What is a contact center?
At the heart of every successful customer-facing business is contact center software that makes delivering exceptional customer service look effortless.
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With functionalities like real-time reporting, AI-based sentiment analysis, power dialing, and skills-based routing—together with an extensive suite of app integrations—our contact center software is precisely what you need to keep agents happy and deliver first-rate customer support.
What is a contact center?
A contact center is a hub or department for managing customer interactions across various channels, on behalf of an organization.
It employs a team of agents who are trained to provide reactive and proactive customer support via phone calls, live chat, instant messaging, email, social media, and even video.
Contact center vs. call center
These terms are often used interchangeably. You might even hear someone refer to a “contact call center”. Contact centers and call centers do share a common aim—to help customers. However, they are two different things.
Call centers were the original customer support hubs, handling incoming and outgoing phone calls. Although most of them have swapped landlines for internet telephony and added more advanced call center software , one thing hasn’t changed: the interactions take place via telephone.
Contact centers do handle phone calls. But they also encompass a whole range of further communication channels for maximum convenience. In the best cases, these channels work seamlessly together to deliver a consistent customer experience.
What if a call center expands to include some extra communication channels? Does that make it a contact center? Well, technically you could describe it as such—but the other channels are probably siloed, whereas contact centers tend to take an omnichannel approach.
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How does a contact center work?
A contact center may be modeled on a traditional call center setup, with a team of agents working from centralized premises (a company may have multiple centers in different regions or countries). Or, thanks to modern technology, the agents may work remotely, communicating with customers (and each other) via a cloud-based system.
In an inbound contact center, agents handle incoming inquiries from customers across various channels, including phone, SMS, web chat, email, social media, and even video.
In an outbound center, agents reach out to customers or leads. They use digital and automated tools to increase efficiency and give each customer a smooth experience.
Types of contact centers
There are a number of different types of contact centers, and the one you choose will depend on the service your business wants to provide to customers.
Inbound vs. outbound contact centers
Inbound contact centers are set up to handle incoming calls and messages. Existing customers can get in touch to ask questions, complete specific actions, request technical help, or make a complaint. Prospects may also reach out in response to a promotion or to set up a sales call.
In an outbound contact center, the agents reach out to current or potential customers instead of receiving calls and messages. For example, they might carry out market research, ask for product feedback, send appointment reminders, or follow up on sales leads.
Both categories typically use smart technology to handle interactions as efficiently as possible. Inbound centers use call routing and self-service options to make sure customers aren’t kept waiting. An outbound contact center team, meanwhile, might use automatic dialers or bulk SMS messaging.
A hybrid contact center is a mixture of both types, where agents are usually trained to handle both incoming and outgoing interactions.
Multichannel vs. omnichannel contact centers
A multichannel contact center does what the name suggests—it handles inbound and/or outbound interactions via multiple channels of communication. However, there’s no integration between the channels, so the data from each is stored separately, leading to siloed information.
Omnichannel contact centers take this idea and make it more efficient, because all the channels are linked. Agents can access things like customer details and interaction history from any channel, so it’s easy to keep track of—and even switch between channels during interactions.
On-premises vs. cloud-based contact centers
On-premises systems operate through in-house servers, software, hardware, and all other associated infrastructure kept on-site. That includes the contact center software to manage both outgoing and incoming calls.
In this setup, you own and manage the infrastructure and have full control. But you need an IT team to handle implementation as well as repairs, maintenance work, and upgrades. The tech tends to be outdated, making it harder to add more channels or integrate other systems.
Whether you’re running a call center or a contact center, the more efficient solution is to move your operations to the cloud. A cloud-based contact center is hosted by a third-party provider (such as RingCentral), who owns and manages all the necessary infrastructure in its own data centers.
You don’t need to install or maintain anything on your own premises—you just lease the software from your vendor via subscription. Agents can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. This also means you could set up an entirely virtual contact center with no premises at all, and all agents working remotely.
What are the benefits of contact center software?
Contact centers enable agents to interact with customers on all channels, not just over the phone. This means customers can choose their preferred communication method, and they don’t have to wait in a lengthy call queue.
Agents can switch between channels and access relevant customer information to personalize the interaction and deliver a consistent experience.
With the right contact center software, your business can collect and analyze valuable data for a better understanding of customer expectations and preferences—which drives customer loyalty and increases revenue via a range of interrelated benefits:
Improves CX
Contact centers enable agents to interact with customers on all channels, not just via the phone system. This means customers can choose their preferred communication method, and they don’t have to wait in a lengthy call queue or repeat information to multiple agents.
