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What is a Virtual Call Center?

Today, there are a number of call center types available, including inbound, outbound and virtual. Virtual call centers are a deviation from conventional call centers (where the agents are centrally located in an organization owned work station).

While employees of such call centers are generally located in small groups distributed in several centers, virtual center representatives work from home. Many employees find this arrangement convenient for them, because working from the comfort of one's own home eliminates strict dress codes and a tiring commute to work. In addition, organizations that operate virtual call centre operations save a notable amount of money, since they eliminate both equipment and rent costs. Employee turnover rate also tends to be significantly lower in virtual call centers than physical ones, due to satisfied employees.

It is easy for a company using a traditional physical call center model to switch to a virtual one. In addition, this switch can come with numerous benefits. A good case that illustrates just how far-reaching the benefits of switching to a virtual type call center can go, consider the My Twinn story (a doll manufacturer). In the year 2000, they switched from the traditional call center model to the virtual one. This move led to a 30% increase in the rate of conversion of calls to sales, an 88% reduction in employee turnover and a 90% reduction in the number of calls that required escalating (being referred to a higher-level employee) when compared to the previous year (1999).

For businesses considering the switch to a virtual call center, there is a variety of software that is designed for use in work at home call centers. This software includes benefits such as:

The ability to track important call center metrics.

Virtual type call center software allows the supervisor view to monitor the business environment.

Agents can manage their status, send messages and set their call disposition codes.

Real-time changes can be made to provide better control on several aspects including running reports and routing calls.

The software comes with in-built outbound features, facilitating potential changes like rearranging queues and adding agents.

Considering the switch to a virtual call center is a big decision that may potentially lead to a very profitable future.

You can get more information about Virtual Call Center by visiting Call Center Solutions

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The Benefits of Using Predictive Dialers in Call Centers

A predictive dialer refers to a computerized system that is used to automatically dial a list of several telephone numbers while connecting agents to answered dials. Predictive dialers usually use statistical algorithms in order to minimize the time spent by agents waiting in between calls, while at the same time minimizing the incidences of somebody answering while the agent is not available.

Whenever someone dials two numbers individually, there are usually two main sources of delay. The first comes from the fact that only a fraction of the numbers dialed are actually answered. If, for instance, only one out of three dials are answered, a predictive dialer might use this information to dial three lines whenever an agent is available. The second source of delay stems from the fact that some amount of time elapses before the calls are answered. Now if an average call takes ten seconds to be picked and typically lasts ninety seconds, the predictive system might start dialing another number once the ongoing conversation reaches eighty seconds.

Predictive dialing technology is majorly used in call centers. The biggest benefit that a company can derive from using this technology results in substantive cost savings due to productivity gains and the elimination of a costly PBX system.

To know which dialer to use, verify the number of phone lines compared to the number of agents that the call center is capable of supporting. Companies should also consider the type of computer systems being used. Once a solution is adopted, it should be tested in real-life settings in the call center, to find out how fast the dialer connects with an agent whenever a live answer is present. Once this is done, the system should be tested to see how often it makes mistakes when predicting live answers.

A predictive dialing system offers three main benefits:

1. The predictive system can manage all call-related tasks, involving only a TSR (telemarketing service representative) when a real person answers.

2. The system is able to queue new calls usually by predicting the duration of a call and beginning a new one before the ongoing call is complete.

3. The system is much more time-efficient compared to a manual system. A predictive dialer can boost average talk time per hour for the agent to about 50 minutes. This compares very favorably with fifteen to twenty minutes for a manual environment.

There are many predictive dialing solutions available today, and choosing the right one for will depend on certain factors. You can get more information about Call Center Software by visiting Predictive Diallers 

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The Many Uses of Outbound Call Center Software

Outbound call center software is specifically designed for call centers that make outbound calls to various customers on behalf of a certain client or business. The calls made from call centers can be sales calls, telemarketing calls, survey calls, contact list updating calls, verification services calls or even fund-raising calls.

Good customer service applications are required in order for a business to gain the edge over their competitors. Well-integrated applications and solutions increase customer engagement, business innovation and efficiency. Companies with unique customer service strategies characterized by a tight integration of both business and customer data stand a much better chance in today's business environment.

The solution should increase the overall efficiency of the call center. The outbound call center software should orchestrate call center services, deliver the required data to the agents, and make the customers feel that they are getting personalized and customized services while increasing profits for the call center. The application should additionally enhance the call center's investment in infrastructure and other tools such as CRM and Unified Communications. Additionally, the software should expand market opportunity for the call center by seamlessly integrating into other enterprise productivity applications. The application should also be capable of removing barriers to customer service-related systems, facilitate the extension of the call center's legacy systems into contact center operation while making it possible to use the information they contain so as to serve the call center's customers better.

Features of outbound call center software applications should typically include:

Predictive Dialer. This boosts productivity and efficiency by automatically calling several contacts, usually based on estimated agent availability.

Power Dialer. The dialer increases productivity by calling multiple contacts simultaneously whenever an agent becomes available.

Progressive Dialer/Preview Dialer. This feature automatically calls individual contacts whenever an agent becomes available.

Agent Scripting. Enables agents to deliver consistent messages to their contacts. A web-based agent script is used for this purpose.

Campaign/List Management. This feature operates multiple auto dialer and outbound call campaigns by using one or several lists.

DNC Compliance. Handles DNC (Do Not Call) requests while complying with applicable calling regulations.

Data Import. This feature imports outbound calling lists as well as contacts by using a wizard or automatically through FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

Call Recording. Accesses the quality of agent performance.

Quality Monitoring. This feature silently monitors agent-customer conversations. You can get more information about Outbound Call Center Software by visiting Predictive Diallers