Despite various technological advances and the push for businesses to offer multiple ways for customers to get in touch, phone calls remain king when it comes to the preferred method to contact businesses.
In fact, 65% of potential customers want to reach out to brands by phone. Why exactly?
The desire for a quick answer and the ability to speak to a real person typically rank as the biggest reasons. With so many customers wanting your attention, how do you stay on top of calls?
Enter Automatic Call Distribution.
For mid to large businesses and enterprises across all industries, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD for short) can do wonders. Continue reading to learn how!
Automatic distribution, or ACD, is an intelligent telephone feature that automatically routes—or distributes–incoming calls. This can also be broken down by routing callers to the most suitable agent based on different criteria such as urgency, longest time idle, average handle time, and more. ACDs are suitable for businesses that handle a high volume of incoming calls as they help streamline the process.
An automatic call distribution system goes to work when the system receives a call. From there, 3 separate steps occur, all very quickly, to appropriately distribute the call.
Interactive voice response, or IVR (sometimes referred to as an Auto Attendant), is a system that leads callers through a menu of options to direct their call to the appropriate place through a voice system. The system provides options for callers to choose from to be routed to the right department. For example, the IVR system could say “Press 1 for Sales” or “Press 2 for Customer Service.” Callers can interact with this system either by pressing numbers on the dialpad or even by saying a command, like “speak to an agent.”
In this sense, IVR is a prequel to automatic call distribution. An IVR first collects data from customers based on their needs and who they are trying to reach before releasing the calls to ACD systems, the sequel.
Through IVR, ACD systems have the information they need to appropriately route calls to a specific department, agent, voicemail box, or call queue to best serve callers. ACD systems can verify agent availability or set priority levels based on the urgency of the request. In this sense, these systems act as gatekeepers and manage calls to ensure efficiency.
IVR can also act as a way for clients to “self-serve,” assisting with basic tasks like providing hours of operation or account balances. For more complex requests, IVR can then release calls to the ACD system to provide callers with live support.
IVR and ACD systems are best used as combined forces to ensure customers get resolutions to queries as quickly as possible, while also maximizing efficiency for contact centers.
There are 5 different primary types of automatic call distribution models. Businesses can choose whichever model works best for them based on their overall resources and call volumes.
Calls are distributed to agents based on priority level. Automatic call distribution sets a priority level based on caller ID. For example, high-revenue clients or partners may be ranked higher in terms of priority.
Customers may choose an option from the interactive voice response menu to be routed through automatic call distribution to the most appropriate agent with the knowledge and skills to best handle the request.
Calls are routed in a linear fashion in the same, pre-determined sequence. If one agent doesn’t answer, the call is re-routed to the next agent in the queue, and so on.
ACD calls the agents who are available and have been idle the longest, which the system determines to be the most appropriate.
Agents are assigned to certain ring groups, and calls are routed to the entire ring group to call them simultaneously.
There are several benefits of automatic call distribution when it comes to customer service. Here are our top 3.
With automatic call distribution, businesses will experience better efficiency in directing calls. Instead of speaking to an operator and being directed to yet another agent, customers will have a self-serve call pathway to follow, streamlining the process and making it faster. ACD also ensures customers reach the correct agent, minimizing call transfers and enhancing the customer experience.
By directing calls to the right place, callers will be placed in the appropriate queue and get faster responses rather than waiting on hold for a lengthy period of time. Automatic call distribution can also increase first call resolution by ensuring callers speak to the most appropriate agent for their query.
With automatic call distribution, contact centers will minimize agent downtime and enhance productivity. Calls can be routed to the agents best suited to handle particular issues based on difficulty or scope.
ACD also ensures agents aren’t overworked by evenly distributing calls between agents. They can also manage peak times with overflow methods. For example, an ACD system can “ring all” agents in one group and if no agent picks up, the system will move on to the next ring group in the queue.
Despite the necessity, there are 3 main challenges businesses may face when implementing ACD software.
The first and perhaps most obvious challenge businesses may face while implementing automatic call distribution software is a disruption to existing business processes and potentially even operations. While adding this type of solution will be very beneficial in the long run, it can cause disruptions at the start while agents navigate the new system. To offset this, communication is key to ensure everyone is aware the change is coming and a phased approach to the rollout may be the best option.
