Virtual Contact Center

The small and mid-sized business (SMB) sector is a large and growing portion of the commercial market. Technology is making it possible for small and medium sized businesses to compete with larger companies for the same clients and the same market share. One of the technology options available to make that possible is that of the virtual call center.

 

While it is true that we as consumers prefer to talk to a live person when we contact a company, the reality is that the way in which the phone is answered plays an important part in how we perceive the company. If it sounds as if the receptionist is answering the phone, the company can’t be that big because surely the receptionist can’t answer every call from the customer base.

 

Likewise, if the call is answered by an automated system that does not have an option to speak with a live person, the impression may be that the company is too large or has too many customers to care about the one customer that is calling and they should therefore take their business elsewhere.

 

Both scenarios show the extreme ends of the spectrum, but the reality for the SMB is that they may have 2 million customers, but only 50 employees. Of those 50 employees, only 5 are assigned to handle specific customer calls. With only 5 people dedicated to handle the call center portion of the business, how much of an upfront investment is the SMB willing to make? Additionally, how much is the company interested in managing a call center platform?

 

Enter the virtual call center. In such a situation, a solution can be tailored to accommodate the specific needs of the SMB and eliminate all of the upfront capital and management costs associated with running an in-house call center. The SMB can instead invest in a solution that offers a simple and robust platform with all necessary redundancies in place. What’s more – virtual call centers can often be switched on in a matter of minutes.

 

In a virtual call center environment, the provider’s server will answer the call with a proprietary voice that welcomes the caller to the company. The caller is then invited to select from a list of prompts. Once a choice is made, the call is routed to the automatic call distribution (ACD) queue to be delivered to the next available agent in the order or the call can be sent to voicemail if the desired agent is busy.

 

Taking advantage of such a solution enables the SMB to give the appearance of a large corporation while also delivering the standard of service that their customers require. Even better, the organization can do all of these things without making the significant capital investment that an in-house call center would require.

 

There are many providers on the market that can offer virtual call center solutions. One such company is EagleACD. Since its introduction in 2004, EagleACD has focused on offering organizations the tools that they need to eliminate barriers and high entry costs when deploying new products and services. Such a strategy speaks directly to the needs of most SMBs and these solutions are worth consideration.

 

 

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.