Diallers
Diallers: make them work for you…and stay within the rules
If
you’re choosing a dialler, there is advice here from the experts. And if you
already use a dialler, you face challenges – not least from Ofcom. Again, there
are tips here that you can use
What’s next for diallers
WHILE the first generation predictive diallers simply ran down call lists and
contacted customers in the order their names appeared, the latest dialler
software allows companies to reach out to their customers at times that are most
convenient for them.
Campaign management software uses intelligent dialler management capabilities to
learn from previous calling experiences, for example, "We tried customer X's
landline on Tuesday, eventually reaching them on their mobile on Thursday...".
Its sophisticated algorithms predict the best number to call and the best hour
of day to reach the person at that number in the future.
The software can also create calling strategies optimised according to campaign
objectives and prioritised by any criteria specified. Optimised accounts can be
fed into the predictive dialler for execution, with records being dynamically
adjusted as agents log in. The result: reduced call attempts, increased “right
party connect” rates and improved campaign effectiveness.
When integrated with workforce management and contact centre analytics
applications, campaign management software can be even more powerful. It
enables managers to more effectively schedule and manage the right agents, at
the right times, with the highest productivity work, to yield the best return on
investments in people and technology.
As dialler technology becomes increasingly integrated with other systems, call
centres are also starting to use diallers to support inbound customer service.
Say you call your favourite retailer to place an order and ask an agent a
question that he can't immediately answer. He promises to find the answer and
call you back. Rather than placing a reminder sticky note on his computer, the
agent can now schedule a callback using a predictive dialler.
The dialler will automatically initiate the return call from that same agent at
the time you specified and at the phone number you provided. You are
guaranteed to get your call back and, when you do, your opinion of this retailer
will most likely increase. Some call centres are also using predictive
diallers to call their customers back when hold times are too long.
Other call centres are using diallers for proactive customer care.
Take, for example, a large mobile phone company that regularly contacts its new
customers to make sure they understand the features of their phones and, in the
same call, asks them if they have questions about their service. These
proactive outbound calls are geared to improving customer satisfaction and
retention.
We are also beginning to see the integration of predictive diallers and
text-to-speech as companies use their diallers to call customers and then pass
those calls to speech self-service applications. Customers speak their
responses directly into their phones and the automated systems respond
appropriately, engaging customers in "conversations."
For example, if you're 30 days late on a payment, a collections agency may call
you and -- if you are able to pay -- the agent will connect you to a
self-service application that asks for the last four digits of your customer
number or personal identification. You speak the digits into your phone. The
system will then ask you to submit payment and provide the option to speak with
an agent.
Looking ahead, call centre managers need to remain vigilant to the views and
satisfaction levels of customers with outbound calls. Not just to remain
competitive but also because Ofcom plans to continue to carefully monitor
consumer complaints about dialler usage.
If you don't listen to your customers, they will.
By Isabel Montesdeoca, senior director of marketing, Europe and Africa, Aspect
Software
My cure for silent calls
AT THE start of April this year, Ofcom once again pledged that it is going to
tighten regulations on silent calls. Outbound calls are a key part of the sales
and marketing strategies of thousands of businesses, so stricter rules are set
to have a huge impact on call centres.
Effective business processes, with the right technology to back them up, will
ensure you comply with new, as well as existing, regulations…while adding
significant value to your outbound operations.
Silent calls are mostly unintentional, but the problem can become
epidemic. Ofcom figures show that at its worst BT was reporting about 80,000
silent call complaints in a single month. The total is difficult to identify
since many go undetected or, at least, unreported.
The cause,
in almost every case, is mismanagement. When the number of calls made by the
dialler outnumbers the number of available agents, the person who answers it
will simply be met with silence. Call centres that make vast amounts of
outbound calls can produce hundreds of silent calls during a working day,
especially when staffing is low.
Public pressure,
as well as political support from figures such as Liberal Democrat MP John
Hemming, has forced Ofcom to tighten its regulations -- a process that doesn't
appear to be slowing down any time soon! In March last year, Ofcom published a
new policy for what it considers to be a persistent misuse of electronic
communications networks that causes unnecessary annoyance, inconvenience or
anxiety to another person.
Rethink your telemarketing
In January, Ofcom, for the first time, fined four companies between
£32,500-£45,000 for persistently breaking several of its regulations – and it
has pledged to introduce even tighter rules over the next 12 months.
