What Is Automatic Call Distribution And How Can CallerReady Help?

When making a phone call, a customer hopes to have their call answered quickly and their issue sorted out efficiently. No one likes to spend time on the phone listening to hold music or being routed from agent to agent while having to redescribe their situation with every transfer. Automatic call distribution is meant to decrease the amount of time people spend on hold while transferring them to the appropriate agent as efficiently as possible. When asking the question, “What is automatic call distribution?” the concepts of excellent customer service and a great customer experience need to be called into play.

What Is An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)?

An ACD is a software system that routes phone calls to the appropriate customer service representative (CSR). The criteria that decide which CSR is most appropriate will vary from business to business. To this end, an ACD can be configured to harmonize with the criteria most important to the specific business. A properly configured ACD will quickly and efficiently receive a call, qualify the nature of the call and transfer the call to the relevant CSR.

What Tools Are Available With The CallerReady Platform?

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

IVR is an automated system that receives an incoming call, presents the caller with a list of options and obtains responses via keypad or voice commands. IVR can be used to determine exactly what the customer needs before being transferred to a CSR. An IVR system can also tell the customer the estimated queue time or give them an option to be called back once the next CSR is available.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The CallerReady platform contains customizable CRM software that allows CSRs to access important customer data such as account details, order history, recurring issues or notes made by other CSRs. Access to this modifiable database allows a CSR to handle a call with familiarity, competence and expertise.

Geographic Routing

With the global nature of business, companies are likely to have customers all over the world. Identifying where a customer is calling from and where they should be transferred is a specialty of geographic routing software tools. You don’t want your customers to be transferred to a CSR location that’s closed for the day. Nor do you want a Chinese speaking customer to be routed to an English-only speaking CSR. Geographic routing makes it possible for incoming calls to be transferred appropriately based on the location of both the caller and the CSR.

The CallerReady Advantage

The CallerReady performance call marketing platform includes all the tools mentioned above and many more. If you want to learn more about these tools or require extra information regarding the question, “What is automatic call distribution?” contact CallerReady for a free demo today.