customer satisfaction:

2. Call abandonment rate:

Best strategies to curb agent attrition: IV

Benefits of ANI in customer support centers

What is an ANI in a customer support center?

All you need to know about high-touch customer service

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: II

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: I

A complete guide to call center analytics: II

What is meant by skills-based routing?

All you need to know about call center shrinkage

Why you should employ a predictive dialing system: II

Why you should employ a predictive dialing system: I

Steps to design an effective quality monitoring process

All you need to know about call scoring

Benefits of using speech analytics: I

Call blending and its unmatched benefits

Your guide to call center schedule adherence

Call abandonment rate and its elements

Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: II

Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: I

Sign up for a 7-day FREE trial and start growing your business.

About us

PRODUCT

COMPANY

Social Links