Contact Center Trends
9 Outbound Call Center Software Must-Haves
By Shauna Geraghty
0 min read
Outbound teams looking to be at the top of their game must leverage the tools to do so. In a cut-throat economy, these tools can mean the difference between success and failure.
If you aren’t sure that your outbound team is leveraging the latest-and-greatest outbound call center software features, this blog post is for you. It lists and describes the top nine outbound call center software must-haves. If a feature is on this list and your outbound team is not using it, they are missing out.
1. Built-in CRM
Outbound call center software with a built-in CRM should be at the top of the list of must-have features for any outbound team. This feature makes it simple to keep comprehensive contact data in the one business tool outbound teams use the most — their call center software. With call center software that has a built-in CRM, agents can view a contact’s profile information as well as their previous calls, call recordings, voicemails, support tickets, cases, purchases and more, in one interface. This increases organization and collaboration amongst outbound team members.
2. Integrated business tools
Outbound teams thrive with data. Call center software that integrates with business tools provides comprehensive data about each contact so outbound teams can excel. Make sure your team is performing optimally by integrating your call center software with Salesforce, SugarCRM, Highrise, Help Scout, Zoho CRM, Nimble, Zendesk, Desk.com, Freshdesk, LiveChat, Olark and others so that agents have comprehensive contact data in one interface. This will provide them with the contact data they need, exactly when and where they need it.
3. Data import and synchronization
Having call center software with integrated business tools and a built-in CRM is a great first step on the path to outbound success. Making sure these tools have up-to-date information is an even better step in the right direction. Make sure your call center software allows your team to easily import and export lists of prospects, leads and customers. Your team should also have the capability to add labels to contacts, export the lists to .csv format and upload multiple lists into the same system – with one click. Finally, leverage call center software that continuously synchronizes data between all integrated business tools so that your contact data is always up-to-date. Your outbound team will thank you for it.
4. Click-to-call
Utilizing call center software with click-to-call allows outbound teams to click on a phone number in any CRM, helpdesk, chat, website and within the call center software contact’s profile, missed call lists, voicemail lists, etc. to place an outbound call. This feature allows agents to make calls with a click of their mouse which reduces dialing errors and increases efficiency.
5. Customizable outbound caller ID
Call center software that allows teams to customize their outbound caller ID increases connection rates and returned calls. When teams match their caller ID to the area code of the contact they are calling, the contact will be more likely to answer and if they don’t answer they will be more likely to return the call. By optimizing connection rates, call center software with customizable outbound caller ID will significantly increase the success of any outbound team.
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6. Automated tasks
For many outbound teams, every second counts. Thus, if your goal is to cultivate a killer outbound team, you must equip them with tools that eliminate the redundancy of updating multiple business tools with the same contact data. Leveraging call center software with automated tasks which automatically create a ticket in all integrated business tools when a call is missed or a voicemail is received will significantly reduce busy work for outbound teams so they can spend their seconds where they really matter.
7. Disposition codes
While automated tasks are certainly helpful, not all contact data can be updated automatically into call center software and integrated business tools. In order to be successful, your team must have the ability to manually update their contacts with relevant data quickly and easily. Call disposition codes are the tool that allows teams to do just that. Call disposition codes are descriptions of the final outcome of the call which are applied to the call log in the contact’s profile as well as on the recent calls lists. With a quick glance, anyone accessing that call’s information will know the exact outcome of the call. This makes keeping the entire team on the same page simple.
8. Call recording and monitoring
Optimizing an outbound team’s performance requires that managers keep a close eye – or ear – on their team at all times. Call monitoring and call recording are the must-have tools that call center managers should use in this pursuit. With these call center software tools, managers can listen to live calls, whisper coach their agents to success and jump in on the call to help out a customer. They can listen to previous calls at any time, replay the recordings to pinpoint the caller’s exact needs and use call recordings in agent coaching sessions. Collectively, these call center software tools are amazing for quality control purposes, expediting agent training and optimizing the performance of outbound teams.
9. Real-time and historical reporting
The final tool that should be in an outbound team’s toolbelt is comprehensive call center reporting. Real-time and historical reporting allow teams to track the performance of their campaigns, agents, departments and company as a whole. Comprehensive reporting allows teams to review inbound and outbound metrics separately for each agent, phone number, campaign or the call center as a whole, both in real-time and for the time period of which they are most interested. Comprehensive reporting makes it simple for outbound teams to make data-driven decisions that will have a measurable impact on their team’s performance.
The nine aforementioned tools for outbound teams are must-haves for your call center software toolkit. If a call center software feature is on this list and your outbound team isn’t using it, they are missing out.
