Many organizations have switched to voice over IP (VoIP) telephony simply to save money. It does this particularly well: it cuts out long-distance costs almost entirely, lowering the cost of doing business. Companies implementing VoIP, however, have found a whole host of extra benefits they may not have imagined before. Employees are able to be more mobile, no longer chained to their desks because traditional voice calls couldn’t be forwarded to them. Their VoIP phone systems are more flexible, allowing organizations to configure their phone system to whatever shape best benefits them at the moment.
Call centers, in particular, have reaped the not-so-fringe benefits of VoIP platforms. One of them is the ability to building virtual call centers, or call centers that can make use of home-based or remote agents to help boost coverage, according to a recent blog post by Stella Wilson on NimzTech. Three of the largest areas VoIP can boost call center operations, she writes, are improved quality, better productivity and reduced costs.
The “reduced costs” benefit is why most companies seek VoIP out to begin with. Call centers are seldom overburdened with high technology budgets, so eliminating long-distance charges – formerly a great expense in the contact center – leaves capital to put to better use.
VoIP call centers boost customer satisfaction by reducing or eliminating hold times, allowing customers to have their calls picked up sometimes on the first ring. By allowing contact centers to bring additional resources online as needed, a VoIP phone system can ensure the best possible coverage at all times of the day, even in the case of unexpected call spikes.
In terms of productivity, VoIP calls are more easily routed, ensuring that agents are receiving the calls they are best suited for.
“The time it takes to answer a call or be on a call is reduced due to the functionality of the VoIP system,” writes Wilson. “This prevents customers from being on hold longer than they want to. This creates greater productivity among your workers. Calls can also be recorded, which is a huge advantage for VoIP phone systems for call centers.”
So while most companies with contact centers small, large or somewhere in between are well aware of the cost benefits of switching to a VoIP-based platform, fewer of them are educated about how the technology can actually improve both customer relationships and productivity. And these benefits lead directly toward improving the bottom line.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey