Inbound Call Center Solutions
Researching inbound call center solutions for your business can seem like a daunting prospect — but it doesn’t have to be. Vonage has the expertise and knowledge to help guide you through the maze of possibilities. Get in touch today to speak to one of our experts.
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What Is an Inbound Call Center?
An inbound call center is a call center that takes incoming calls. This is in contrast to outbound call centers, where calls only go out. Blended call centers are a mixture of the two.
Inbound call center services are in high demand and serve many diverse functions, mostly focused on customer service and support. Any organization that fields a large volume of inquiries should consider putting dedicated inbound call solutions in place to maximize the efficiency of its operations.
While these can and often are based on-site, it’s also possible to outsource inbound call center provision to third-party companies (but this can mean a certain loss of control). Often, a better solution is simply to upgrade your capability by adopting a more sophisticated inbound call center platform.
A Fully Customizable Inbound Call Center Solution
Luckily, Vonage Business Communications (VBC) offers you exactly that — a sophisticated business communications platform with built-in inbound call center features. Here are just a few of the features you could benefit from:
Auto Attendant
The Vonage Auto Attendant — also known as a Virtual Receptionist — gives anyone who calls your company a list of options to choose from. You can adjust the settings at any time to route calls automatically according to the time of day, required extension, or agent availability.
Receptionist Console
This is an add-on available in the U.S. and UK and is ideal for organizations that receive large volumes of calls and need a front-of-house stand-in. You can assign the console to any user extension, and it will be able to handle up to 50 calls at once.
Call Queues
When call volumes are at their peak, give customers calling you the option to be placed in a virtual waiting room with call queuing. As soon as an agent becomes available, the customer will be put through to them.
Customizable Hold Music
Choose from four preset pieces of music or upload your own recordings for a fully customizable hold music option. You call the shots and can change these settings whenever you want in the Admin Portal.
Local Business Numbers
Select your chosen area code and get a local business number to fit. These are ideal for geographically specific campaigns, with this feature showing you’re willing to go the extra mile for your customers by making it easier and cheaper for them to get in touch.
Call Recording
Record your inbound (and outbound) calls and have them logged automatically as hyperlinks in your CRM for convenience. This makes it simple to find them again if you need to for training or problem resolution. You can also download any recordings you like to another storage space.
Business Phone App
With the VBC app, you can take your business phone system with you, wherever and however you’re working. The VBC desktop app lets you receive calls to your business number directly from your PC, as well as using other channels such as SMS and video conferencing. Enjoy equally good connectivity and diverse functionality on your phone with the VBC mobile app.
Virtual Extensions
Use virtual phone extensions to assign a dedicated direct dial number to your employees’ mobile phones. This is ideal for hybrid teams or team members who have to do a lot of traveling because it means they’ll be able to take that crucial client call no matter where they are.
Call Logs
Your VBC Call Logs make it quick and easy to access key data on the calls coming into your business. Call Logs allow detailed access to call records by extension or account, so you can view call activity, duration, and volumes. You can also run reports for set time periods to inform decisions on staffing, IVR, and more.
The Benefits of Choosing the Right Inbound Call Center Solution
The right inbound call center software solutions can make a huge difference in how you run your business. Here’s how:
Improved Customer Experience
Being kept on hold is typically one of the biggest pain points reported by people calling in to call centers. So it’s crucial to find ways to reduce waiting times and make sure that even when customers do have to wait, it’s as painless an experience as possible.
With smart tools like dynamic call routing and virtual extensions, it’s much more likely that an employee will be available to take incoming calls, which is great news for customers.
Greater Employee Engagement and Productivity
Embrace the benefits of flexible working using inbound cloud call center solutions and supercharge your employee engagement. Thanks to mobile apps offered by the best call center solutions, your team isn’t bound to one specific location, which means that no matter where they are, they won’t miss a call.
Not only is this great news for customer service, but also for employee satisfaction. In other words, when you give your team the right tools for the job, their productivity will soar.
