Top Call Center Terminologies

30 Must Know Call Center Terminologies

Call Center Terminology is just like any buzzword which is used as an abbreviation to simplify complex technical definitions into the regular understanding of humans (specifically customers and agents) where they can convey their problems and get an explanation for the same in a lenient manner.

So, when it comes to agents whether the business is B2B, B2C or D2C this jargon must be on their tongue without any difficulty, something which is been learned by heart thoroughly and is used in their daily practice whether it be inbound calls, emails, or other forms of communication.

Top 30 call center terminologies that are been used in the industry:

1) Abandoned Call

An abandoned call in an inbound call center is one that was set in motion by a user or customer but was declined by them just before a call center agent tried to answer it and a proper conversation could’ve happened. The user may terminate the call due to an excessively long wait time (crossing a minimum threshold) caused by inadequate agent accessibility or unnecessary delay due to operational issues such as a bad interface or network issues.

2) Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

It depends on the escalation matrix that the business follows, according to which a call is been transferred to the requested or the required person able to handle the query or the issue the customer might be facing. It is an important part of automation where this feature lowers the turnaround time.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

3) Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT is a measurement that has an influence on different important call center KPIs such as customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and agent performance. It’s a key measure of everything from the effectiveness of agent professional development to the processes and resources of a business. It’s also a crucial indicator for comprehending and optimizing the client experience.

4) Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)

Speech Recognition Software is the ability of a program or machine to recognize keywords in a specific verbal language or normal speech and then convert them into a machine-readable format. It enables humans to converse with machines in a manner resembling normal human dialogue.

5) Auxiliary Time (AUX)

When an agent is logged into an ACD system, auxiliary time (or AUX) is utilized to make an agent unavailable for incoming distribution calls. Its main goal is to keep track of non-call-related tasks. The paid time that is not productive: meetings, breaks, training, coaching, agent preparation, and so on.

6) Benchmarking

Benchmarking in call centers rules or principles established for comparing recruitment and selection process, mechanisms, and additional help with other organizations or industries to assess and suggest improvements in one’s own organization. When creating the frame of reference for metrics, distinctions, and assessments enhances the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s).

7) Call Blending

Call blending allows for the smooth delivery of both incoming/outgoing calls to the agent, allowing for the regulation of outbound call volume based on inbound traffic. When internal traffic is minimal, outgoing calls for a certain program are on a pre-regulated basis activated. When inbound traffic increases, the dialer proactively lowers the number of outgoing calls to match the volume of inbound operations. Enhanced agent performance, standardized staffing, and excellent customer support management are all possible outcomes. 

8) Call Detail Record (CDR)

A call detail record (CDR) is a file that contains information about phone calls. For tracking and invoicing purposes, a CDR report can provide businesses with precise information about where, when, and how calls are made. The details of the messages/calls are not disclosed by the CDR. The call detail record essentially documents the fact that calls or messages were made, as well as the general call attributes.

9) Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM)

Customer experience management (CXM) is the practice of providing top-notch services by analyzing customers (VoC) and identifying appropriate initiatives to increase fulfillment, loyalty, and engagement through bridged operations and developing a customer-centric approach.

10) Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM is an acronym for “Customer Relationship Management,” and it refers to any business processes, tactics, platforms, and technology for attracting, maintaining, and obtaining customers.

This solution integrates that every phase of the customer engagement is reliable and consistent, resulting in increased total revenues. The software collects client information from a variety of sources. As a result, CRM keeps thorough records on overall buying habits, confidential info, and even purchasing tendencies.

11) Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)

This is the capacity to mix voice and data at the agent desktop automatically. It appears as a pop-up on the screen, which occurs when customer information appears on an agent’s internal application mainframe simultaneously as a call is answered. Such technology can manage call center personnel in doing their duties more efficiently, resulting in satisfied customers.

12) Document Management System (DMS) 

A system or process for capturing, tracking and storing electronic documents such as PDFs, word processing files, and digital photographs of paper-based information is known as document management. Content encryption, network management, centralized storage, record keeping, and fast search and indexing are all features included. 

13) First Call Resolution (FCR) 

FCR, or first-call resolution, is a critical customer service performance indicator that reveals a customer service team’s ability to address help desk complaints rapidly and easily. The FCR ratio measures the percentage of customers that had their tickets resolved on their first contact. The stronger the FCR, the fewer and more successful customer interactions are highly followed by the KPIs. From a customer lifecycle viewpoint, the First Call Resolution definition implies that no additional calls or interactions are necessary for re-instating conversations that have already delivered desired results. 

14) Hit Rate

The number of linked contacts divided by the number of attempts is known as the hit rate. This indicator is used to assess the outbound campaign’s overall business performance. The hit rate is a measurement or an indicator of earnings management that has typically been linked to sales. It is expressed as the ratio of marketing expenses divided by the number of customers that research a product online, over the phone, or in person.

15)  Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Incoming callers can obtain information through a voice response system of pre-recorded instructions without speaking to an agent, as well as use menu options via a voice-activated access controller used for selection or speech recognition to have their call routed to specified functional areas of expertise. 

16) Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

ISDN is a circuit-switched telephone network system that also permits access to bandwidth networks for digital speech and baseband. As a result, speech or data integrity may be improved over that of an analog phone. It delivers a bandwidth interface for transmission at 64 kilobit/s iterations. It had a maximum bandwidth of 128 kbit/s in both transmission and distribution directions.

17) Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a numerical statistic that indicates how well a business is accomplishing growth targets. Organizations use customer service KPIs at many layers to assess their progress toward their goals. Elevated KPIs may focus on procedures in marketing and strategy, and others, whereas high-level KPIs, may concentrate on the achievement of its objectives.

18) Predictive Dialer (PD)

A predictive dialer, like auto-dialers, is an outbound dialing process that typically dials from a database of phone numbers. A predictive dialer makes calls to numbers until it identifies a connection, at which point it transfers the call to a live representative. The term ‘predictive’ is used since it checks the agent’s availability and determines the time it will take for a real person to answer the call. As a result, quantitative techniques are used to reduce the number of time agents spend waiting between chats.

19) Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

The public switched telephone network, abbreviated PSTN, is a worldwide network of speech public telephone networks that are interconnected. The conventional circuit-switched telecommunications pattern is established as PSTN. PSTN refers to all interconnected telecommunication systems that are managed by domestic or worldwide operators around the world. The programs and facilities for public telecommunication are provided by these networks.

20) Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

A private branch exchange (PBX) is a phone system within an organization that exchanges call among users on local lines while allowing all individuals to connect a predetermined range of different phone lines. Initially, private branch exchanges relied on analog technology.

21) Return On Investment (ROI)

Return on investment (ROI) is a performance metric shown to assess an investment’s efficiency or profitability, as well as to determine the performance of many investments. The ratio of net earnings to investment is known as return on investment (ROI). A significant return on investment (ROI) indicates that the investment’s benefits outweigh its cost. ROI is a performance metric that is used to assess an investment’s efficacy or to cross-reference the cost savings of several distinct investments.

22) SaaS

Software as a service (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery paradigm formulated as a platform giving service in which the software is licensed and hosted centralized on a recurring contractual basis. There are other terms for SaaS, “On-demand software” and “Internet-based or hosted software”.

23)  Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A service-level agreement (SLA) specifies the amount of facility that a customer expects from a vendor, as well as the indicators that are used to assess that service, as well as any treatments or disciplinary actions that may be imposed if the agreed-upon service standards are not fulfilled. SLAs are most used between businesses and external stakeholders, although they can also be used among two divisions inside the same company.

24) Text to Speech (TTS) 

TTS is a feature that allows the system to read textual words out loud. It’s a speech synthesizer that turns text into a human-sounding voice, allowing businesses to quickly respond to client inquiries. It improves customer experience by increasing automation and lowering operating costs.

25) Two-factor authentication (2-FA)

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security solution that requires two different forms of identity to obtain access to something. A password is the first factor, and the second is usually a text message with a passcode emailed on your phone or any other device which you own or are being accessed by simple biometrics being crosschecked.

26) Uniform Call Distribution (UCD)

The UCD service is typically used when a team of representatives receives a significant number of incoming calls that no one in the group can manage. The UCD system automatically routes each incoming call to the next available agent’s line based on Standard Dial Tone, instead of always beginning at the first phone (line) within a cluster of unmanaged threads.

27) Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) 

Voice transmissions are subdivided into the following bundles and communicated to the recipient at the other end of the telephone line utilizing multiple routes through the internet. VoIP uses packet-switching rather than circuit switching. Most of this occurs in a matter of seconds, and even though individual packets traverse in various directions, the conveyed voice is reassembled in an understandable and systematic fashion at the receiver’s end. 

28) Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) 

You can add real-time communication features to your application using WebRTC, which is based on an open standard. It allows developers to create sophisticated speech and video communication systems by allowing video, voice, and generic data to be transmitted between participants. All modern web browsers, as well as indigenous service users including all popular platforms, support the innovation.

29) Webhook (WH)

A webhook is a simple API that enables one-way data transfer in response to events. They enable apps to share data and functionality, transforming the web into something bigger than its pieces. APIs and webhooks are both methods for synchronizing and sharing data between different software systems.

30) Workforce Management System

Workforce management (WFM) is a collection of processes that a firm uses to maximize its employees’ productivity. On a day-to-day and hour-to-hour level, WFM entails successfully estimating agents operating requirements and designing and monitoring staff schedules to complete a specific activity. Because this procedure is automated, it saves time and money compared to paying workers to perform it manually.

Kapture’s Call Center Terminologies: An Ease of Communication 

Therefore, call center terminologies have been used in several different contexts of business communication and to ease the overall speech carries importance that overall makes the functionality and the operations effective as agents deliver enhanced performance when they can link such buzzwords and are able to make the customer understand the explanation in a much better way. The key takeaway of such abbreviations and acronyms being used is the less amount of time it takes during the conversations that happen on a regular basis.

Kapture One Suite encourages the use of such call center terminologies extensively and our agents use such buzzwords in their day-to-day life to deal with customer queries or use them in a normal conversation as well with other team members and make each other’s life easier as well as seamless. 

Talk to our product squad to see this integration live in action.

 

About the Author

Nimit Kumar
Raajdeep Saha

Content Writer

Raajdeep Saha is a published poet and writer. He previously worked as a marketing executive and a creative writer for a product-based company and therefore holds technical knowledge in the marketing and advertising domain. He has worked on several blogs, ad copies, transcripts and is now contributing the same at Kapture CRM.
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