Silent calls are often part of a bigger issue. If your company is producing a
lot, it is usually a sign that you are simply making too many for the resources
available. Many assume that the answer is simply to install the latest dialler
-- but this, in the short term, will only paper over the cracks.
To achieve optimum results – while eliminating the risk of prosecution – you
need to rethink the processes behind your telemarketing strategy. If
implemented correctly, redesigning your outbound calls strategy can be used as a
trigger to enhance and focus your entire telemarketing operation.
Better targeted calls increase conversion rates, staff productivity and
customer satisfaction. Drop the mentality that says, “Get the maximum number of
calls out of our agents”. Targeting a smaller number of carefully selected
customers will minimise silent calls while at the same time allowing your agents
deliver more specific -- and consequently more powerful -- marketing messages.
Although you are attempting to contact fewer people, conversions will increase
considerably.
The travel industry has made a success of this approach. Most calls made by
large travel agencies are targeted at a very specific demographic of people that
they know will be interested in their products and services. By using customer
segmentation, for example, it is possible to divide your customers into areas
such as age, employment or purchase history. This approach ensures that almost
every call made will at least provoke some level of interest from the customer
and conversions will be high as a direct result.
It is not only conversion rates that will benefit from a rethink of your
outbound telemarketing -- your agents' job satisfaction will certainly also
increase.
Remember: an agent taking the time to engage in a well-prepared conversation
with 10 suitable customers during a working day is likely to be more worthwhile
than cold-calling 500 random names with an overused script. The benefits of
adopting a better-targeted outbound strategy will be felt throughout your
organisation. Your workforce will be happier, productivity will be boosted
significantly and, crucially, customer satisfaction will increase.
By Simon Gresswell, Director of Professional Services, ProtoCall One
Diallers: hosted vs. on-premises
DIALLERS are now moving steadily towards the hosted model, as call centres look
to cut costs and make best use of their existing resources. Call centres have
to perform more varied and complex tasks, as simple business processes are
increasingly being moved offshore. For most, then, traditional on-premises
diallers are no longer a viable option.
This is because on-premises equipment tends to be designed for the biggest call
centres, is extremely expensive to deploy and is likely to mean significant
maintenance costs and experienced staff. The many thousands of small- to
medium-sized call centres cannot justify this type of spending.
What's more, many traditional diallers have limited capacity, lack resilience
and suffer from poor answering machine detection rates -- they simply aren't
functional enough to meet 21st Century call centre demands.
In contrast, newer hosted technologies are for the first time allowing this size
of organisation to gain access to dialler functionality, as well as benefiting
from many other customisable features. It's equally likely to give larger call
centres pause for thought, as the technology is available at only a fraction of
the cost of on-premises equipment, with more flexible pricing options including
pay per use. It also offers lower maintenance costs, greatly improved answering
machine detection rates and on-demand capacity for peak periods.
Unlike with on-premises equipment, call centres won't be tying their technology
to a specific location, enabling them to adapt more easily to future business
changes, while web-based hosted solutions often offer far greater ease-of-use
and remove the need for dedicated, trained personnel to operate them.
Forever facing the threat of offshoring, many call centres can harness the
benefits of hosted dialler technology in order to improve productivity and
maximise revenues, while large organisations may now think twice about
on-premises technology, and opt for a more flexible solution instead.
By Mark Oppermann, business development director, VoiceSage
We need to thank Ofcom
BETTER business processes breathe new life into outbound campaigns with a new
generation of dialler technology that is definitely slicker, quicker and fitter
than the clunking beasts of the past.
The old adage, “it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow somebody some good”, was
never truer and on this occasion the industry really does need to say thank you
to Ofcom for forcing though consumer oriented changes. These changes have
necessitated a redesign of dialler software that has in turn produced better
business packages, which give higher productivity for the call centre.
So, all in all, not a bad result!
In summary, the problem that Ofcom tackled was abandonment rates, stating that
these should be reduced from five per cent to three per cent. Also, in the
event that there is no agent available to take the call, a message must be
played within two seconds providing details of the caller and reason for the
call. And, finally, that no repeat calls should occur to an abandoned number
within a 72-hour period unless an agent is available.
Initially, this does not sound like a welcoming situation for call centres
because many have invested a significant amount of time and money in equipment
over the years. To find they now have redundant, non-compliant infrastructure
is a rude awakening. In addition, the £50,000 fine for abusing the new ruling
really is the final ignominy.
So what should you do?
