Automatic Call Distribution System in a Call Center: What is it & what are its benefits?

Only a call center agent who works in a well-established company or organization knows how difficult it is to handle multiple calls at the same time. Which customer’s call should I answer? Who to prioritize first?

To solve this problem, companies now use the Automatic Call Distribution System in a call center, which can help them a lot in this situation.

Automatic Call Distribution System helps companies improve customers’ engagement and also increases their agent’s productivity.

What is Automatic Call Distribution System?

The automatic Call Distribution System is a standard tool used in telephony industries to route incoming calls to a specific agent or specific department based on a predefined algorithm.

It is found in those offices or industries that handle a large volume of inbound calls daily. The automatic Call Distribution software relies on a skills-based routing engine to route the incoming calls to the right agent.

Sooner or later, a well-established company has to face a large number of calls. To make life easy for Call Center Agents, the system is developed so that many calls can directly route to agents that can handle the customer’s problem.

Whenever the call traffic is high, there is a high chance that agents are busy or unavailable to answer your calls, so the use of Automatic call distribution software can assist in those situations. It can bring multiple benefits to the company as well as the customer. The customer can directly interact with a skilled agent who can solve their problem in the least amount of time.

What is Automatic Call Distribution in a Call Center?

The main responsibility of call centers is to provide customer service. Generally, customers contact the call center of a company to query information or resolve their issues. Agents can easily receive a handful number of calls but things get out of hand when there is a high call volume. 

This is a setback for both businesses and customers because businesses are unable to provide services to all the customers and those customers are dissatisfied with the lack of services. Fortunately, cloud-based call center software offers Automatic call distribution features.

An automatic call distribution system is a call center solution that automatically handles automatic call distribution routes inbound calls to the next available agent. Its goal is to assist inbound call centers in sorting and managing enormous numbers of calls. It allows agents to stay productive. It also enhances client experiences by ensuring that they are quickly routed to the appropriate agent.

Routing Incoming Calls Based on Predefined Rules

Calls are routed to specific departments which are qualified to answer the customer’s problem. For example, if the customer is Spanish, the call is directly routed to a Spanish agent. It will help the caller to express his problem clearly and easily.

The call routing takes place based on the phone numbers that the customer dials. If the customer dials the technical support phone number, the call is directly routed to the technical support department. So, the automatic call distribution system saves a lot of time and makes the process of communication accessible.

Top Features of Automatic Call Distribution Software

The top features of Automatic call distribution software can be listed as follows:

• Routing of calls to specific agents based on predefined algorithms
• Multiple queue system if the call numbers are high to prevent long waits
• Identification and quick response to the VIP callers
• Integrating with other call center features like CRM Integrations or live chat.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction
• Keeping agents of the different fields together in one place
• Helps in increasing agent’s productivity

How Does an Automatic Call Distribution System Work?

The procedure can be broken down into the following three stages:

1. Call identification and information.

The first step is to know the customer’s purpose to call through an IVR. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a technology that lets a caller interact with an automated answering machine before routing the calls to the agent.

Caller ID systems are also used to determine factors like language and location. With this, the calls can be directed to specific agents best suited to solve the customer’s specific problem.

2. Call Queueing

When the call traffic is high, agents might be unavailable to answer, making customers lose interest in your company. So, the Automatic call distribution system helps you sort incoming calls based on different factors like status, waiting time, and query.

In most cases, VIPs are more prioritized than other new callers so that they don’t lose the customers who interact with the company often. Automatic call distribution software works on rules for how you design it.

3. Call Routing

The final step is distributing calls to the agent who can solve your problem. The distribution of calls can be done in different ways. Automatic call distribution software can route to the available agent or who is the best-suited agent to your problem or the best agent available.

Some of the call routing ways how calls are routed are:

1.  Linear Call Routing

The incoming calls are routed to agents listed in a predefined order. The first agent who is on the top list receives the call every time. When the first agent is unavailable, then the call is routed to the second agent, and so on. This call distribution method is frequently used to prioritize specific agents over others, i.e., based on their skill set.

