Call Center Software

The one factor that all businesses have in common is a continual need to improve customer service, since that’s what leads ultimately to long-term business success. There are certainly ways to make short-term gains, but without a focus on service, those immediate wins could all be for naught.

 

Naturally, quality customer care takes on even greater significance during peak periods, when the challenge is greater, but so are the potential returns. So, for a company like CUI Heat, a Simpsonville, South Carolina-based wholesale distributor of heating and outdoor cooking products, no time is more crucial than the winter. Anyone who has ever had problems with their heating systems, especially during colder months, knows well how crucial it is for their service companies and retail shops to be able to react quickly and effectively to their needs.

 

The same holds for the distributors that provide the supplies, which is why, more than six years ago, CUI Heat took a hard look at its communications technology. Though it is a relatively small operation, is operates in a highly competitive space, and was driven to upgrade its customer service capabilities, for which it ultimately choose Zeacom Communication Center (ZCC). 

 

ZCC is a complete Unified Communications (News - Alert) solution, providing an integrated communications solution for CUI’s entire business, not only its direct customer service force.

 

When it was looking to upgrade its capabilities, CUI first looked to enhance its call routing capabilities for its Avaya (News - Alert) IP Office solution through Zeacom’s call center software. Having seen its effectiveness, CUI then added Zeacom’s (News - Alert) messaging capabilities as well, upgrading to the full Version 4 of ZCC in April of last year.

 

The goal, according to CUI’s IT Director Roxanne Williams, was to build better customer service by enabling CUI’s customer service reps to become more familiar with their clients, because familiarity naturally breeds confidence and builds a bond between the vendor and the customer.

 

Among the many key features that have helped CUI become a more proactive service organization is ZCC’s ability to log and track incoming Caller IDs, so that customers can be routed to the same CSR (News - Alert) each time, which not only creates a more efficient process, but builds distinct relationships between CSRs and their customers.

 

Of course, reps aren’t always available. In such cases, ZCC also provides information for other reps on who customers have spoken to in the past and what the purpose of the calls was, and their outcomes. Williams notes that, quite frequently, customers call with no recollection of which rep they previously dealt with, and having the ability to retrieve that information enhances the ability of other reps to cater to the customer’s needs.

 

Specifically, Williams notes that the chat capability within ZCC comes in handy in such situations, where one rep might need to confer with another who is on a call. Instead of having to put the customer on hold for an extended period or having to call them back, the rep is able to quickly get questions answered through the IM feature.

 

“We find the need to do that all the time,” said Williams. “People call all the time and don’t know who they’ve talked to; it’s a very handy feature.”

 

She admits that some people are still becoming accustomed to the chat feature, but the proliferation of IM overall is helping overcome that, along with training CSRs to look for incoming messages.

 

Given the often urgent nature of incoming calls, especially during peak periods, CUI also makes use of a queue call holding indicator when all reps are busy. Instead of directing callers to voice mail, CSRs see a bright red flashing light on their monitors, which directs them to either wrap up a current call quickly, or put that call on hold to answer the call on hold to get the customer’s information to call them back quickly. Williams says this feature has significantly decreased their missed call rates, and allows CUI to maintain live answer rates of 97-98 percent.

 

“We pride ourselves on a very high live answer rate,” noted Williams. “During our peak time especially, we really want to make sure we get to our customers live and that they don’t get an auto-attendant — that’s how we really measure our success.”

 

She added that this is the most useful feature ZCC has provided in terms of driving customer satisfaction, though for other users, she also says the Executive Insight capabilities provide a link to the communications systems via MS Outlook for users that aren’t typically in the call queue (e.g., management and other non-CSRs). Executive Insight provides all the telephony capabilities through an Outlook toolbar, including the ability to integrate voice mail and fax messaging.

 

Though Williams has only been with CUI Heat for less than two years and wasn’t around for the initial install and training, she says she had no difficulties coming up to speed. When she did have questions, she noted that Zeacom not only offers an efficient Help system, which lists all details about a specific feature, but if she needs additional assistance, the Zeacom support team is on call and ready to assist at any time.

 

She also notes that the upgrade in April was smooth. Because that upgrade also included adding new capabilities to CUI’s license, Zeacom had a rep on the phone to walk CUI through the remote upgrade. Now, says Williams, CUI is looking to upgrade to Version 5.0, which she says is going to be an even easier upgrade, requiring only an installation CD. She also notes that Zeacom’s training Webinars provide a highly effective learning facility for new users or when new features are rolled out.

 

In fact, there are several capabilities Zeacom offers that CUI Heat has only started to look at, including the mobility features, and a discussion of perhaps adding call recording capabilities at some point, which Williams says could certainly be a benefit, though she also says the company isn’t quite ready to move forward with that yet.

 

Still, the mere discussion of those additional capabilities, and CUI’s plans to upgrade to the latest version, is a testament to the benefits it has achieved with Zeacom Communications Center. The combination of features and support Zeacom provides has resulted in a successful deployment, leading to a significant increase in the efficiency of CUI’s customer service reps. That’s all any business can hope for — a system that affords it the ability to service its customers the fullest.