New Talkdesk for Slack Integration

Today, we’re proud to add another powerful integration to the list of 25+ business apps we already integrate with. Introducing: Talkdesk for Slack. As one of the most popular communication platforms in the market, Slack has revolutionized the way teams interact with one another. Talkdesk for Slack applies the benefits of this innovative tool by harnessing the power of real-time messages in order to improve customer support, agent coaching and more.

We announced Talkdesk for Slack at Opentalk 2016, our inaugural customer experience summit. There, we debuted this new integration with the help of Slack’s own Head of Business Development, Brad Armstrong. In case you missed the exciting announcement and demo, this blog post is here to give you to provide you with all the information you need about Talkdesk for Slack.

What is Talkdesk for Slack?

Talkdesk for Slack is Talkdesk’s newest call center integration. It helps streamline your call center’s internal communication processes by leveraging Slack’s dynamic real-time messaging platform. In just a few clicks, you can integrate Talkdesk with your company’s Slack account and start seeing immediate value.

Talkdesk for Slack has four main features.

1. “Get Help”

This feature  allows call center agents to send Slack messages asking fellow teammates for help while on a call. Agents can also send out a call barging link that lets any Talkdesk user live monitor the call and barge in if necessary. The “Get Help” feature ensures that agents can deliver a smooth caller experience for every customer.

2. Agent notifications

From Talkdesk Live, call center supervisors will be able to send Slack notifications to any group of agents. Filter by agent status, ring group and more to ensure the right people receive the right notifications. This feature allows supervisors to easily communicate with agents in order to better manage the caller experience.

3. Agent coaching

With agent coaching, supervisors will be able to send Slack messages to any agent on a call from the live call monitoring side panel. This helps supervisors silently inform agents that they are monitoring the call and provide guidance behind the scenes. Agents can continue the call without major distraction.

4. Automated call center alerts

Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, supervisors can configure a wide array of call center alerts to be delivered via Slack. These notifications can be sent to any user or channel and are triggered by call center events you define. With the high degree of customizability available, the use cases for this feature are truly endless.

Why did we create Talkdesk for Slack?

The Talkdesk team are longtime users and fans of Slack. As a leader in its space, Slack has transformed internal communications and improved the way employees communicate with one another. At Talkdesk, we’re constantly using Slack to ask questions, retrieve important information and, of course, send Giphys. Given how frequently we interact with Slack on a daily basis, we thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could use Slack to manage our call center, too?”

As we thought about all ways we could leverage Slack with our call center, we realized that many of the typical actions we performed – putting callers on hold, transferring callers, call whispering, etc. – could be improved or eliminated altogether with the messaging platform. We knew that we could use Slack to reimagine the day-to-day operations of a call center.

And with that in mind, Talkdesk for Slack was born!

Who can use Talkdesk for Slack?

Talkdesk for Slack is available to all Talkdesk users with a Pro license or above. To set up the integration, all you need is a few minutes and your company Slack login information! If you would like to see Talkdesk for Slack in action, feel free to request a live demo and someone from our team will reach out to you.

What are the benefits of Talkdesk for Slack?

We’re glad you asked! Talkdesk for Slack is an extremely versatile integration, which can be tailored to meet a wide variety of business needs.

1. Increase first call resolution

Not only does Talkdesk for Slack’s “Get Help” functionality allow agents to assist their customers faster than ever before, it also allows agents to do so with minimal interruption to the call. This means agents can get the help they need without putting the customer on hold or transferring to another agent. Callers are more likely to get a speedy answer, driving higher call resolution rates and customer satisfaction.

2. Respond quickly to call center conditions

Talkdesk for Slack empowers call center supervisors and agents to provide the best caller experience possible. With both the call center alerts and agent notification features, supervisors can stay current on critical events and efficiently take the necessary steps to resolve potential issues. For example, after a supervisor receives a Slack alert that a call queue has exceeded 10 callers, she can send a notification to all agents on a live call reminding them to wrap up their calls soon.

3. Better manage your workforce

While there are many types of call center alerts that can be configured with Talkdesk for Slack, a particularly useful category for supervisors is the workforce management alert. These alerts allow you to see agent activity (login time, status changes, etc) in real-time. You’ll have a good sense of how your agents are spending their time and can use the information to optimize future scheduling. This ultimately helps maximize service efforts while minimizing costs.

4. Optimize agent coaching efforts

Aside from helping with workforce management, Talkdesk for Slack is also a great tool for training agents. The agent coaching feature simplifies supervisor-agent communications during live calls with little distraction for the agent. Supervisors can also configure a variety of Talkdesk for Slack alerts that aid in the coaching process. For example, an alert can be sent out to a supervisor whenever an agent-in-training begins a call or when a call exceeds a certain number of seconds.

5. Increase company-wide visibility

Since Talkdesk for Slack integrates with a company’s entire Slack account, call center notifications can be sent to any user or any channel. This makes it easy to keep teams outside your call center informed of important call center events. For example, alert a customer success manager when their VIP customer dials in or let your inbound sales team know when a prospect leaves a voicemail.

Talkdesk for Slack is now available from the “Integrations” tab inside your Talkdesk account. As with all of our integrations, it only takes a few clicks to set up, so there’s no reason not to try it out now. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!