The call center is the heart of customer engagement. It’s highly competitive, quickly evolving and full of constant change. But staying ahead of the game takes more than just a phone line and a few talented agents. It requires a sophisticated set of tools that combine easy communication with efficiency to create high quality customer service.
Call center software is no longer a luxury: it’s a necessity. And understanding the essential features of leading call center software is crucial. Whether you’re upgrading your current system, replacing it entirely, or launching a new call center.
Let’s dive into the top features to look for when considering call center software for your business.
Essential Features to Look for in Call Center Software
#1 Omnichannel support
Omnichannel support allows communication to be streamlined across multiple channels and platforms. It enables customer communication over WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, email, phone and text.
Agents handle all customer interactions in a single interface, saving them from switching back and forth between multiple windows. And the centralized view provides consistency and efficiency for both customer and agent.
With Voiso, Omnichannel support makes it easy to track all customer interactions. Managers can easily monitor agent performance across all communication channels with real-time analytics, flagging and addressing potential issues before they escalate.
#2 Smart call routing and ACD
Gone are the days of long phone queues, being transferred from department to department and hoping to connect with the right person: smart call routing is here to stay.
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) sends calls to the most appropriate agent based on predetermined factors such as agent availability, skillset, business hours, language preferences or call priority.
Smart call routing then further enhances the process: it incorporates real-time data to ensure the customer is routed to the best-suited agent. By applying relevant data such as customer history, issue type and even time spent in the queue, it makes more intelligent decisions about where to send each call. The result? Quicker call resolutions and happier customers.
Using tools like Flow Builders can not only enhance your customer experience, but simplify it. Voiso leverages IVR technology to allow customers to navigate self-service easily, routing them to the best available agent based on their menu choices. Pretty handy, right?
#3 APIs and Integration capabilities
CRM Integrations
A solid CRM integration bridges the gap between customer data and call records. Agents have access to real-time customer information during calls; this means no switching between windows or leaving the customer on hold.
Voiso integrates with many of the leading CRM providers, letting you automatically log interactions and update CRM records with specific call details in one interface. You can keep track of customer connections across various platforms, all while syncing with your CRM to ensure full visibility across the board.
Messaging APIs (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, Instagram etc)
Without APIs, different platforms couldn’t communicate with each other.
A messaging API connects the dots from one platform to another, enabling information to pass freely. It allows businesses to integrate text messaging and chat mediums, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber and Instagram, into their existing systems.
At Voiso, we use APIs to enable better customer engagement across all platforms. So you can keep your CX consistent and efficient without sacrificing quality.
#4 IVR
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is the first point of contact for customers when getting in touch with your business. Think of it as the ‘virtual receptionist’: a well-designed one will guide your customers to the right place every time.
IVR helps callers navigate self-service options seamlessly. With personalized call flow instructions, customers can easily understand what to do next. It cuts down on long wait times and can even determine the customer’s reason for calling by obtaining basic information like account numbers and names. Which in turn, reduces call handling time.
Getting your customers to the right department is easy with Voiso: simply sync with your CRM, craft your own IVR menu, and you’re good to go.
#5 Analytics and reporting tools
Real-time metrics
Metrics and KPIs are the driving force behind any call center. Having a clear view of agent performance and customer behavior is make-or-break for a highly functioning call center.
And not just overall KPIs, but real-time metrics: call volume, average wait time, abandonment rate, first call resolution and agent efficiency. Continuously assessing your metrics means quick changes are easy and feasible.
Post-call metrics
Acting quickly also means catching emerging trends. Post-call metrics measure factors like customer sentiment and satisfaction rate. If your scores are consistently low, you can act fast before the problem escalates.
Call scoring can also highlight compliance issues and rate the overall call interaction. While repeat calling metrics can paint a vivid picture of how effective your agents are at resolving issues by emphasizing areas for improvement.
Reporting and analytics
Having these metrics is just the start: knowing how to analyze them is the foundation upon which your business is built.
Consistent reporting outlines any potential gaps in your support coverage by bringing common issues to the fore. But without solid analytics, reliable insights are near impossible.
Having a powerful and reliable tool in place can bring both of them together. Not only can it help managers recognize possible training opportunities for employees, it fosters data-driven decision making. Voiso’s real-time dashboard can provide full visibility over all call center interactions across 60+ different KPIs.
#6 AI features
Call Summaries
Dealing with large call volumes can sometimes lead to important information slipping through the cracks. AI solves this problem by automatically summarizing key call points, transcribing spoken words into written text. It can even list next steps or tasks to be completed based on the content of your calls.
By highlighting the important information, AI ensures that customer interactions are accurately recorded without having to listen back through the entire conversation (which any agent will thank you for).
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis delves deeper into the tone of the conversation. It sheds light on the customer’s mood based on their tone of voice, giving insight into their overall satisfaction.
Natural language processing (NLP) techniques make it possible to assess positive or negative emotion indicators, providing a sentiment score for different parts of the conversation. This way, managers can see in which areas of the call the customer experiences positive reactions. They can also use any negative points to work on possible areas for improvement.