Easily Accessible Data and Customer Insights
The other big plus of top-tier inbound call center software is the amount of real-time data you can generate — and easily access. Conducting call center business with the help of an integrated CRM makes life much easier for employees because it helps them shape the conversation while giving customers exactly what they need.
Rather than having to rely on outdated information when greeting a new customer on a call, your agents have an array of data and features at their fingertips to help inform their every move.
VBC is the world's most flexible cloud communications application
Security and compliance
Secure communications that meet your industry’s regulatory requirements. See VBC Security & Reliability
The 99.999% claim is based on Vonage's average up-time and/or availability.
Other Considerations When Investing in Call Center Software
Of course, your choice of call center software won’t depend entirely on the features included with it. There are all kinds of other considerations, such as:
Ease of Set Up and Use
Firstly, it’s crucial that your new inbound call center system is simple to set up and use. After all, you have a business to run. You can’t afford to suspend everyday operations while you sort out technical problems or carry out extensive training. This kind of downtime can have a serious impact on your bottom line.
Instead, what you need is an out-of-the-box solution that will get you up and running as fast as possible. Ideally, the switch should be so seamless that your customers don’t even notice it.
Availability of Support
Even the best inbound call center technology will still be subject to the occasional issue. That’s why it’s vital you choose a solution that comes with hands-on, responsive support.
Some vendors may only be available during ordinary working hours, whereas others will offer 24/7 support to help with annoying issues that can pop up when you least expect them.
Make sure you know how extensive the support package is before you consider signing up for a particular service.
Integrations With Your Existing Tech Stack
The last thing you want is to choose an inbound calling “solution” that’s no solution at all because it doesn’t play nicely with your existing tech stack. It’s important to be sure that all your tech is mutually compatible before you begin.
Ideally, you want a service that sits over the top of your existing setup so there are no complications. You should choose a vendor with plenty of experience in helping businesses in your field so you can be confident you’ll get the right advice.
Value For Money
Finally, you have to get a good bang for your buck. Whether it’s customer support or inbound sales call center solutions you’re looking for, be sure to keep costs as low as you can while still getting a quality product.
With luck, your call center solution will be with you for the long term, so it’s important to select a service that aligns with your budget. Go with the option that gives the best balance between cost and available features.
Tailor Your Inbound Call Center Solution
At Vonage, we understand that the needs of your business are unique. That’s why we make it possible to customize your inbound call center platform precisely to your organization’s requirements, choosing the features that will work best for you.
We have years of experience in guiding companies like yours toward their ideal solution. So call now to talk to an expert and find out what Vonage can do for your business.
FAQs About Inbound Call Center Solutions
A call center is a service where agents speak to customers over the phone to resolve any problems they may have. These agents need not be located in a single geographic location — in fact, in many cases, modern call centers will employ remote or hybrid workforces.
On the other hand, a contact center accepts customer communications via multiple contact channels. This can include voice calls as well as SMS, social media messages, email, and even video conferencing.
There was a time when running a call center meant investing heavily in infrastructure and hardware, such as costly network installation and expensive phone equipment. As a result, it was only really feasible for larger corporations. This is no longer the case.
Now, a call center can be run entirely through the cloud and using VoIP technology. All that’s needed is for everyone working to have a reliable internet connection, and admin software can pull everything together.
Simply get in touch with a Vonage expert today (on any channel!) and we’ll chat about your needs. We offer a range of pricing plans for VBC, which provide features and functionalities to suit a variety of business needs.
But the real beauty lies in the add-ons, as this is where you can really strengthen your solution. We’ll help you create a solution customized to your needs.
Absolutely! If you’re looking to leverage voice, SMS, social media, video, and more to take your customer service to the next level, consider Vonage Contact Center.
We can provide you with everything your business needs to develop a dedicated customer support offering. There are a variety of pricing plans to choose from. Whether you’re in a growth phase and looking to scale quickly, or your business is long established, Vonage can help you find the ideal contact or inbound call center solution for your organization.
