What Is a Call Group?
A call group is an inbound calling system that lets you forward calls to a predetermined group of extensions or phone numbers. By March 2024, customers have heightened expectations regarding call centre responsiveness. They anticipate most incoming calls to be answered within 20 seconds or less, and they demand immediate connection to agents capable of resolving their queries in a single call. Customer satisfaction rates can drop by 35 to 45% if a request necessitates a second call, potentially prompting customers to explore alternative service providers.
To efficiently address the needs of increasingly impatient customers, call centres can benefit significantly from implementing call groups. These groups streamline call distribution and enhance customer experience by ensuring swift access to knowledgeable agents. For further information and pricing on phone systems, click here.
What is a Call Group, and How do They Work?
A call group, also known as a hunt group or ring group, is a telephony feature that allows incoming calls to be distributed or “hunted” among a group of designated phone extensions or users. When a call comes in, it is directed to the group rather than a specific individual. The call group then follows a predefined set of rules to determine how the call is distributed among the group members. The purpose of a call group is to ensure that incoming calls are efficiently handled and evenly distributed among available team members. It helps distribute the workload, reduces the chances of missed calls, and improves customer service by ensuring prompt attention to incoming calls.
Different call group strategies can be employed, such as round-robin, where calls are rotated among group members in a sequential manner, or simultaneous ringing, where all group members’ phones ring at the same time. Other strategies may involve weighted distribution based on predefined parameters like agent availability or skill levels.
Call groups work best in departments and teams of agents with similar backgrounds, skill sets, and responsibilities. This helps ensure that the agents in the group have the same amount of knowledge. This cuts down on customer service problems, reduces callbacks, and is ideal for small teams. For example, if a company’s billing department has a team of agents, each agent will have an equal opportunity to be connected to a customer.
While some employees may be familiar with each other’s job roles, call groups are most effective in departments with a high call volume. When agents have similar knowledge of the same product or service, they can help reduce customer service problems and callbacks. For example, a billing department team can handle more billing problems. The billing team can also handle other important information. As a result, the customer’s experience is greatly improved.
UK VoIP Providers |
Company |
Price |
Free Trial |
Customer Rating |
Who is it Best For |
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£19 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.7 |
Small businesses with big growth plans
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£9 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.6 |
Small businesses looking for a cheap and easy solution
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£12 per user, per month (billed annually)
|
✓ |
4.4 |
Telesales teams and small businesses with high turnover
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£6 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.4 |
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£10 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.3 |
Companies that need to communicate remotely
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£7.99 per user, per month (billed annually)
|
✓ |
4 |
Small businesses with varied departments
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£14.99 per user, per month
|
X |
3.9 |
Small companies that are based online
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What Are the Benefits of Call Groups?
Creating call groups in your call center offers a multitude of benefits beyond reducing transferred calls. Let’s explore how they can enhance your team’s efficiency:
- Increased productivity: Call groups ensure that agents receive only queries or issues within their expertise, minimizing the time required to resolve each ticket. This efficiency translates to more time available for assisting other customers, resulting in a higher volume of calls handled daily.
- Fewer lost calls: By reducing wait times and minimizing hold durations, call groups help mitigate caller frustration and decrease the likelihood of abandoned calls, ensuring a higher rate of successful connections.
- Better call management: Call groups enable you to evenly distribute workload among agents, preventing overload and frustration. Additionally, you can analyse call distribution patterns to identify areas for optimization and enhance operational efficiency.
- Improved first call resolution rate: Directing callers to suitable agents on the first call enhances the likelihood of immediate issue resolution. This improvement in first call resolution rates contributes to higher levels of customer satisfaction and overall operational effectiveness.
Call Group Ring Patterns
- Sequential Ringing: In sequential ringing, connected devices or numbers receive incoming calls one after another in a predetermined order. For instance, when a customer calls the IT group, the call is directed to the first agent on the list. If there’s no response within a set time, the call is forwarded to the next agent, and so forth, until someone answers.
- Circular/Round-Robin Call Ringing: With circular ringing, each call is routed in sequence to agents within the group, ensuring equitable distribution of calls. The first call goes to the first agent, the next to the second agent, and so on. After the last agent handles a call, the cycle restarts.
- Uniform Call Distribution: This feature sends incoming calls to the agent who has answered the fewest calls or has been idle for the longest duration, ensuring a balanced workload distribution among team members.
- Simultaneous Call Distribution: In simultaneous distribution, all phones within the group ring simultaneously when a call comes in. Once an agent answers the call, the ringing ceases for all other phones, facilitating efficient handling of incoming calls.
What Is a Call Group? To Conclude
If you’re facing challenges like a high volume of abandoned calls or extended on-hold times, implementing call groups could significantly enhance both agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. By structuring your employees into groups, they’ll handle queries they can readily address, resulting in quicker responses to incoming calls, even during busy periods. However, to enable your team to reach its full potential, a robust phone system is essential. It should empower your agents with the necessary tools to deliver outstanding customer support.
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