Plus, agents can switch between channels and access relevant customer data to personalize the interaction and deliver a consistent experience.
Boosts efficiency
The right software offers automation and smart features to increase operational efficiency and make agents more productive.
Because calls and messages are routed to the most suitable agent, metrics like first-call resolution and average handle time improve—and agents can quickly move on to the next query. Efficient processes enable your center to handle spikes in call volume without unnecessary stress for agents or customers.
Saves money
When you streamline your operations, you can reduce your center’s overheads. For example, automation helps you handle more interactions without extra staffing.
Contact center software also makes it easy for agents to operate remotely, so you can either use smaller premises or even have no physical premises at all. An increase in customer loyalty reduces the cost of acquisition.
Increases revenue
Aside from the uptick in customer loyalty and retention, the right software boosts revenue by enabling more effective outreach for sales and lead generation.
Reps can use personalization to find opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, and you can automatically send out promotional messages to encourage sales.
Provides deeper insights
With contact center software, you can gather valuable information from every stage of the customer journey and use it to improve CX.
You’ll gain a better understanding of customer behaviors and preferences, especially with AI-powered sentiment analysis. This data is invaluable for everything from staff scheduling to training agents.
Innovative contact center solutions for business
Smart business decisions with consolidated contact center reporting and analytics
- Use pre-built reports to understand your contact center performance based on metrics.
- Track and create strategic goals to improve core workflows.
- Gather hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual statistics to perform a more detailed analysis of team productivity.
Positive customer interactions through real-time call monitoring
- Listen in on active customer calls made by support agents in inbound call centers or sales teams in outbound call centers.
- Whisper instructions to your staff, join the conversation, or completely take over the call.
- Utilize automatic call recording and revisit past calls when necessary.
Boost ROI, productivity, and employee satisfaction with workforce management
- Allow teams to view schedules, request changes, manage absences, run training, and control other crucial HR-related tasks.
- Optimize schedules and avoid coverage gaps with automatic scheduling and historical forecasting.
- Set agents up for success by establishing a concrete quality assurance step that can find areas of improvement and offer strategies to address concerns.
Shorten wait times and boost FCR rates with intelligent call routing
- Use IVR systems to determine the caller’s purpose through a series of automated questions and answers.
- Forward responses via automatic call distribution (ACD) for proper queuing and assignment to agents.
- Determine the type of call routing method that best fits your business (skills-based, fixed order, percentage, etc.).
Establishing a true omnichannel presence
- Choose from 30+ digital channels, including all major mobile and social media messaging apps, to connect with your customers.
- Provide your contact center support team with a single, integrated platform for all channels, making customer engagement simpler.
- Give customers the option to resolve issues through phone calls with live agents and through self-service and AI chatbots.
Use cases for contact center solutions
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from contact center solutions, whether it’s a couple of agents in a small company or a huge network of teams and centers. But what are some of the main contact center use cases?
Customer support
For inbound contact centers, the focus is on handling customer inquiries, problems, or complaints. There are several ways to achieve this:
AI-powered self-service
There are some queries that customers can resolve by using a contact center’s self-service tools.
For example, things like resetting a password, checking the balance of an account, or making a simple card payment can all be handled by a chatbot. Alternatively, an interactive voice response (IVR) menu can take callers through various options before directing them to a knowledge base or to an agent if necessary.
Technical support
If you operate an IT helpdesk, agents with specialist knowledge can help colleagues or customers with technical issues.
Someone might be having trouble completing an action on your website, or they might need help setting up a tech product. The agent can carry out troubleshooting, or send a video tutorial or a set of instructions. Chatbots and auto-attendants may gather the details of the problem first.
Proactive customer service
Another contact center use case is proactive service and support, anticipating problems or obstacles that customers may face and getting in first.
This can be as simple as providing multiple ways to contact your business, and having an auto-attendant recite opening hours or website details to save them queuing to ask an agent. You might create videos or webinars for new products so that customers don’t have to reach out with common questions.
Outbound sales and lead generation
Outbound contact centers are used for sales activities including cold calling, follow-ups, and upselling.
Reps at these centers typically use automated tools like power dialers, which automatically call each number on a list and move on to the next if it’s unanswered. This saves time and also reduces mis-dialed numbers. For lead gen, reps can use bulk messaging with product information and promotions.
Industry-specific functions
Market research and telemarketing are other popular use cases for contact centers.
In terms of specific industries, healthcare providers use contact centers to book and remind patients of appointments, while the hospitality and transport industries also operate teams to handle reservations and travel updates.