2.  Round-Robin Routing

Calls are distributed in a continuous loop, with the agent at the top of the list receiving the first call. The loop continues when the agent who is listed on the last receives the call. This distribution equally distributes the calls across the entire team, one at a time, which reduces the load on the agents. 

3.  Uniform Routing

In this type of distribution, the calls are routed to the agent who has received the least amount of calls. This method is used to increase workforce engagement so that every agent receives an equal amount of calls and keeps them active.

4.  Simultaneous Routing

In Simultaneous Distribution, when the customer calls, the call alerts all the available agents simultaneously. Then, the first agent who answers has to handle the call. With this type of distribution, there will be less chance of missing a customer’s call.

5.  Time-Based Routing

Instead of routing the calls to every agent, Automatic call distribution software allows you to alert agents based on their working hours and statuses. Based on their inputs, the call routing will be determined by the system.

6.  Skill-Based Routing

Each agent has a score based on different factors like language, experience, or skill set. When a customer calls, the Automatic call distribution system routes the call based on the score of the agent. This method is used to determine the agent with a high experience with the agent having a low experience.

7.  Data-Based Routing

In this type of distribution, when a customer calls, the system checks the customer’s data (i.e., demographics or customer’s history with the company) and routes the call to the agent who can assist them best. In data-based distribution, generating profit is prioritized over saving time.

Benefits of Automatic Call Distribution System

1. Faster response

If you don’t respond to the customer’s call, the customer will have less interest in your company, and you may lose a potential buyer. Businesses that improve their responsiveness have a better chance of serving their callers appropriately and avoiding losing potential leads.

2. Agent’s Productivity

Automatic call distribution system will route the calls to agents, which makes them active and keeps them productive. Agents spend less time attempting to solve problems that are outside of their training or knowledge.

3. Better Use of Resources

Automatic call distribution software reduces downtime by ensuring that agents are working on tasks for which they are qualified. In addition, you can use caller data to solve problems in other areas, such as sales and marketing.

4. Improved Call Resolution Rates

The total amount of time it takes to handle a call will decrease because callers are directed to agents with adequate knowledge in the relevant field. Their issues are resolved quickly and without the need to transfer them to other departments.

5. Great Customer Experience

Customers notice when companies communicate with them promptly and regularly. They will not hesitate to contact you the next time they have a problem, and you might increase your sales.

How to use an automated call distribution system?

Businesses need to get a cloud-based phone system like KrispCall to use an automated call distribution system. Basically, you will be able to handle the inbound calls with the help of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and pre-defined rules to route calls to the right agents. 

The first thing you need to do is add agents to workplaces in your telephony system. These agents have access to a device like a laptop, smartphone, or desktop for receiving calls.

Secondly, you need to set up your IVR menu with the right options to guide callers easily to the appropriate agent. IVR is necessary for managing the auto call distribution system.

As you know, there are various automatic call distribution methods. You need to choose which method is most suited for your business. Choosing a method is critical because it defines how the call will be routed in the system. 

Once you are set, you can now enjoy the benefits of the automatic call distribution software. Also, you can complement call distribution with other advanced features of your telephony system to give excellent customer satisfaction.

Why do call centers need inbound automatic call distribution systems?

Customer service is based on a simple concept: answer the phone and address the problem. However, providing exceptional service becomes more difficult when customers overwhelm the call center by calling all at once. Thankfully, Automatic call distribution software can assist call centers in handling all those calls.

• To manage high call traffic

When there is a lot of call traffic, an automatic call distribution system can ensure that the call is connected correctly the first time to the right agent rather than being routed around between several agents. Customers can become very dissatisfied as a result of high call volume but automatic call distribution reduces the dissatisfaction by speeding up the process to connect to the appropriate agent.

• To handle calls in off-work hours

There are some call centers that are open 24 hours a day but many are active only during specific working hours. If a customer calls at off-work hours when no agent is available then Automatic call distribution system can provide automatic responses immediately via the IVR system. This way the customer doesn’t have to wait until the next business day.

