A good phone automation system will save you time, money and increase productivity and profits. You know how many calls a day, or even an hour your business gets. You know the average time it takes for someone to answer the phone, leave detailed notes, resolve the concern, and move on to the next one. If that process could be made faster you would be able to speak to more customers and make more sales.
Implementing a phone automation system means that customers are transferred to the right person faster, and calls resolved quicker so that your business has more happy customers and a lot fewer complaints. Your phone automation system might include an Interactive Voice Response (IVR Process) so that customers can press option 1 to speak to the most popular department and option 6 to speak to a department that gets fewer calls. Your phone automation system could also include other amazing features like call forwarding, call divert, out of hour messages, a recorded FAQ section, and a direct line to the dedicated account manager for the bigger clients that you work with. There is so much that a phone automation system can do for your business that it is both useful and valuable to take time to review the various phone systems available for you.
A well programmed phone automation system can also act as a marketing tool for you and your business. Whilst a customer is on hold, they are listening to pre-recorded messages that could include details of new products, upsell options, money off products or exciting things that are coming soon.
Affordable and Beneficial
You might be concerned that a good phone automation system is very expensive, or that features that you want are not included in the basic package and you must pay extra for them. There are many phone automation systems available for very reasonable prices that are feature rich and have no, or very few additional extras. When you realise the value that a good phone automation system can add to your business you can then add more users, look at the extended features and invest more time and money into the phone automation system. But you can start on a small budget and grow the money spent over time, especially after realizing the value that your new phone automation system adds to your business.
There are quantifiable benefits, such as the time taken on calls, or the number of calls made and received increasing. The amount of customers getting through to your staff will increase, the time your staff spends on the phone will decrease and your staff will earn more money, especially if they are in sales and earning a commission. Having happy staff is a great reason to invest in a phone automation system.
There are unquantifiable benefits of automation that you might just hear about, such as customer satisfaction improving, employee satisfaction increasing and a general feeling of less stress on the shop floor. When you implement your new phone automation system you need to view the reports and the KPIs to make sure that you are seeing the benefits, and you must listen to the staff using the system, to ensure that everyone is trained on it and knows all the features. You should also listen to the customers, especially when they say how pleased they are to speak to an agent through your phone automation system.
If a customer is on hold for too long, or confused about the IVR process of your phone automation system then listening to feedback will make your phone even better.
What is a phone automation system?
This is a phone feature that automates the process of making and receiving calls. It is common in most VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems, but it is also available on PBX, mobile and landline solutions. A good phone automation system will ensure that customers are speaking quickly to the right person, in the right team, about the issue that they want to address.
A bad phone automation system will confuse the customer and send phone calls to numbers that are no longer working, or the agent has stayed connected, and put their headset down, so the call gets answered but all you hear is the background noise.
Most phone automation systems automatically connect the caller to the employee best suited for their situation. It means that calls are answered faster, the agent no longer needing to look at the number and click on answer, or pick up the handset!
There are several speed benefits to a phone automation system which we will discuss later. Call centres or businesses receiving and making a large volume of calls must have a phone automation system, the time is saves can be hours each day compared to businesses that do not implement better systems.
Only for Big Businesses?
The concept of a phone automation system can be applied to any business of any size. If the business is small, having a phone automation system makes the business look bigger. The customer might be asked to press Option 1 for customer service, option 2 for sales, option 3 for accounts and option 4 for marketing, but in the business there might only be 2 people on the phone. Automatically your phone automation system makes it look like you have 4 members of staff, and the customer is reassured that the business is credible and bigger than it is.
If your business is small, you might have different people working on different tasks, they do not want to be disturbed by calls and customers, so they can turn off their phone automation system and focus on their work. You might want customers directed to specific people at different times of day, so you can program your phone automation system to make sure that the people you want on the phone, are there when they need to be.
If your business is small and all calls go to one person, that person can be very busy and you might drop or lose calls. When you have implemented your phone automation system, overflow calls get answered, more people are involved in the process and your customer service improves.
Your phone automation system might be voice activated or might be push-button activated, with customers choosing who they want to speak to in which department or job role. They are presented with an option of numbers and people to speak to, and they choose who is best suited for their concern. Your phone automation system is doing the job of your phone receptionist which makes them happier to take fewer calls and only deal with calls that they need to.
Your business might receive more calls at certain times of day, so programming your phone automation system to handle more calls in those hours makes the staff happier and less stressed. Customers are getting handled and concerns resolved. Sales are converted and products upsold to customers wanting a bit more!
