Hostcomm is seeing record demand for hosted diallers from inbound and blended contact centres. According to the company, the past twelve months have seen a sharp upturn in enquiries and interest, which is part of continued year-on-year growth in demand.
While outbound contact centres remain the predominant use case for an automated dialler, this new surge in demand reflects changing perceptions and increased awareness of the benefits that come with a high quality dialler. However, Hostcomm sees customer expectations as the inbound driver behind this change.
“There are several reasons that inbound and blended contact centres are adopting diallers at a high rate,” says Chris Key, Director at Hostcomm. “But the truth is that it’s a customer-driven decision. From the enquiries we’ve received, we know that contact centre managers are concerned about service levels, and more aware than ever that customers won’t accept substandard performance. In an age of social media, every call needs to be handled quickly, efficiently, and effectively – and that’s exactly where a dialler can help.”
In an outbound call centre, automated diallers are used to support high volume calling. In this setting, they play a fundamental role in maximising agent productivity and campaign performance. However, inbound and blended call centres can also take advantage of the performance uplift that comes with rich automation.
One common use is scheduling call backs to customers quickly and easily. Traditionally, a call back would depend on an agent’s memory, leaving the process open to considerable risk. With a dialler, call backs can be scheduled using a calendar that offers appropriate dates and times, when the contact centre is open for business. Then, outbound call backs are scheduled into the dialler, and connected to the agent along with a pop-up screen containing key customer notes and information. As a result, outbound contact centres can guarantee that call backs will be made at the correct time.
In addition, an automated dialler can offer a range of time-saving features. These include customer relationship management (CRM) system integration to display useful information, click-to-dial to eliminate the risk of mistakes in manual dialling, and integration with web-based forms to automate ‘call me back’ features. Many outbound contact centres are even using a dialler to run automated and agent-assisted customer satisfaction surveys.
Finally, a dialler makes it easy to configure blended campaigns, where both outbound and inbound calls take place. This is an efficient way to use agents, keep them motivated by varying their work, and ensuring that resources are maximised.
All of these uses serve the same core purpose – to deliver the best possible service to customers, consistently.
“Inbound and blended contact centres may not make the same number of calls as their outbound peers,” adds Key. “But there are still considerable benefits to be had. A dialler saves time and money, while increasing performance to its highest standards. And with flexible options like a hosted dialler, the cost is low enough to make the return very worthwhile – in fact, our hosted inbound contact centre service includes a hosted dialler, free of charge. It's the ideal way to take advantage of automation, and gives inbound contact centres the flexibility to start running outbound campaigns without more investment.”
To find out more about Hostcomm, visit www.hostcomm.co.uk
