Abandonment rate
The number of abandoned inbound calls divided by the total number of inbound calls is known as the abandonment rate, an important KPI for any call center. Abandoned calls are a type of missed call, in which the caller hangs up before an agent can answer. This usually happens in a call queue or when calling outside of business hours.
ACD
(ACD) directs inbound calls to the correct department or agent. ACD combines call queuing and call routing to organise incoming calls in the most efficient way possible, based on specifications made by the company. ACD can prioritise certain agents, minimise wait time, and more.
ACW call center
An after-call work (ACW) call center refers to software that helps streamline the admin tasks awaiting a call center agent once a customer phone call has been completed (the process known as after-call work or ACW). Aircall’s single control interface along with other optimisations makes ACW much easier
After-call work
The admin tasks awaiting an agent once a customer phone call has been completed is known as after-call work. These tasks usually include note-taking, tagging, sending a follow-up email, or assigning the customer to a better-suited colleague. A single control interface with advanced integrations such as Aircall makes after-call work much easier
Auto attendant
, also referred to as a virtual receptionist, is software that automatically sorts and routes inbound calls to the right department or agent, based on specifications made by the company. It works in tandem with IVR, an automated menu that callers can interact with via their device keypad or through voice commands.
Automated call distributor
An automated call distributor (ACD) system, otherwise known as a call routing system, directs inbound calls to the right agents based on customer needs and agent availability or skills. It’s a handy piece of software that turns a flood of calls into a manageable call queue, based on configurations of your own choosing.
Automated customer service
Customer support that’s automated to some degree removes the potential for redundancy, wasted effort, and human error as well as lowering customer wait and response times. Examples of automated customer service include scripted responses, IVR menus, automatic ticket creation, follow-up email templates, and more. Read our tips on how to implement and optimise
Automatic call distribution
Automatic call distribution (ACD) directs inbound calls to the correct department or agent. ACD combines call queuing and call routing to organize incoming calls in the most efficient way possible, based on specifications made by the company. You can prioritise certain agents, minimise wait time, and more.
Blocklisted numbers
are an agent-controlled list of spam or otherwise unwanted numbers that are permanently blocked from calling your company. This keeps your phone lines clear for only the most important conversations. Admins can add or delete blocklisted numbers at any time directly from the ICaaS dashboard.
Business call recording
is valuable to any business handling customers over the phone, not only to store customer history but also to spot quality issues, track KPIs and monitor employees or teams. With Aircall, internet-enabled VoIP audio recording is activated automatically whenever an agent picks up the phone, and recordings are stored in the cloud to be accessed at any time.
Call center
generally receives or makes a large volume of phone calls through a highly specialised telephone channel. Unlike contact centers, they don’t focus operations through other communication channels. Virtual call centers, operating through VoIP, optimise the phone channel by providing integrated services such as IVR, call routing, and more.
Call center analytics
are crucial for tracking KPIs in a busy call center. Typical metrics measured include missed call rate, outbound call volume, call length, etc. Software like Aircall breaks down detailed call data into an easy analytical overview. Together with custom filters, this makes spotting issues and monitoring individual agents, or teams, simple.
Call center app
A call center app allows a company to manage all their business phone calls and call center tasks entirely on mobile devices like laptops and smartphones through a downloadable app using only a VoIP internet connection. This makes traditional phone hardware and cables obsolete, and allows access from anywhere in the world.
Call center KPIs
There are many call center key performance indicators (KPIs) worth measuring in a call center, such as the volume of calls answered. Performance metrics vary according to the team; often split into support, sales and customer service KPIs. Read this blog post for
Call center monitoring
Call center monitoring involves quantitatively and qualitatively measuring agent performance as well as other call center KPIs, in order to improve customer satisfaction and operations. Virtual business phone systems such as
Call in queue
Placing inbound callers into a call queue improves call center organisation and Aircall makes the experience less stressful for customers. With Aircall, inbound callers are given the option to request a callback if they don’t want to wait. If they choose to wait, personalised hold music and messages make the experience more bearable, and after a customisable amount of time, they’re directed to a personalised voicemail.
Call monitoring
Call monitoring is valuable for training employees as well as discovering customer pain points and other areas for improvement. Real-time call monitoring allows a colleague or manager to listen in and even offer timely advice to an agent (through call whispering) without disrupting the conversation flow.
Call recording
Call recording is a useful way to store customer call history, as well as an important tool in team training and performance monitoring. With our call recording software, both inbound and outbound calls can be recorded and accessed at any time through an integrated CRM.
Call routing
directs inbound calls to the correct department or agent. With ICaaS, call routing is customisable. Incoming calls are organised in the most efficient way possible, based on specifications made by your company, such as prioritising certain agents and cascading down to other agents if the first choice is unavailable.