Well, a blessing in the guise of a hosted dialler application may well be the
next step forward. Why? Because you get immediate access to a compliant and
secure set of the latest business tools with zero capital expenditure.
If you then consider the alternative of purchasing new equipment – and the board
will insist on a business plan with specific pay-back goals -- all of a sudden
the pay-by-usage model of “operating expenditure” becomes instantly viable.
If you have never before considered a hosted programme before, the headline
points follow.
The software application is hosted in the network and provided to you for a
monthly fee which comprises the number of agent positions you have connected and
the transaction telecom charges; in essence it is a usage-based pay-as-you-go
model.
For smaller call centres it gives access to the type of specialist technology
that is normally only available to the larger call centres with sophisticated
infrastructure, putting you on a level playing field. For large call centres it
offers tremendous flexibility to scale both up and down depending upon demand
with the cost directly proportional to the usage. |
You can ramp up the
amount of calls made at the flick of a switch |
The latest generation of hosted diallers are secure and resilient making the
technology very appealing to a wider range of businesses; even major high street
banks are signing up to the hosted dialling model.
What do you get with a hosted dialler that you don’t with a Customer Premises
Equipment (CPE) dialler? To start with, centralised management functionality for
distributed and remote working and, if that’s not enough, your investment is
future-proof in the sense that you don’t have to worry about opting for either a
TDM or IP solution at the point of making the decision as the in-network
solution can support both.
Scalability is no longer a problem, if you have just won an additional contract
or need to start a new short-term campaign the hosted option ensures you can
ramp up the amount of calls made at the flick of a switch.
A recent Frost and Sullivan white paper stated that “the hosted contact centre
market is moving out of the early adopter stage with immense future growth
potential”, and the take up of hosted applications such as diallers is on the
increase. This certainly seems to be supported by the latest industry jargon
Software as a Service (SaaS as it will be more commonly known), the concept of
which promotes the availability of consistently up-to-date business tools.
The bottom line for any organisation regardless of size is that the technology
that it employs must deliver the efficiencies it needs to remain competitive.
All indications are that the current emphasis to supplying software services via
the network seems to be following this route -- and that is no bad thing!
By Gareth Owen, head of service delivery, OPEX Hosting, a sister company of
Business Systems
7,000 daily calls says predictive is best
Freedom Finance has two call centres: one at its headquarters in Wilmslow and
the other in Norwich. Altogether, around 100 people are employed across the two
centres, which are open seven days a week. They deal with inbound sales and
service calls and outbound warm sales calls. Freedom has recently developed
new technology to link the two contact centres, which has enabled it to maximise
resource utilisation across the two sites. The company uses predictive diallers
and on-premises technology.
Established in 1983, Freedom Finance employs more than 600 people across the
group. It offers secured and unsecured loans and mortgages to consumers. Its
other UK businesses are Mortgage Next Network and Mortgage Next Partners, which
together form one of the largest mortgage distribution groups in the UK and is
expected to complete £4 billion in mortgages in this financial year.
OUR
call centres make 7,000 outbound calls every day, and we have found that when
used properly, predictive diallers provide the best solution for our
requirements.
Predictive diallers have a bad press but, provided the abandon rate is set low
enough to avoid overly aggressive dialling, they needn’t be an annoyance to
customers, and they are considerably more efficient than preview, which is
really no better than a manual dialler.
Progressive dialling doesn’t give us the full benefits of using a dialler, and
doesn’t generate anywhere near as much business or as many opportunities.
Predictive allows us to make better use of our staff so that they are working at
the optimum level to generate the greatest number of leads.
We have found that hosting our dialling capabilities on-premises best suits us,
as it means that the technology is tailored more precisely to our needs and can
be altered more easily according to our requirements. It also allows us to sort
out any issues in-house without having to go through a third party, which gives
us more control and tends to get everything dealt with more quickly and
efficiently.
By Steve Green, call centre operations manager, Freedom Finance
Six tips to aid your choice
WITH the emphasis on delivering exceptional customer care and end-user
experience, call centre managers face two main choices in selecting a predictive
dialler.
The traditional model is where the dialler is on-site and requires significant
hardware, software, installation and implementation costs with on-going costs
for maintenance, upgrades and IT staff.
The
alternatives are network and hosted models, applications delivered as a service
through the internet and leased to call centres for a fixed or usage based fee,
often as “pay-as-you-talk”.
These
are provided by a mixture of the more traditional providers -- eager to meet all
tastes -- and dedicated companies.
