For us to begin talking about the different features VitalPBX has for Call Center environments, let’s take a look into what Call Centers are and how they usually operate so we all have a clear idea of how we can use these tools to make the most out of our VitalPBX installation.
First, there are mainly two types of Call Centers, Inbound and Outbound.
Inbound Call Centers have key points for their operation, among these are the following.
- ACD or Automatic Call Distribution – This is a system that automatically assigns
incoming calls to available agents. - Receive Calls – Inbound Call Centers will only receive calls. Agents do not place
outgoing calls to customers. Customers will be calling the call center. - Calls are terminal – This means that the reason for the customer calling must be
resolved by the agent or the appropriate party.
In inbound call centers the agents must be able to assess the inquiry the caller or customer has placed. Be it positively or negatively, when a customer calls into the service, the assessment must be finished in a single call. Calls that bounce in an inbound call center are usually seen in a bad view.
Outbound Call Centers, on the other hand, manage these key points.
- Place Calls – Outbound Call Centers will be the ones calling the customers. Usually
through a list of contacts. - Are Initial Calls – Since the customer is not the one initiating the conversation, it is
possible for the assessment to take multiple calls or re-schedule calls for a later date. - Use a Dialer – Instead of an ACD, outbound call centers use a Dialer. This can be a
predictive or a progressive dialer that automatically calls the contact list and assigns
the call to an agent.
Outbound call centers will use either a progressive or predictive dialer system. Progressive dialers are more elegant in our opinion as they will call the customer only when the agent is available. Predictive dialers are better when you have a massive team of agents assuring that an agent is available at any time. In predictive dialers, if an agent is not available it can cause situations where the customer is called and they listen to ambiance noise or music on hold instead of a person, causing more disconnections.
In this guide, we will be looking into VitalPBX’s inbound call center capabilities. For Outbound, we have our Sonata Dialer application, but to learn more about this you can refer to the Sonata Dialer manual.
With this known, let’s dwell more into ACD and how it works, calls are managed with the following key points.
- ACD assigns the incoming calls by incoming order to the first available agent.
- The system will answer the call immediately and, if needed, keep the calls in queue
until they can be answered by an available agent. - The balance of the workforce between agents guarantees that each caller receives a
quick response and professional service.
Here are some general rules of thumb you can consider when developing your Call Center
environment.
- If you have more channels, meaning people calling in, than agents, use a queue.
- If you have more agents than people calling in, use a Ring Group.
- Queues are more efficient than Ring Groups since you can have a call on hold for as
long as you configure it. Queues are unlimited by default in VitalPBX. - In some rare cases, Ring Groups will work better than Queues for some Call Centers.
Especially if you are not expecting that many calls. - Callers can receive information about wait time and position in a queue.
- Queues can have static or dynamic agents, while users in a ring group will always be
part of a ring group. - Multiple Ring Strategies are available.
Regarding Static and Dynamic agents, the difference is straightforward. Static agents a logged in a queue indefinitely, while dynamic agents can log in or out at any moment. Both types of agents can pause within a queue at any moment.
With these concepts clear, you might get a clearer idea of how a Call Center operates. As mentioned previously, VitalPBX has multiple tools that can aid in any of the aspects we went through. We have even more tools that expand on these concepts, and we will go through these in this guide.