Integrations that make work easier
Make the most of your contact center solution by connecting it seamlessly to your customer relationship management (CRM) software or back-end systems with native integrations or our open application programming interfaces (APIs).
Contact center technology and features
What features should you expect from contact center software? Here are some of the key elements to look out for:
Auto-attendant
Auto-attendants (or virtual receptionists) greet customers who contact you by phone, welcoming them to your business and providing essential information with a recorded message.
Callers can choose from listed menu options using the keypad on their phone. Auto-attendants work around the clock and offer a consistent start to the customer’s journey.
Interactive voice response (IVR)
Offering a similar service, IVR also enables customers to select options from a menu. The difference is that the system recognizes spoken input, not just tones from the keypad.
Plus, IVRs allow you to set up more extensive submenus that connect callers with extensions, voicemail boxes, or external numbers.
Intelligent routing
Auto-attendants and IVRs both direct inbound calls to the correct destination, but intelligent routing works for messaging as well as phone calls.
Good contact center software lets you configure rules for directing customers, based on things like agent skills as well as availability. This means faster response times and higher likelihood of first-contact resolution.
Chatbots
Chatbots are ideal for handling simple queries, freeing your agents up to discuss more complex issues with customers.
Rule-based chatbots generate pre-set responses to keywords, but AI-powered versions are capable of understanding context and sentiment—these can take care of higher-level interactions and become smarter the more data they receive.
Agent assistance
Sometimes agents need a little extra help, and good contact center software includes features to assist them during interactions.
For example, AI tools that suggest real-time recommendations using your existing knowledge base content, and dashboards where supervisors can view live calls, watch for negative sentiment, and step in to help if needed.
Post-call tools
Contact center technology is all about efficiency, and that includes streamlining post-call activities.
The best solutions automatically generate transcripts of each interaction, plus summaries with highlights and action items—so no more note-taking. Call recording is also essential, for potential disputes and training purposes.
CRM integration
Contact center solutions that integrate with your CRM system also save time post-call, as customer data is automatically transferred into the CRM for future reference.
And it works both ways; during customer interactions, agents can easily access the information they need to personalize the conversation and prevent the customer repeating themselves.
Advanced analytics
Another contact center essential. As well as using sentiment analysis to find out what customers really think, you can track and analyze key metrics relating to call volume, queues, and staffing levels.
Ideally, you’ll be able to view these in real time, and look back on historic performance to measure progress.
RingCentral RingCX contact center features
Maximize agent performance and create a positive environment that encourages complete customer satisfaction.
Confidently make critical business decisions guided by in-depth information, reports, and insights.
Tailor your contact center according to your business needs by leveraging pre-built integrations and open APIs.
Build stronger relationships by connecting with customers through various digital channels.
Accomplish more with less effort through virtual agents, automated conversations, and customer-performed operations.
Solutions that drive better customer experiences
48%
Increase in customer satisfaction
53%
Increase in employee satisfaction
25%
Increase in average revenue per agent
30%
Decrease in cost to serve
46%
Increase in revenue growth rate
43%
Increase in first contact resolution
Source: 2022 RingCentral Customer Success Metrics Survey.
Developing a contact center strategy
To ensure that your contact center runs smoothly and takes full advantage of the available software, you’ll need to develop a clear strategy.
Here’s what to consider:
- Business objectives: What exactly are you aiming to achieve with your contact center, and how does this align with wider business goals? Make sure the objectives are clearly-defined and measurable.
- Metrics: How will you track and evaluate success? What defines “success” for your business? How will you record the metrics and communicate them to your team?
- Budget and resources: What can you afford in terms of software and features? Do you have enough staff to handle an increase in customer interactions? Will they work remotely or do you need a larger premises?
- Technology: There are plenty of contact center solutions to choose from, so do the research to find the one that best suits your needs. Look at pricing and features but also check out scalability, security, and support for critical integrations.
- Implementation: Put a plan in place for switching to the new solution—keeping your data safe as you migrate, avoiding downtime, and training agents. You can work with your vendor on this.
- Hiring/training: If you need to take on new agents, ensure they have the right skills and experience. Train them and your existing teams on the new software and on data security. How will you reward top-performing agents and support those who are struggling?
- Continuous improvement: Include a plan for monitoring performance and progress, and for tracking changes in customer behaviors and preferences. Put contingencies in place for any problems that might occur.
Future proofing your contact center
You need a contact center that works for you right now, but it’s also important to think about the future. This involves following continuing trends, such as the increase in AI technology, and emerging ones such as the use of AR (augmented reality), which would enable agents to help with technical issues in an immersive way.