The target audience and market share these providers have secured have been
growing rapidly, fuelled in part by their effectiveness. However, there remains
some uncertainty about the potential advantages and the differences between
them. The terms “network” and “hosted” are often used interchangeably.
However, although they share many similarities, they are essentially different.
Network-based products mean agents can be located anywhere, including multiple
sites and home working. They access the dialler via the internet and standard
telephony networks.
Hosted products have the dialler equipment at a site external to the call centre
and access is generally by fixed links installed specifically for the purpose,
or via existing WANs.
In both cases a number of call centres share server capacity in a secure
partitioned environment.
It is worth remembering that call centres do not have to be limited to one
option; often CPE solutions and network/hosted models work side-by-side as a
business develops and grows.
The value proposition of different solutions, centres on
- The
financial implications: the high initial CapEx cost and on-going costs of CPE
vs. network based/ hosted options where a low, or zero, initial CapEx and a
pay-as-you-go structure which can be financed through operational expenditure
(OpEx).
- True
network solutions can be easily integrated and live in days since it is a
service delivered via the internet. The time line for traditional CPE will
vary depending on whether the existing system is being updated or it is a new
call centre set-up.
- Ability
to deliver exceptional client and end-user experience through having access to
the latest technology and the opportunity to try out and add-on different
functionality and new features quickly and easily at minimal cost and risk.
-
Operational flexibility and control with the ability to scale inbound and
outbound campaigns as needed, and to extensively monitor and manage
performance and productivity. Network and hosted solutions manage call
fluctuations within the network and offer the ability for true call blending
and offer real-time, remote monitoring of agents' performance.
-
Hosted/network-based products offer security and peace of mind with in-built
disaster recovery, assured business continuance, regulatory compliance and
security of customer data.
- Support
from dialler and IT experts. Look for the provider who will give the support
and advice you require; try phoning the support line before you decide.
By Darren
Sullivan, general manager, Ultra Communications
Time for a new look
THE goal of every predictive dialler is to increase agent productivity and their
value for call centres making high volumes of calls cannot be disputed. An
unfortunate consequence of many of these diallers has been an increase in silent
calls.
Both users and vendors have a responsibility to optimise and limit silent call
rates in compliance with industry regulations if they want to continue to reap
the benefits of these systems.
The trade off The dilemma is, however, that those companies who admirably
place compliance as a top goal, often suffer reduced agent productivity.
Meanwhile, those that place it low on the priority list face stiff penalties.
This issue is exacerbated with low numbers of agent seats, where diallers
calculate non-realistic average values of a relatively low number of calls.
These call centres will face high agent idle times, call durations and wrap-up
times, resulting in agent utilisation being reported at up to 50 per cent lower
than it could be.
Now, when you consider that staff represents an average of 75 per cent of a call
centre’s operating costs, the loss is significant.
Most predictive diallers work on algorithms that extrapolate probable agent
availabilities based on historic call data from the telephone system. The
problem with this approach is that they cannot use real-time data to see whether
an agent is indeed available to handle a call. Moreover, these diallers will
typically not consider wrap up time. Therefore agents will often receive calls
while they are still on a call -- resulting in a silent call -- or they are
interrupted whilst they are still busy with their last call or their wrap up.
The answer is to change the perception of how a dialler works.
What to look for Rather than using algorithms, there is a new generation
of dialler that does away with the statistical guesswork and bases its dialling
decisions on the facts. It is able to integrate with the database and the
agents’ interface to understand how far they have progressed, pinpointing when
they will become available for the next call.
An example comes from Acxiom's customer management services company, 2Touch.
It was
managing an average of 250,000 outbound calls per week, using 250 agents across
136 seats. When it began using this new type (my company’s Synthesys Script
Aware predictive dialler) it reported a reduction in agent idle time from an
average of 50 seconds to five seconds and increased the number of calls made to
300,000.
It has resulted in at least a 20 per cent increase in productivity -- saving
£450,000 per year-- with return on investment in under two months. All of this
was achieved whilst reducing silent call rates.
This new approach can also complement call recycling. This means that
unanswered or failed calls are automatically managed according to the call
centre's own predetermined business rules, such as how often to call an address,
when to change to other contact channels, or whether to put them on do-not-call
lists.
It is time to revisit the long-held view that predictive dialling is a trade off
between silent calling rates and agent productivity. By making the right
choice of dialler and instilling best practice it is possible to make
significant improvements in both areas.
By Danny Singer, managing director, Noetica