Call whisper
allows a manager or teammate to advise an agent from behind the scenes during any conversation with a customer, without customers ever being aware of an external presence on the call. Call whispering is useful for closing important deals or navigating tricky customer issues.
CCaaS
Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a software solution enabling cloud-based customer support. CCaaS providers offer companies subscription licenses to allow access to their service via a browser or app. Compared to on-premise call center software, CCaaS offers faster implementation, flexible scaling, and a lower admin burden.
Click-to-dial
Also known as click-to-call, this handy time and error-saving feature highlights all phone numbers appearing on any webpage, email signature, or video to allow agents to simply click those numbers and immediately dial prospects individually or consecutively. Install the ICaaS
Contact center
is similar to a call center, but offers more possible communication channels with a central point of control to achieve omnichannel customer support. In a contact center, customer service can be offered through VoIP or traditional phone systems, SMS, email, or through live chat directly on a company’s website.
CRM phone Integration
A CRM phone Integration syncs the contacts from your Customer Relationship Management database with your virtual call center or business phone system. It eliminates the need to switch back and forth between platforms or tabs, avoiding data entry errors and saving time. A good CRM integration updates customer history automatically and immediately during call center operations.
Dialer
A dialer can be classed as auto, predictive or progressive. Dialer software increases the productivity of call center agents by getting a customer on the line as quickly as possible. This is either by automating many simultaneous, or in the case of preview and power dialers (both a subset of progressive dialers), sequential outbound calls.
Interactive Voice Response
(IVR) refers to the automated telephony menu that callers can interact with via their device keypad or through voice commands. The initial Interactive Voice Response audio introduction is either pre-recorded or generated with the purpose to assist, direct, or route calls automatically without a live operator.
Missed call
refers to any inbound call where the connection is interrupted, busy, or dropped before an agent can get on the line. These calls are categorised as abandoned or missed, which is decided through specific factors. Solutions like call forwarding, IVR and voicemail are vital in reducing missed calls.
Outbound call
Outgoing calls by agents to customers or prospects are known as outbound calls. The success of these calls depends on an effective outbound strategy as well as charismatic agents. A solid strategy clearly defines objectives and KPIs, prioritises qualified leads, and incorporates optimised call scripts.
PBX phone system
(PBX) phone system is a wired business telephony network with a physical PBX server hosted on the company’s premises—also known as a traditional office landline. Calls travel via an automated telephone exchange to connect to other local lines and exchanges as part of the PSTN.
Porting phone number
If you want to hold onto your existing phone numbers from a previous carrier, Aircall can help you port over your number(s) to yourDTT account, in just a few steps. The process takes 10-40 days, and we make sure there is no or minimal service downtime during the switch.
Power Dialer
A power dialer is an advanced type of progressive sales dialer software. Dialing is always sequential from a predetermined number list, but all other dialing actions (skipping numbers in the queue, pausing calls, etc) are controlled by the agent, so a power dialer is used for efficiency rather than automation.
Predictive dialer
software. It’s a smarter version of an automatic dialer, dialling multiple numbers according to an algorithm and referring any answered calls to human agents. To maximise efficiency, a predictive dialer attempts to estimate exactly what percentage of calls will actually connect. Aircall’s solution is a power dialer, which is better suited for sales teams that value personalisation.
Queue's
A queue improves call center organisation and makes the experience more pleasant for customers. With ICaaS, inbound callers are given the option to request a callback if they don’t want to wait. This both increases customer satisfaction and reduces call abandonment rates as queue time is reduced for those customers that choose to keep waiting on the line. A true win-win feature!
Quality assurance
It’s essential to monitor agent performance to be able to drive improvements within a call center through quality assurance. Using call center software with integrated data analytics can help greatly with assessing overall, team and individual productivity and performance. Additionally, our software provides a useful live call monitoring feature.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) refers to the transmission of voice traffic over an internet connection, rather than through physical phone lines. It’s a faster, cheaper and more scalable way of making phone calls, and has transformed the way the world does business — for example, by facilitating remote work.
VoIP call quality
VoIP call quality refers to the clarity of an internet-based phone call made over VoIP. Issues that frequently arise include echoing, distortion and more. Call quality can be impaired by several factors including audio latency, jitter or packet loss, and are often related.
VoIP security
As with any online technology, protecting VoIP data requires secure cloud data centers, end-to-end encryption, and measures against cyber attacks and data theft. Make sure you read up on the risks necessitating VoIP security, and check your VoIP provider’s security protocols when you install a business phone system.
VoIP troubleshooting
A VoIP phone system; the modern, fast, cheap, and efficient way to make business calls, is not without its issues. Since the whole system runs over the internet, a stable connection is paramount.