5 Reasons to Use Business Intelligence at Your Call Center
People often speak of business intelligence (BI) in the same breath as “business performance improvement” (BPI) and “informed decision-making.” Both statements are true and entirely applicable to the modern call center. However, business intelligence holds other benefits for your call center or collections agency. We discuss a few of them here, alongside the aforementioned BPI and decision-making.
Business Performance Improvement
Allow yourself to dream a little. What if you could change day-to-day operations for the better and thereby improve overall business performance? Business intelligence seeks to do exactly that.
BI, which you can implement with TCN’s Call Center Business Intelligence technology, turns up information never known before. Daily operations become something decipherable rather than a never-ending mystery. As a result, you become a master sleuth, solving call center bottlenecks with insightful and easy-to-implement business intelligence.
Informed Decision-Making
In the advertising world, professionals have long joked, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I just never know which half.” The saying finds application in other verticals; too many people still take stabs at what’s delivering a solid return and what’s not.
Business intelligence transforms the dynamic. You always know what your money is doing and how your investments — people, technology, et cetera — are performing. That is, you become informed, and informed people make sizable (and quantifiable) business impacts through better decision-making.
TCPA Compliance
Business intelligence, when integrated with call center operations, also enables greater TCPA compliance. It serves to help call center agents follow best practices and mandated guidelines, while also safeguarding your agency from claims and complaints.
“How?” you ask. The answer: when business intelligence weds itself to call center technology, you gain a rich history, as well as real-time data. You can easily find calls related to a claim and prove that your agent wasn’t in error. The data contains other applications; for example, you can use the call log to help agents understand where their service loses luster and give actionable and encouraging steps to improve it.
Time Management
Time is money, particularly in the call center setting. You want agents to work at their optimal productivity and efficiency when at their desks (on-site or remote). In the past, you might have struggled to identify when and where lags occurred and why.
Business intelligence again alters the scenario, delivering real-time insights into agent productivity. And, when it combines with a blended call center technology, it powers an ever more effective use of time and resources. Agents switch from inbound to outbound calls, as needed, without you having to lift a finger. Business intelligence does the heavy lifting, automatically assigning call types to agents depending on their schedule and abilities.
Seasonal Patterns
Business intelligence also helps you accurately forecast seasonal patterns and trends. Some of them you know; you’ve been in the business too long to be unaware of general customer demand. You realize, for instance, that inbound calls will increase with the launch of a new product or sales cycle.
Business intelligence takes your instinctual knowledge and paints it in with details. You know why the trend occurs and can even pinpoint when it begins and ends, allowing you to better allot time and resources. And that effort always the other benefits found with business intelligence. When you have the right amount of staff on call (literally), you satisfy customers; stay in compliance with the TCPA; make more informed decisions; and improve time management and business performance.
Business intelligence is too important to put on the call center’s back burner. Resolve to make it a priority in 2017. It will change your call center operations for the better permanently.
Want to learn more about TCPA compliance and its costs? Check out the infographic.