Keyword Detection
Certain phrases can convey different emotions. With keyword detection, language patterns, phrases and keywords can be highlighted to allow for the quick scanning of calls. Any potential compliance issues are flagged, recurring statements pointed out and key topics like complaints or product mentions easily identified.
Speech Analytics
Speech analytics is a powerful tool capable of detecting the emotions of both caller and agent, presenting actionable insights into all customer interactions. It improves service, data-driven decision making, quality assurance and compliance. Plus, it can even spotlight emerging trends, recurring issues or common queries. Speech analytics also uses natural language processing to analyze conversations, highlighting keywords and phrases in real-time.
#7 Call Recording
There are two main types of call recording: automatic and selective.
Automatic is pretty self-explanatory: it records calls by default, no manual intervention needed. It’s handy for complete customer interaction records by ensuring comprehensive coverage. And it prevents any call from being missed.
Selective call recording is exactly what it sounds like: agents can choose which calls to record. Whether for training, quality, or any other purpose. It requires manual input as the agent has to click ‘record’ themselves.
Call recording means quick rectification of issues, real-time monitoring and on-the-spot coaching.
#8 Real-time Dashboards
Instant Data Access
Managers and agents can have a comprehensive overview of their operations with real-time dashboards. They deliver immediately visible metrics, helping managers react quickly to any adverse changes; even adjusting staffing depending on how busy or quiet the lines may be.
Customization Options
Depending on their role within the organization, different employees may need visibility over different data sets. An agent might want to see their own personal call stats and real-time progress, while managers need overall metrics and performance trends. Real-time dashboards are fully customizable for the user, meaning they only see what’s relevant to them.
Data-driven Insights
Dashboards can aggregate data in ways humans can’t. They can automatically highlight trends, patterns and common issues, helping with performance analysis over time.
Easy Reporting
Voiso’s Real-Time Dashboards make it easy to run reports, schedule them for when it suits your needs, automate their delivery and select who they get sent to. Across any metrics and any timeframe, every interaction is recorded. And Call Data Records are generated automatically for every interaction, so you can see all data points related to every call.
#9 AI-driven Predictive Dialers
A predictive dialer is an automated system that calls multiple numbers at the same time. Any answered calls are transferred to available agents. And a smart algorithm queues up their next call by predicting when they’ll be available.
Predictive dialers cut down on manual input, increase talk time and boost productivity with automated dialing, which enables higher, more efficient call volumes.. And automatic call queuing optimizes the agent’s time, reducing call abandonment. It can be leveraged for lead generation, meeting scheduling and collecting customer feedback. And combined with local caller IDs, can increase answer rates by 400%.
Voiso’s AI Predictive Dialer ensures that calls are only connected once they’ve been answered, driving 400% more calls per hour and reducing call abandonment rates by 73%.
#10 Voice Recognition and Text-to-Speech
Voice recognition
Voice recognition allows customers to navigate through self-service menus using their own speech, rather than keypad inputs. It’s a step up from simply choosing an option leading to a certain department as it lets them describe the reason for calling.
It also transcribes the customer’s spoken words into text, enabling the agent to get a deeper understanding of their reason for calling. This makes reviewing and auditing easier, whilst boosting record-keeping and compliance measures.
And what’s more: voice recognition can improve personalization by remembering a customer’s voice or details from a previous conversation. It can almost ‘keep in mind’ the last interaction with the customer to address their issues in a much more personal way.
Text-to-Speech
TTS technology can read out messages to a caller by translating written prompts into spoken words. It integrates with third-party systems and enables multiple softwares to communicate with each other.
In high volume call centers, TTS can gather information like account details, order statuses, names and FAQs, handling them quickly and easily. It frees up live agents for the more complex issues and cuts down on wait times.
And even better: TTS can operate across multiple languages. Regardless of time zone or country, it reduces the need to hire native speaking agents by localizing customer service no matter where it is.
The Bottom Line
As long as technology continues to evolve, so too will customer service. Technology is modernizing the way businesses interact with their customers, in a way that wasn’t possible even ten years ago. Equipping your call center with the right software is a good way to go. But ensuring it’s got the right features for your business isn’t always as easy as it seems.
From omnichannel support to smart call routing, the features and benefits are innumerable. Integration with your CRM is non-negotiable in centralizing interactions, while IVR systems cut down on call wait times, freeing up your agents for more complex issues.
AI is also changing the game for many call centers: call summaries, sentiment analysis, keyword detection and predictive dialing make reporting and analytics easier. While call recording provides a comprehensive record of what happened in the call. Dashboards make visibility a breeze. And sophisticated dialers enhance outreach and optimize agent’s time.
And without TTS and voice recognition, customer interactions wouldn’t be as seamless as they are today.
Integrating these features into your call center helps to meet the ever-growing expectations of customers. It fosters a much more effective service environment that can pivot easily. Embracing call center software will improve customer service and operational success, setting your business apart from the competition.
