by Interactive Northwest, Inc.
Do you ever find yourself longing for the good old days when you’d call a company and get an overly cheerful switchboard operator who would ask you several questions and then direct your call to an appropriate department where you’d likely have to tell your story all over again? Of course not!
Over time, the business world has evolved and, thankfully, so has communication technology. With each technological advancement comes a plethora of possibilities that simplify communication and shorten the gap between callers and the support they need.
Today’s systems have become so sophisticated that they can gather pertinent information behind the scenes and accurately anticipate where a call should be routed.
Intelligent call routing
So how exactly does this happen? A good intelligent call routing application makes use of call data, information collected directly from the caller, and the corporate database. Armed with this information, the application applies business intelligence based on profiles the organization creates and routes the call to the best possible resource without excessive transfers, complicated menus, or requiring the caller to repeat information. As a result, first call resolution rates increase while providing callers with an enhanced and streamlined experience. Let’s take a look at each of these elements in greater detail.
A wealth of data at your fingertips
Call data. The initial burst of data that an intelligent call routing application is able to capture from an inbound call is the Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) and the Automatic Number Identification (ANI). The DNIS represents the number that has been dialed by the caller. The DNIS enables an organization to establish the first level of differentiation among callers before they even initiate contact. By strategically providing independent numbers based on the organization’s structure (commercial, consumer, domestic, international, sales, support, etc.), at a high-level, callers can be funneled to the right business unit without direct input. The ANI, on the other hand, represents the number that the caller has called from, often the caller’s personal phone number. If this number is on record, it can be used to establish identity and caller history.
Caller input. When necessary, the caller can be asked to provide additional data to verify information or to further identify the caller and the reason for the call. To accomplish this, the call routing application provides a menu of selections for the caller to choose from. Alternatively, for an enhanced caller experience, a speech recognition enabled intelligent call router may ask the caller questions and interpret voice responses. Collecting data from the caller provides the most granular level of information to ensure precision routing.
Corporate database. Once the caller has been identified, the intelligent call routing application is able to access information about the caller from the corporate database. This can include a wealth of data from purchase history, account standing, service agreements and programs, support history, and even personal information that the caller has provided to the organization in the past.
Putting all the pieces together
The real powerhouse behind intelligent call routing is the interpretation of the data collected from these three sources. The administrator creates routing profiles using business intelligence based on the types of data that can be collected. Each profile consists of a series of conditions that, when met, determine where a call is to be routed. For example, if the caller has dialed the support line and has recently purchased a tablet, then the call may be directed to the technical support team for that product family. If the caller has an account that is past due, then the call may be routed to the collections department or to a bill-pay application that can allow them to make a payment. The possibilities are limited only by the amount of information available and the sophistication of the intelligent call routing application.
Accelerated return on investment
Intelligent call routing applications enable an organization to curate inbound calls in a way that elevates the caller experience while improving the operational efficiency of contact center resources. The reduced cost and protection of revenue streams can contribute to an exceptionally fast return on investment.
INI has developed INI LaunchPort™, an easy-to-use, highly configurable intelligent call routing application for contact centers on the award-winning Avaya Aura® Experience Portal platform. Its dependable design includes a web services API that allows for virtually unlimited business intelligence development. With a web-based interface that enables administrators to easily configure multiple caller profiles, INI LaunchPort provides a robust, yet affordable call routing platform that’s just right for most contact centers.
Contact INI to speak with a representative about how INI LaunchPort can streamline your call routing needs.
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