Call Centre Automation
There are many benefits to call centre automation, but how do you choose one for your business? Read on for more information on call centre automation, its benefits, costs, and alternatives. Once you’ve decided to implement call centre automation, you’ll need to measure how these changes affect your customer service operations. Here are some tips to consider before implementing one:
Benefits
Call centre automation can help improve productivity and lower stress levels in the workplace. These systems pop up tasks and reminders on agents’ screens after a customer call. They also send emails and phone calls to follow up with customers. By eliminating human error, call centre automation can increase employee satisfaction and business productivity. But what are the benefits of call centre automation?
Intelligent routing also helps improve customer satisfaction by improving call centre metrics. The result is higher agent satisfaction and increased customer loyalty.
Furthermore, call abandonment can compromise customer service operations. Intelligent routing allows you to focus on more exciting projects and boost agent productivity. The benefits of call centre automation are many. The first benefit is saving human agents’ time. Call centre automation begins the interaction by asking qualifying questions to determine the customer’s identity and authenticity. Once the customer has identified themselves, an AI-powered virtual agent program can handle the rest of the customer’s request in seconds.
AI-powered virtual agents use natural language processing and backend systems to handle customer inquiries and, if necessary, transfer the call to a qualified human agent. The second benefit of call centre automation is improving employee satisfaction. Automated systems make employees more efficient, saving time and energy. And, of course, call centre automation saves the company money. The technology also improves customer satisfaction as customers are happier to give mundane information to automated audio transcriptions instead of talking to live agents.
Automations also improve customer satisfaction levels, which increases business efficiency. With these benefits, call centre automation is a wise investment for businesses. Automated screens display information about the caller when the phone rings. The primary information displayed is the caller’s phone number, which helps agents give a personalised experience to the customer. Interactive voice response (IVR) is a telephony menu system that routes the caller to the correct department or agent. The system can be programmed to route calls to a queue or pre-recorded message.
Features
In Incall centres, the features of call centre automation are invaluable to improving agent productivity and boosting sales. This technology automates processes that take agents away from customer interactions and provides them with better information and actions to help them solve a client’s problems. It helps free up agents’ time and frees managers’ for more important tasks.
The features of call centre automation help improve sales and marketing processes and enhance a company’s competitive edge. Call centre automation features are a virtual queue that automatically routes incoming calls to agents or one of the agents with the longest waiting time. Others offer to hand the call to more than one agent, reducing dropped calls due to unavailability. The agents can give instructions over the phone or email while monitoring their productivity and customer service levels.
The agents can also access a caller’s system and record their interactions. One of the most popular features of call centre automation is automatically dialling the agent to help the customer solve a problem. They can use customer intent tools, AI-powered IVR, and an online knowledge base to answer customer inquiries. In addition, the software also allows agents to receive real-time feedback on their performance.
The results are invaluable. Most call centre automation allows you to manage customer service complexity and improve productivity. Some of the features of call centre automation can include interactive voice response (IVR), automatic screen pop, and chatbots. The virtual agent program will ask qualifying questions to identify the customer and authenticate their identity before connecting the call to an agent.
Interactive voice response (IVR) is a telephony menu system that can route the customer to an appropriate agent, department, or pre-recorded message. It can also be used to route calls to human agents. With the help of advanced call centre automation, call centres can transform from simple to complex engagement centres. Automated interactions can help them optimise their workload and boost customer satisfaction.
Intelligent automation allows call centres to become efficient queue managers by allocating tasks to agents and creating a universal queue for all incoming queries. They can help customers with better customer experience and satisfaction while simultaneously boosting employee productivity. Intelligent automation can even reduce call volumes by 40%.
Costs
Adding voice recognition and automation to a customer contact centre can help you save money and increase customer satisfaction. According to one study, up to 20% of calls are abandoned, costing a company hundreds of thousands of euros a year. This cost comes from lost sales opportunities. Even if these abandoned calls aren’t directly related to sales, they can reduce costs and improve customer service.
The Covid crisis highlighted the need for call centre automation. In this crisis, 74% of CX leaders reported that call volume increased significantly, leading to longer wait times, higher abandonment rates, and lower first contact resolutions. However, sudden growth in call volume can happen to any organisation, whether due to new service, policy changes, a technical failure, or a merger of two companies. In these cases, automation can be the solution.
Hiring and training human agents is another cost factor in a call centre. While human agents are a necessary part of the call centre, they are expensive. The average cost of a human agent is around £6 to £15 per call. You’ll cut costs by more than half by outsourcing repetitive customer interactions to a virtual agent. As for virtual agents, they cost only a fraction of what a human agent charges per minute. Another way to cut costs is to augment human agents with cutting-edge technology.
One great way to reduce the cost of training is to supplement live agents with AI-powered virtual agents. Virtual agents require training only once and can easily adjust to the business environment. This way, you won’t need to retrain live agents as often. You’ll save thousands of dollars every year by eliminating the need for human agents and increasing customer satisfaction.
AI and machine learning can also save money by automating repetitive processes. Virtual agents can’t handle 100% of the cases, but they can handle up to 60% of customer interactions. With the money saved, human agents can focus on complex issues that need human interaction. So, why shouldn’t a company invest in call centre automation? In short, automation will save you money by freeing up human agents to focus on other parts of the business.
Alternatives
While some businesses find it difficult to live without call centre automation, they are not the only solutions. These systems can also be used as alternatives to human agents. Inbound call centres use interactive voice response (IVR) systems to handle most calls. They allow callers to answer basic questions and complete actions without the intervention of a live agent. Aside from IVR systems, other contact centres may consider using other methods to handle common call types.
A cloud-based system like BT Contact lets contact centre managers monitor their call operations on a dashboard. They can easily track agent availability by channel and campaign and see the number of queued calls. An intelligent virtual agent frees up live agents from routine tasks, like answering calls. It reduces the time spent on custom voiceovers. The system comes with a no-code development interface and 25 pre-set voices.
Some systems even integrate gamification with their systems. Another alternative to call centre automation is using conversational AI. These systems can handle various tasks, from greeting callers with natural language to addressing routine customer inquiries to scheduling appointments or billing information. They also allow callers to leave feedback without waiting for human assistance.
Some companies have already found success with this technology. However, implementing this technology may be more complex than one may think. While the automation of contact centres is not a cheap solution, it will help companies improve their bottom line. Artificial intelligence can help contact centres optimise their workflows. For example, AI-powered call centre automation can identify a pattern in incoming calls that trigger multiple notifications to agents.
The system then alerts agents to call customers with an estimated delivery time. The call volume decreased, and first-call resolution rates rose. It’s not surprising that AI-powered automation can help companies improve their call volume and customer satisfaction. These tools can be used as part of a broader strategy for improving customer service. Another alternative to call centre automation is live chat.
This software has an integrated help desk and connects to 99% of VoIP providers. It offers four tiers, including a premium plan that includes social media support. LiveAgent is a good option if you don’t need the extra features and customisation. These solutions offer standard features but may not suit your business needs. However, it has many advantages. These tools provide a platform to handle many different types of customer interactions.
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