Did you know that 88% of customers prefer talking to a live agent as compared to navigating an automated phone menu?

Can you imagine a barbershop without scissors or a large manufacturing company without its machines? No, right?

A call center acts as a similarly important part of many businesses across different industries.

Moreover, every business, large or small, requires the right tool or in this case call center set up to succeed. Call center tools are no different. 

In this article, we will look at call center tools and examine your call center setup requirements in greater detail.

Why are Call Center tools necessary?

For decades, many companies have been using call center tools for various purposes. From providing excellent customer service to increasing sales, technical support, and even helping in collecting debts. As a whole, call center tools help with various business operations. 

However, a call center cannot offer you effective performance without the right call center tools. When it comes to putting together all your necessary call center equipment, it can at times be challenging. 

Here’s a list of the right call center tools that you would need to run an efficient call center:

Essential Hardware Call Center System Requirements

It’s a fact that one cannot have a call center without a computer alongside other hardware call center system requirements. Even in the past, businesses had phones and agents to make outgoing and receive incoming calls. 

Without these call center tools, your business may lack the minimum requirements needed for your call center to operate. 

Let’s examine some essential hardware call center tools that make a call center setup a success.

• Computers

No business can sustain a call center without having a computer among its primary call center tools. A computer allows your agent to use CRM and apps that help convert leads into sales. 

However, a business does not require an advanced computer system to enable your call center setup to work. 

All a business needs is a computer or laptop with limited storage capacity and a recent operating system. Most of the computers that are used in call centers are easy to find and affordable.

• Headsets

It may sound silly but while your agent sits in one position throughout the day, it can get strenuous. Headsets play an important role in call center setup requirements as they allow agents to move around during shifts. 

If a business offers more freedom to its employees, it ensures better productivity. Headsets allow a business to get better efficiency by allowing employees to multitask. 

When call center employees are equipped with headsets as call center tools, they can perform tasks without any limitations. For example, connecting to calling software, managing calls, looking up information, and more.

• PBX Switch

A PBX switch is a call center tool that connects computers with internal and external networks. It is a perfect tool for IT professionals that helps in managing all call center tools. 

It can be used with any type of phone, whether it is VOIP or a USB Phone. A PBX switch also helps in distributing the calls to agents. Moreover, it allows your phone to get connected to the internet. 

As such, it plays a vital role in your call center setup.

Important Call Center Software Requirements

As you have seen, hardware makes up an important part of call center tools. But, hardware alone does not provide you effective working unless it has complimentary software. They work alongside each other within your call center setup to help achieve call center goals. 

There’s various contact center tools and software that can save time, improve efficiency, and boost the growth of your business. 

Here are some important software tools for a call center:

• Automatic call distribution

This is one of the most important software call center tools used for increasing your agent efficiency. When a client calls a company into a call center, the ACD comes into play. 

It holds the call in the queue and then waits for the right agent to be available. As soon as the agent is available, the software then automatically directs the call to your agent.

• Interactive voice responses (IVR’s)

The most popular software call center tool is IVR. It’s responsible for reducing the number of tasks that the agent takes to execute the task. Through an IVR, your agent does not have to look at the lead’s phone number and then dial it.

IVR handles the task with a simple push-button. Regardless of its work, IVR enables an agent to quickly do their jobs without making mistakes. This makes it an essential part of any call center setup.

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management is much more than increasing your agent’s efficiency. It provides agents all-access to customers’ information and helps convert leads into sales during cold calls.

CRM are call center tools that help agents get important information like:

• Locating where the call is coming from
• Previous customer interactions
• Whether the caller is new or old
• What kind of services a customer has used before
• How much time the caller has spent on hold
• Demographics of customer

The more information your agent has about the customer, the better the chances of reaching their goal. 

While working remotely, call center apps can be valuable call center tools used in place of a CRM. 

Most call centers also connect CRM with automated emails that are helpful in targeting existing customers. Furthermore, they also keep existing clients aware of the company’s latest products. As such they are considered vital, when creating your list of call center software requirements.

• Metrics and analytics

This call center tool software is crucial as it helps companies know whether they have reached their targets or not. Without data, if agents make guesses about the targets, it will be a problem in the long term. 

Analytics software can provide data about: 

• Conversion rate 
• Call times 
• Hold times 

Giving your agents a target will keep them motivated. Moreover, they will also better understand what expectations you have from them.

• Real-time reporting

Call centers can review analytics in real-time and provide reports when needed. Most companies find real-time reporting an effective call center tool. This is because it allows businesses to adjust during spikes of incoming calls. 

Real-time reporting also benefits call centers while placing outgoing calls. Typically, agents wait till the end of the day to get a sales report. Instead, an agent can look at the conversion chances anytime they want. 

This helps in altering strategies and allows your business to adopt the right tool as per lead source.

• Call Recording

Call recording is also an important call center tool that can be very beneficial in your call center setup. Recording your customer interactions can help a manager in different ways. 

Some of them include: 

• Knowing how agents are performing.
• In case of excellent calls, recording gives an opportunity to train employees with the help of it. 
• Creating transparency between business and customers. 

Without call recording, managers would be unable to monitor how their agents interact with customers. And as such, would be unable to ensure customer satisfaction.

Also check out: Call Masking

Conclusion

Overall, both hardware and software call center tools play a vital role in the functioning of any business.

When creating a list of your call center setup requirements, there are several factors you should consider. If you choose well when selecting your call center system requirements, it’s sure to boost your business in the future.

If you’d like to implement call center tools in your company, consider exploring an effective telecalling CRM like NeoDove.  

NeoDove makes telecalling a breeze with its simple yet powerful platform. 

Book your demo today!