If you can’t pick up calls from customers, you’re likely to frustrate them and negatively impact your customer service. You might have a large number of agents but still find you’re unable to answer all calls effectively, as different customers have such varied queries.
However, what if your company doesn’t miss even a single call and remains available 24/7? Then you can automatically provide a killer customer experience. Some fantastic tools like ACD help you to do that with minimal effort. It not only boosts customer satisfaction but also reduces agents’ workload.
So, let’s check out what ACD is and how it can improve your organization’s performance!
What is ACD?
ACD stands for Automatic Call Distribution. It is a system that receives incoming calls and directs them to a particular agent, team, or IVR depending upon the predefined distribution rules. This system is quite useful for call centers since it helps in:
- Managing a large & overwhelming number of calls
- Instantly responds to high-value callers
- Direct callers to the most suitable agent or team
Furthermore, call center ACD can be integrated via CTI and helps in providing complete information to the caller to the agent.
How does ACD Impact Customer Satisfaction?
This feature has multiple benefits and helps your agents to manage workload effectively. Especially during their off time, ACD takes the call and places customers in a virtual queue. This is a win-win situation for both agents and customers.
Besides, ACD enhances customer satisfaction in the following ways:
- Increase first call resolution rates; hence, customers don’t have to call repeatedly to get their problems solved
- Reduce the call’s waiting time, resulting in less customer frustration
- Caller information is automatically saved, which means that they don’t have to repeat their details and account number, etc
- Direct calls to the most suitable agent or department to provide a more personalized experience to the customers
- Helps in quickly resolving customer’s problems, so they don’t need to spend extra time on the phone
ACD is also helpful for agents since it boosts their productivity and allows them to focus on the other tasks while the system manages calls. Furthermore, agents don’t need to remember the caller’s identity as ACD does this job.
Top 5 Major Benefits of ACD
Software Integration
If you want to get more out of this fantastic tool then integrate it with other technologies, including IVR. This way, it will provide more comprehensive information to the agents allowing them to provide excellent customer service. It also reduces call duration leaving room for an agent to focus on other tasks.
Improved Branding
What’s the key component for improving the branding of any business? Better customer experience, right?
No matter how good your organization is in managing other tasks, you will fail to make your place in the market if it has poor customer service. However, ACD highly increases customer satisfaction resulting in better branding.
Increase First Call Resolution
Another great advantage of automatic call distribution is that it quickly connects the customers with the right agent. So, customer issues are resolved in no time resulting in a better customer experience. It improves your first call resolution score, which will be highly useful for your organization in the long run.
Boost Agent Productivity
Agents get detailed information about the caller’s history and other details at their fingertips. This helps them to solve customers’ problems better and enhance their efficiency.
Overall Cost Reduction
ACD reduces overall cost in multiple ways, like increasing the first call resolution rate and decreasing the transfer of calls along with various departments. It allows your organization to quickly solve customer problems, saving cost per call.
Why do Some Companies fail to Get the Same Benefits as Others?
ACD is a fantastic feature of call center software, but not all companies can get the same value from it. The performance of ACD varies depending upon the “predefined rules.” Some organizations don’t provide clear information about which department or agent will be best for a particular service. This makes it difficult for the system to direct calls quickly since there is a lack of proper information.
Furthermore, if the call is directed to the wrong agent or department (who is not best suited to solve the caller’s issue) it will add to customer frustration. At the same time, those call centers that wisely use ACD can get more value from it.
Automatic call distribution helps companies manage an overwhelming number of calls with greater efficiency. It enhances customer satisfaction, improves agents’ productivity, and reduces overall cost. However, if it is not used appropriately, it will fail to provide the above benefits.
