Inbound call handling is not as easy at it sounds. Sure, picking up the phone when it rings and saying hello is easy, but as anyone who has ever worked in a call centre knows: there is an awful lot more to it than that. In larger call centres certainly, there are lots of people employed specifically tasked with the job of making this seemingly simple job more efficient. This may mean routing calls differently or installing phones that automatically pick up - every second counts. From the other side, expanding businesses often find a problem with inbound call handling. As a business grows, it will start receiving more calls. This is good for business, as most of these calls will be sales enquiries or clients calling for a discussion, however, these calls can very quickly take over an entire day. As such, many growing businesses then need to hire someone specifically to answer the phone, but many are unable to really afford an extra member of staff for this. That is why 'virtual offices' have come into existence. Taking advantage of modern technology, inbound call handling technology can now be handled by call centres that are set up not just for one company, but to act as virtual receptionists for many different companies. And because they are working for many companies at once, they come a lot cheaper than hiring someone specifically to do it within your own organisation. No, they cannot grab you on your way out to lunch, but when you need to be away from the phone they can take messages in a way that is far better than having an answering machine. When it comes to inbound calls, it is a hundred times better to have someone there to pick up the phone than a machine, the clue is in the name: 'call handling'. A machine can't handle a call. For sales enquiries and existing clients, it is always better to speak to someone on the other end of the phone than be stuck with a machine. More than anything, it helps maintain the image of a business that is always open. If someone calls and gets a machine once, they may think 'they're out to lunch', if they get it twice, they may think ' this business is closed.' Inbound call handling is vital to the success of any business, and getting it right is important. That there are so many professional call centres out there is evidence enough that call handling is a skill in its own right.
Related Articles -
Call, Calls, Handling, Call Handling,
|