Role of Technology

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
The Infrastructure

CTI
ANI

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
The Dialer

TYPES OF DIALER

Manual Progressive Preview Predictive

Dialer Dialer Dialer Dialer

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

• Manual Dialer
– Manual is the dialer an agent has to dial manually
• Progressive Dialer
– A device that presents the account information
and phone number on the screen after the number
is dialed.
– This dialer is more automated than a preview dialer
but less automated than a predictive dialer.
• Preview Dialer
– A device that presents the account information
and phone number on the screen to allow the agent
to "preview" the information before instructing
the dialer to dial (or not dial) the call.
Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman
Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

• Predictive Dialer
– A device used to automate the method of making
outbound calls and directing them to an agent when
a live person answers.
– Predictive dialing screens out other responses such
as answering machines, busy signals or operator
intercepts and records the results.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Basic Terminologies

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

• A specialized telephone system used in incoming call
centers. It is a programmable device that
automatically answers calls, queues calls, distributes
calls to agents, plays delay announcements to callers
and provides real-time and historical reports on these
activities.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)

• A method of connecting your telephone system to
your database to permit faster and more efficient
handling of calls. Most commonly this will allow you to
pop your callers details up on to the agent's screen
when the call connects.
• The software, hardware and programming necessary
to integrate computers and telephones so they can
work together seamlessly and intelligently.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Automatic Number Identifier (ANI)

• A telephone network feature that passes the number
of the phone the caller is using to the call center,
• ANI is a North American term, and Calling Line
Identification (CLI) is an alternative term used
elsewhere.
• A signal that software programs "pick up" the moment
someone calls in and then route that call to the
appropriate rep and display the caller's record of info
in front of them.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

• A device which automates retrieval and processing of
information by phone using touch tone signaling or
voice recognition to access information residing on a
server to give a response. The response may be given
by a recorded human voice or a synthesized
(computerized) voice. IVR is used in applications such
as "bank by phone" or "check on my order" which not
only distributes information but collects transaction
information as well.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Abandoned Call/Contact
• It is also called a Lost Call/Contact. The caller hangs
up before reaching an agent. In an outbound calling
scenario, abandoned calls refer to connects that are
disconnected by the automated dialer once live
contact is detected and no agent is available to match
up with the call.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Average Speed Of Answer (ASA)

• The average time (typically in seconds) for calls to be
answered in the call centre. This needs to be treated
carefully since it deals with the arithmetic mean. For
example if 9 calls were answered immediately and at a
very busy period one call waited for 10 minutes to be
answered - it would treat the average speed of
answer at one minute - even though 90% of calls were
answered immediately.

• The average length of time callers wait

before their calls are answered by an agent

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Call/Contact Blending
• The process of combining the flow of
inbound/outbound calls and other contacts such as
email or web transactions to a set of agents.

• Contact blending can be accomplished manually or by

means of automated systems that route the contacts
to the agents capable of handling them.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Calls In Queue
• A real-time report that refers to the number of calls
received by the ACD system but not yet connected to
an agent.
Queue
• Queue holds callers until an agent becomes available.
Queue can also refer to a line or list of items in a
system waiting to be processed (e.g., e-mail
messages).

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

Transportation of voice calls across the Internet.

Screen Monitoring
• A system capability that enables a supervisor or
manager to remotely monitor the activity on agents'
computer terminals.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Handled Calls
• The number of calls received and handled by agents
or peripheral equipment. Handled calls does not
include calls that abandon or receive busy signals.

Skill-Based Routing
• An ACD capability that matches a caller's specific
needs with an agent that has the skills to handle that
call, on a real-time basis.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Talk Time
• The elapsed time from when a person answers a call
until the call is disconnected by a person.

Average Hold Time (AHT)

• The average length of time between the moment a
caller finishes dialing and the moment the call is
answered or terminated.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Wrap-Up Time
• The time required by an ACD agent after a
conversation is ended, to complete work that is
directly associated with the calls just completed.
Does not include time for any other activities such as
meetings, breaks, correspondence, etc.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

After Call Work (ACW)

• Work immediately following an inbound call or
transaction. If work must be completed before agent
can handle next contact, then ACW is factored into
average handle time. Work may involve keying activity
codes, updating database, filling out forms, or placing
an outbound contact.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué
Cont….

Handling Time
• The time an agent spends in Talk Time and After-Call
Work, handling a transaction. Handling Time can also
refer to the time it takes for a machine to process a
transaction.

Prepared by Shumaila & Suleman

Ensign Communiqué