If you have a call funnel that is often blocked or congested, implementing a phone automation system will alleviate the pressure and ensure that calls go where they should, when they should! Your call management improves, becomes faster and smoother and customers are dealt with in an organized and timely manner. Your phone automation system has just saved you time and money!
Your phone automation system could be linked to softphones, mobile phones, computers, laptops or tablets. It is so versatile that your staff no longer need to sit behind a desk and can be on their phone anywhere.
Some phone automation system features as standard
There is more to a phone automation system than just making and receiving phone calls. A good phone system can guide customers to sending an email or give them the SMS number. Some phone automation systems are voice enabled so you can check that you are speaking to a real person and verify that voice when speaking to them. Linking your phone automation system to your social media accounts gives customers the options for video conferencing, reading and listening to messages and learning more about your products whilst on hold.
Linking your phone automation system to your unified communications strategy improves the overall customer journey, making is faster and easier for your valued customers to reach you and your well-trained staff. Using conXhub for your phone automation system puts all communication in the palm of your hand, through your mobile device, so you are spending a lot less on hardware and desktop phones, or headsets linked to computers.
Having a busy customer support team can mean they get stressed and tired quickly. They might need a break between calls, so your phone automation system transfers calls to active agents and bypasses agents that need a break. This is all monitored, so people cannot be on break for their full shift, but people need a rest sometimes!
Your office might be closed for an outbreak of sickness, or a burst water pipe, so your phone automation system comes to the rescue again. A good phone automation system transfers calls to people on their mobile phone that might be working from home, or from a temporary office. Your phone works effortlessly for you, when your desk top solution might be down for maintenance, or your office shut. During the pandemic of 2021 and 2022, a lot of offices closed, many calls were missed and people struggled to set up their home office quickly to take calls and keep working. A good phone automation system would resolve this quickly, allowing people to work from anywhere, even if they are between offices on the road!
conXhub’s phone automation system has a full reporting suite so managers can monitor who is available to take calls, who is taking the most calls and who is the most productive. Calls are recorded and monitored closely, to ensure operations continue to improve. Where there are a high number of calls coming in, your phone automation system takes some of the strain off your staff and keeps your customers happy.
conXhub’s phone automation system is easy to use and simple to download. It is a simple app on your mobile phone, that can handle multiple numbers and hundreds of calls a day. With simple call divert and a customizable IVR, the phone automation system ensures that calls are resolved, reported, controlled and managed quickly.
Logging into the phone automation system monitoring platform gives full accountability to all users and gives easy to read and watch real-time reporting.
Call Diverting and routing.
Any business that receives calls must have a phone automation system that sends those calls to the right person quickly. There is nothing worse than spending minutes on the call listening to it ring, waiting in a queue, then getting through to the wrong person and them needing to put you back on hold and transfer you back to someone else. The amount of time listening to hold music can be frustrating for customers, especially if they are busy too. Your phone automation system should be able to divert to the best person and should tell you who is available to take the call.
Your phone automation system with conXhub is all controlled by the app. There is no longer a need to speak to your IT Technical support team, get them to speak to the phone company and ask for an upgrade or changes to be made. Your phone automation system is controlled by you, on your mobile, through our app.
Changes can be implemented in minutes, not days, through a good phone automation system. If someone is suddenly off sick, or must jump into a meeting, your phone automation system knows that they are not available anymore, and takes them out of the hunt group, or puts them on not available status. Your phone automation system controls your team, making managers available to spend more time training and speaking to their staff.
Logging into the app for your phone automation system means that changes can be made on the go, saved immediately, without dropping a call or losing a customer. No more complaints is one of the many great reasons for implementing a phone automation system for your business.
Call divert is not only for customers. Your phone automation system firstly makes sure that the call goes to the right person. If the customer has additional questions or concerns, and the call must be escalated, using your phone automation system, you can transfer the call to a supervisor to keep the customer satisfied.
Phone automation system Call Queuing Solutions
Waiting in a queue is one of the biggest frustrations for customers, you should be happy to learn that your phone automation system can make it better for both customers and your business.
Knowing where you are in the queue helps to manage expectations and reduces complaints. A customer fees that they are moving through the call list to be answered soon by your intuitive phone automation system.
Giving customers the option to press number 1 and hang up, whilst keeping their place in the queue is a great feature of most phone automation systems. This means that your customer benefits from your phone automation system by going and making a cup of tea, or completing their work, without the need to listen to hold music or hold their phone to their ear. Giving the customers a better queuing experience means that when they get through to your staff, they are much happier, and your staff don’t get pressured by complaints.
