Although some businesses work on major projects with only a few customers, the majority of suppliers of products and services rely on a large customer base, and virtual call center software could be used to manage the calls from these customers.
Calls to the center are received for many different reasons especially sales; customer service and technical assistance. Most companies want to market a single contact telephone number, often as a free phone, but as the number of calls grow then it becomes difficult for a single receptionist to handle and so a call center software solution can be considered.
Virtual Call Center Software
Call centers have needed extensive telephone technology to manage the number of calls to the business. This has been expensive and generally above the budget of small and medium businesses and so the introduction of a software based virtual call center makes it affordable. The application is called 'virtual' because the software replaces many of the electronic units that would previously have been required.
Calls by Voice Over Internet Protocol
The call center software has become technically possible because of major advances in both speed of the computer systems and the development of quality voice calls over networks. The network language used is the 'Internet Protocol' and the service is called Voice Over Internet Protocol or VoIP.
VoIP can allow you to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone connected to a special adapter.
The Core Virtual Private Branch Exchange ( PBX )
At the center of the call control system is the private exchange. Although the term PBX originally came from when a company would have a private branch exchange facility that connected to the public telephone network, the communications companies still use this name for virtual software based systems.
The main function of this module of the virtual call center is to route calls. Calls can be routed to individuals but also to facilities that help control and manage calls like voice mail or call holding.
Functions of The Call Center Software
The virtual call center can have many functions added at relatively low cost. The system can have advanced facilities such as interactive voice response, ( using voice recognition) as well as standard features like call attendant; call recording; voice mail; and on hold messaging. The majority of call center solutions provide the ability to use a mixture of technology of phones including the convenience of USB head-sets.
Using these facilities the virtual call center software can provide a fully unattended service where callers will be automatically answered with a choice of services. Some choices will allow the caller to select by voice command before routing through to particular services. When a caller wants to talk to an individual who is unavailable then the on hold or automatic voice mail functions will operate.
Management of the call center will be able to turn on the call recording software to monitor calls.
Integrated CRM Software for Sales Force Calls
The more advanced applications can integrate with Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM). This provides a means of automatically logging calls from customers as well as providing the sales force with access to the customer database for outgoing call functions.
For example suppliers of software see: Five9s Virtual Call Center Suite, and the lower end service from NCH Call Center Software, and the higher end modules as part of a full enterprise system from SalesForce Call Center Software.
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Dave Corby - Dave Corby is Director of Engineering Software for a large American inspection company.
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