Combat the challenges of high call volume

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This week we profile Nexbridge, who provide high volume telecoms services to call centres.

Many call centres have switched – or are considering a move – from traditional PSTN networks using tried and trusted ISDN connections to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) technology.

In the contact centre industry, however, there has been some inertia, since the importance of consistent and high call quality cannot be overstated. If latency exists on a telecommunications network, the loss of data packets has a much greater impact than it would for web browsing, downloading files or connecting to an email service.

‘Jitter’ – a symptom of high latency – makes for a frustrating experience for both parties to the call. Another impact of poorly managed IP voice networks is one-way audio, which can be caused by outdated firmware, misconfigured firewalls or VoIP hardware.

“One of our main challenges was to meet the very high calls-per-second demand which diallers in large outbound call centres place upon the communications network – not just for our own dedicated infrastructure, but also for upstream wholesale IP carriers,” said Martyn King, MD, Nexbridge Communications. “Understanding how we could optimise call flow from the dialler to the agent would improve efficiency throughout the network – a classic win-win.”

Nexbridge offer some innovative coding. Their Number Validator system confirms if a mobile telephone is currently switched on or has been switched on during the past three hours – significantly increasing the chance of diallers making successful outbound calls. TPS Compliant – another real-time solution – also ensures that call centres are not dialling residential and business customers registered with the Telephone Preference Service. Furthermore, the company has helped many of its clients achieve improvements in contact rates through its outbound CLI localisation service, Dial Sure.

“One of the benefits of developing our communications network in an IP environment is that it has allowed us to create products which operate in real time,” said Martyn King. “Prior to launching the business, we commissioned independent research amongst 2,000 UK consumers to understand how they would respond to calls from certain number types. Along with contact rate increases in excess of 34% from one Dial Sure user, the results of this survey provide a compelling case for CLI localisation.”

  • 71% said they were UNLIKELY TO or WOULD NOT answer a call from an unknown, withheld or blocked number.
  • 66% responded in the same way for calls displaying an 08 CLI.
  • 75% said they were either LIKELY TO or WOULD answer a call from a LOCAL geographic number.

In real time, Dial Sure automatically displays a local number, which will be familiar to the person being called. But CLI localisation isn’t just for calls to landlines. CLI may be localised for calls made to mobiles and is also campaign-based so that any calls returned by the called party (for example, if a call is missed) are returned directly to the call centre, team or even agent best placed to handle them.

“We’re acutely aware of the very specific demands which call centres place upon their CPs. They are not simply high volume enterprise customers – they are campaign focused and they operate in a highly competitive industry. Nexbridge was established with these needs in mind and we continue to develop and innovate to ensure that our customers retain a competitive edge,” said Martyn King.

Author: Megan Jones

Published On: 9th Oct 2013 - Last modified: 12th Dec 2018
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