Many phone automation systems have recorded messages that customers can listen to whilst queuing. You can use your phone automation system as a marketing tool to customers on hold, or queuing. They are waiting to be spoken to, but also learn about amazing new products or additional services you offer. You could even program your phone automation system to play nice music, or to read out the local news. Whatever message you want to give your customers is available through your phone automation system.
Phone automation system Analytics
Having a phone automation system to produce your reports for you takes a time-consuming task away from your managers. This frees them up for additional coaching, training, or driving your business forwards.
Would you like to know who is on the phone more than others? Your phone automation system can produce this at a click of the button. Giving a list of all users, their call time, their call volume split to in-bound and out-bound calls and types of calls received.
Would it benefit you to know which options in the IVR are pressed more than others? Your phone automation system shows you the call routes of customers. If more customers are pressing option 6, than pressing option 1, then customers are listening to your options for too long, and call times are unnecessarily long.
Knowing who is live and who is on their break through your phone automation system shows you who to transfer a call to and who is taking too many breaks through the day. A simple report, displayed on the screen in the office, or as a quick link through the app shows all staff what is happening and keeps the teamwork going.
If there are departments never receiving a call, why have them on your phone automation system? Removing them makes the customer journey even faster.
If a member of the team is off sick, or leaves your company, logging into your phone automation system, clicking a few buttons and saving your changes speeds up your phone automation system and makes it even more efficient.
If you want to control the customer journey, making sure that the best staff are taking the higher volume of calls, or the customer complaints, no problems, your phone automation system can do this for you. And it is displayed in a simple to read report!
Phone automation system IVR Solutions
Messages like opening times, product guides and how long you are in the queue for are some standard features of your phone automation system. So how can you make your IVR even better?
A nice welcome message, from a famous voice, is a lovely recording added into your IVR through your phone automation system.
If your business is closed for the day, adding a new message telling customers to call back tomorrow can be completed through your phone automation system.
The 10% off sale that you want to push for certain products can be advertised through your phone automation system.
If you are hearing calls about a specific topic, add it into your phone automation system with a specific option, so customers are truly listened to and they know that they are not the only ones experiencing the issue.
Drawing your customers’ attention to a product, service or promotion can be simply implemented through your phone automation system.
It is not just pressing option 1 to speak to a customer support person, your phone automation system is much more versatile than that!
Some more benefits of your phone automation system
Do you ever get cold calls that you don’t want? Adding a feature for receiving cold calls can be simple through your phone automation system. Giving cold callers an option, that takes them to a recorded message giving the company email address or the cold call policy helps to minimize these calls.
Do you receive calls through diallers that do not have a live agent at the other end? Your phone automation system can filter these out for you, how can a system choose the right option to press? Without that interaction from the caller, the call just drops off.
Ensuring that spam calls, auto-bot calls, or dialler calls are filters out by your phone automation system makes your receptionist a lot happier!
Like a river without blockages, your call flow is smoother and faster through your phone automation system. Sending people to voicemail, or routing them to the best agents for their issues makes your in-bound communications smoother and faster.
If your business is small and every minute is valuable, wasting less time on calls will improve productivity and you will have your phone automation system to thank.
Reducing call queuing times is valuable for both you and your customers, your phone automation system will make your staff less stressed.
As much as people like to speak to a human, sometimes it is unnecessary. You might have a question that can be answered by a phone automation system. What time are you open? Your phone answers this question. What is my account information? Banks use phone automation systems to give certain information to people who key in their account information.
When does my policy expire? Your phone automation system can be linked to your CRM solution, the customer can input their policy number and immediately receive answers to simple questions.
Think about the common questions that your team are asked, and where to find it in your CRM solution and ask yourself if your phone automation system can do that job for the team. When you call a technical support person to discuss computer problems, their first question is “Is your computer plugged in?” Your phone automation system can ask this.
If you have a list of verification questions that your agents must verify now, before the call starts, programming these into your phone automation system means that agents are not repeating themselves over and over and….
Phone automation system solutions through conXhub
Using your mobile phone for business and for pleasure results is fewer technical problems. You know your phone, how it works and how it feels in your hand. You can carry it anywhere, taking it with you on breaks, or into meetings, so calls are never missed. Having your phone automation system on your mobile phone means that your business operates faster than companies reliant on desktop solutions.
Using an app to divert calls and program your phone automation system means that with just a few swipes and clicks, changes are implemented and no customers are lost.
Reporting tools in the business suite of features available give managers immediate transparent visibility to their company and their staff. With fewer excel reports necessary, leaders can lead, and not spend time learning excel formulas!
Having different languages or operating in a different country all through your phone automation system with conXhub means that wherever you are in the world, your mobile phone is your business solution to all communications.