Customers will continue to demand a true omnichannel experience, with ever-faster response times—especially when interacting via social media. Keep an eye on their preferences so that you can decide which channels to prioritize.
What about your own growth? The best way to account for this is to choose a contact center solution with full scalability and flexibility. You can then start with a budget-friendly plan and upgrade it when you need to. The beauty of cloud-based software is that it’s easy to add more seats and features.
Contact center FAQs
Contact center software is any computer program that helps an organization to provide effective contact center services. It’s typically available as a cloud-based solution, accessible via the internet.
For omnichannel contact centers, the software ensures that all customer communication channels are integrated, and also provides integrations with your other business systems such as your CRM. The best software also comes with AI-powered tools.
There are numerous contact center software solutions available, each with its own list of pros and cons.
Before you make a decision, it’s important to fully grasp the specific needs of your business. For instance, do you mostly handle inbound or outbound interactions? Do you want an on-premises or cloud-based solution? (Hint: go for the cloud.)
Once you’ve made those decisions, do some serious research and take advantage of demos and free trials offered by vendors. Take feedback from your agents before picking the right software for your contact center.
A cloud contact center is an investment. It only makes sense that in your search for one, you should look for advanced features that will benefit your business. Here are some of them:
- Auto dialer - An auto dialer or power dialer is an outbound call center solution that automatically dials customer phone numbers. Once answered, the dialer software plays a recorded message or transfers the call to a live person. There are different kinds of auto dialers, such as preview dialers, progressive dialers, and predictive dialers.
- Caller ID - The caller ID display allows agents to see customer information before getting on the call. This is integral in keeping all calls routed to the appropriate agent—crucial when agents have specific accounts assigned to them. Ultimately, it identifies the caller, retrieves extra information about the call from a CRM or back office system, and routes the call to the appropriate agent.
- Call queuing - When customers reach out to your contact center and all your agents are busy, they are placed in a call queue. In case the wait time is too long, a queue call back (also known as virtual hold) can be offered to the caller. Customers can also stay on the line, listen to the hold music, and wait for the agent.
- Agent scripting - An agent scripting tool provides support teams with prompts to help move interactions along. Armed with a quality script, contact center agents never have to worry about not knowing what to say next—they can shape and guide conversations toward the necessary direction.
The cost of your contact center system will depend on your business size, number of agents and required phone numbers, and set of preferred features. Vendors offer their own plans and pricing, and you should take the time to assess your needs and find a solution that makes the most sense for your business.
Better yet, go for RingCentral RingEX or Contact Center and get complete omnichannel contact center capabilities that empower your customer service operations—and at rates that won’t break the bank, either.
Customer service contact centers provide a wide variety of communication channels for customers, who can choose the most convenient one for them. In an omnichannel center, the channels are seamlessly connected so agents and customers can switch between them without losing the details of previous interactions.
Technology such as smart routing and self-service help to reduce wait times and get customer queries resolved faster. AI tools enable agents to find the right answers and personalize conversations, making customers feel valued.
Important contact center metrics relate to both operational efficiency and customer happiness. If the average time to answer (ATA) and average handle time (AHT) are low, and the first-contact resolution (FCR) rate is high, your agents clearly have the right skills and tools.
High customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are a sign of good customer experiences, alongside low customer effort scores (CES). High customer retention rate (CRR) and low customer churn rate (CCR) are also measures of success.
An AI contact center is one that’s powered by artificial intelligence, as many modern contact centers are. This might include conversational AI, an advanced form of chatbot that uses machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect context and sentiment and deliver more human-like responses.
Other AI tools include Agent Assist (where on-screen pop-ups give agents instant answers and recommendations), automatic transcripts and summaries of calls and meetings, and writing tools to help agents create the right tone in customer messaging.
Imagine that a customer has a problem with a software product. They go to the company’s website and start a conversation with a chatbot. The bot gathers the details of the problem, and recognizes that the customer needs to speak with a human agent. An agent joins the chat, having pulled the purchase history from the company CRM and the product specification via Agent Assist.
The agent knows they can explain the solution better through a video call, so they switch to video without losing the thread. They use screen share to demonstrate what the customer needs to do. Problem solved—in a single interaction.
Customers often get in touch with businesses to ask questions or solve problems. Very small companies may only need a couple of customer support agents—but as you grow, a contact center solution means you can dedicate resources to handling inquiries and outreach.
As well as keeping customers happy, a contact center helps you collect and use relevant data to improve efficiency and CX.
Yes—if you pick the right solution. Many contact center solutions companies offer integrations with popular apps, or let you build custom workflows through an API. It’s essential that you can integrate the tools you use every day, especially your CRM.
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