Concerns around the initial setup and ongoing costs for implementing an advanced automatic call distribution solution may act as a barrier for smaller businesses. Automatic call distribution systems are often part of large contact center platforms rather than standalone services, which can cause concerns around finances. While these systems involve more upfront costs, the cost per feature is much lower, giving contact centers more bang for their buck. However, the overall benefits the business will experience in the long run could outweigh this concern and perhaps even make the business more revenue, as there will be less risk of abandoned calls.
Of course, when implementing any new software or solution, there is a training component involved to get agents and supervisors up to speed. When making a final decision as to choosing the right provider, it’s important to take into account resources and training materials that would be available to give your agents everything they need to learn the new system. Having both the right training and ongoing materials will help with challenges both initially and in the long run.
There are several features that are essential when choosing the right automatic call distribution software provider for your business. These features may include:
It’s important to note that this is a non-exhaustive list. When choosing the right business phone solution, it’s important to take into consideration your organizational values and goals and choose the appropriate tool to help you achieve them.
Related: What is Call Queue?
An automatic call distribution system manages agent workload by distributing calls evenly between agents so they aren’t overworked. Supervisors can make changes to the call queues and call flows to accommodate as needed.
One important way for supervisors to determine how to best distribute calls is through monitoring call center data and analytics. A robust contact center solution can provide teams with real-time and historical data to drive business decisions and maximize agent performance.
For example, if the system is set based on priority level but many of the calls coming in are to fulfill simple requests but are lower-level priority, the system can be toggled to route calls to any agent that is available, regardless of whether they usually handle requests that are higher in priority.
This can be particularly useful when contact centers experience high volumes. Sometimes, contact centers may have slower periods or more busy times that require all hands on deck, so it's important to have a system that can accommodate your needs and be adjusted based on those needs.
There are several use cases when an automatic call distribution system could truly help elevate your business. We’ll focus on 4 key areas.
For large, multi-national corporations, an automatic call distribution system is essential. Sometimes companies may have one single number for customers to call, regardless of where they may be located. ACD systems can route calls based on area codes for localized support. ACD systems are also imperative if you offer multi-lingual support. IVR systems can ask customers their preferred language and direct calls to agents that speak the language to offer the best customer experience possible.
Phone systems with automatic call distribution models that can easily be adjusted based on different business cycles and call volumes are paramount. For example, retail businesses may experience higher call volumes in the Christmas season, and therefore more agents would need to be dedicated to processing returns than at other times.
Companies that sell technology solutions or software will need agents specifically dedicated to technical support. Calls can be routed to agents with a high amount of technical knowledge or technical knowledge specific to that customer’s needs. Ideally, questions of this nature can be resolved within the first call to ensure the business can maintain a good first call resolution percentage. If callers don’t get in touch with who they need to speak to right away, this metric can be impacted.
Leads may be prioritized based on revenue potential or other factors. For example, internet providers work with both individual customers and businesses. High-priority leads may be routed to more experienced sales agents to increase the odds of closing a higher-value deal.
Now that you understand what automatic call distribution software is and that you need it, where do you start when looking for the perfect fit when it comes to a provider?
Well, you’ll want to find a solution that includes all of the previously mentioned features. You may also want to find a tool that can go above and beyond, providing all those features and more, killing two birds with one stone so to speak.
net2phone is a full-fledged business communications provider, offering all the functionalities of a business phone system one would expect and more.
Check out our solutions for customer support to deliver five-star customer experiences with every interaction.
What is an automatic call distributor?
An automatic call distributor is telephone software that automatically routes—or distributes–incoming calls to available contact center agents.
What does automatic call distribution do?
Automatic call distribution uses a set of predetermined parameters to distribute calls automatically to the appropriate department and agent.
What is the difference between ACD and PBX?
While ACD is a feature of a phone system, PBX, or private branch exchange, is an organization’s internal telephone system. ACD is used for customer calls whereas PBX is used for customer calls.
Do I need to buy a VoIP solution to use ACD?
Yes, most likely. ACD is not a standalone feature, but is included with VoIP or robust contact center solutions.
How to choose the right ACD system for your contact center?
To choose the right ACD system for your contact center, it’s important to consider the different features offered by different providers. We shared some essential features of automatic call distribution software previously.
How does automatic call distribution improve customer service?
With automatic call distribution, businesses can make their customer service more efficient, offer faster response and resolution times for customers, and allocate better resource management.