• To operate in multiple locations

An automatic call distribution software is valuable for businesses that manage several call centers. Whether the location of your company’s call centers is either domestic, international, or both, Automatic call distribution system routes the call to the right call center. Using the Automatic call distribution software, customers may be routed to the most appropriate agent to resolve their problems.

Best Automatic Call Distribution Software for Call Centers

Today, there are hundreds of platforms offering automatic call distribution for call centers. It might get quite confusing for you to find one that matches the requirement of your business.

To make things easier for you, here is a list of 5 best Automatic call distribution software:

1. KrispCall

KrispCall is one of the best cloud-based phone systems that provide an intuitive and handy Automatic call distribution software in the market. Unified Callbox, IVR, CRM integration, Contact tagging, Intelligent call routing, and more are some of KrispCall’s innovative features. 

The Unified Callbox is a specialized dashboard that lets you manage all of your business call logs from one place. Also, KrispCall’s automatic call distribution software is cost-effective, dependable, and safe. It offers highly competitive subscription packages in comparison to the competition.

2. RingCentral

The most widely used cloud-based phone solution is RingCentral. This platform provides Automatic call distribution software for handling company correspondence. It offers various features such as RingOut, CRM integrations, omnichannel routing, and so on. 

Small businesses can easily manage teams by using Its comprehensive administrative and analytics features. It is one of the most secure automatic call distribution software because of its powerful and dynamic encryption. 

3. CallHippo

CallHippo is a call center system that provides has brought a notable Automatic call distribution software to the market that caters to companies of all sizes. It offers companies with various call center tools like Power Dialer, IVR, Automatic Call Distribution, and more. 

Generally, support centers and sales teams utilize CallHippo with absolute ease. It offers browser addons and deploys a global flexible telephony network. You can buy annual or monthly subscription packages at reasonable prices.

4. Talkdesk

Among the popular cloud-based call center solution, Talkdesk provides an outstanding end-to-end customer experience. It assists in improving customer contact quality while also lowering customer support expenditures.

Omnichannel support, AI virtual assistant, outbound dialer, and other features are among the greatest features of Talkdesk. Contact center software from Talkdesk increases your company’s productivity. It provides transparency to data-driven decision-making.

5. CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a standard call center solution that automates and speeds up the call dialing procedure It introduces you to a variety of features, including predictive dialing, call monitoring, intelligent call routing, and more.

CloudTalk provides you with foreign phone numbers from more than 70 countries. Its CRM integrations and helpdesk help keep your company’s data in sync.

What is Interactive Voice Response (IVR)?

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response and is a type of automated phone system. Instead of communicating with an agent, inbound callers can acquire information from a voice response system that plays pre-recorded messages.

It has menu options that allow you to route a phone call to certain departments or agents via a touch-tone keyboard or speech recognition.

Customer satisfaction is greatly enhanced by IVR systems. It also improves the effectiveness of call centers and their key performance indicators (KPIs). Customers can discover the proper answers and navigate the menu with the help of an effective interactive voice response system. This is especially useful when there is a high volume of calls.

When a consumer needs or wishes to talk with a person, IVR technology can assist in routing calls to the appropriate call center agent with the help of automatic call distribution.

That agent can handle the customer’s inquiry quickly and efficiently. When calls are routed to agents, the possibility of the caller being diverted to the wrong agent or department is considerably decreased.

Differences between IVR and Automatic Call Distribution

To Sum Up

It is no surprise that Automatic Call Distribution can provide many features to your company that helps in boosting your agent’s productivity and customer satisfaction. The automatic call distribution system is highly customizable, and you can set the system in the way you find suitable for your company.

It’s essential to keep in mind that an automatic call distribution system cannot work well without proper call center software. To get the best results out of the automatic call distribution system, you should have a powerful phone solution to provide you with this feature.

If you are looking for it, KrispCall would be the best choice as it offers you a robust call distribution system on top of handy cloud telephony features. KrispCall will help you to maintain the agent’s productivity and keep your customers satisfied.

Krispcall is suitable for every business, from large industries to small ones. It also comes with other features, like Unified Callbox, call recording, global calling, call filters, etc., in an affordable price range.

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