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Glossary

MaxContact’s glossary of call centre
related terms and definitions.

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Answer Seizure Ratio (ASR)

Otherwise known as “connect rate”, ASR is the percentage of attempted calls that are successfully connected to a live agent or an automated system. To establish your ASR simply divide the total number of answered calls by the total calls made, and times this by 100. As an example, if your team made 1,000 calls, and 200 of them were answered successfully, your ASR would be 20%.

Assisted Payments

The process of helping customers make payments over the phone with the assistance of a call centre agent.

Automated dialler

Automated, error-free dialling delivers 3x longer agent talk time and 300% increase in total call volume compared with manual dialling. Automated diallers may use predictive, progressive or preview dialling, depending on the needs of the call centre.

Automated Payment Phone Line

A system allowing customers to make payments over the phone using an automated system. This can be a stand-alone phone number, or an intelligent IVR built into your queues and campaigns.

Average Call Duration (ACD)

ACD is the average amount of time a call lasts from the moment it is answered to the moment it is disconnected.

Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT is the average amount of time an agent spends on a call, including both talk time and after-call work.

Back-Office

The administrative or non-customer facing part of a contact centre that supports the front-end operations such as data processing, analytics, quality assurance and so on.

Bound Rate

The percentage of calls or interactions that are abandoned by the customer before reaching a representative.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) involves outsourcing some of your business activities to a third-party service provider. A BPO call centre is a team of outsourced call centre agents who handle incoming and outgoing customer calls on behalf of other businesses.

Busy Hour

The period of time during a day when contact centres experience a high volume of incoming calls, messages or enquiries usually during peak business hours or lunch breaks (industry dependant).

Call centre

Traditionally a contact centre with inbound or outbound telephone calls. Now often found as part of an omnichannel solution alongside digital and online channels including email and website chat.

Call centre software

Apps, programs and omnichannel platforms that help call centres to coordinate customer communications across telephone and digital, as well as analysing performance. Some contact centre software is customer-facing e.g. live web chat.

Call Progress Analysis (CPA)

Call Progress Analysis (CPA) is a technology that’s used to determine whether a call has been answered by a person or a machine. CPA is used to automate outbound calling and to route inbound calls more efficiently.

Canned Responses

Canned responses allow contact centre teams to build a set of messages for the user so they can see the messages and promptly respond to customer contact by typing a shortcut and selecting the relevant response. Users should be able to save a message as a canned response that would typically be sent for approval before it’s used team-wide. These canned responses are managed by team leaders or supervisors, giving them the ability to create, edit, publish, approve and assign to different queues within the MaxContact platform.

Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)

A cloud-based contact centre solution that provides a range of contact centre functionalities, such as automatic call distribution, IVR, and reporting. CCaaS is used to improve contact centre performance and efficiency.

Conversation Scripts

Conversation or conversational scripts are a set of guidelines or pre-written responses that call centre agents use to guide the conversation with customers.

Customer Complaint Resolution (CCR)

Customer complaint resolution refers to the process of addressing and resolving customer complaints or issues.

Customer Contact Agent (CCA)

A Customer Contact Agent (CCA) is a representative who interacts directly with customers on behalf of a company, usually through phone or online chat. Customer service representatives work directly with customers to provide assistance, resolve complaints, answer questions, process orders, and more.

Customer engagement platform

A complete omnichannel contact centre platform comprising telephony and digital, along with tools such as predictive dialling, IVR (interactive voice response) and speech analytics.

Customer Experience Model (CEM)

CEM is a framework for organisations to measure and improve the customer journey at every touchpoint. This normally consists of mapping our the customer journey, and identifying key touch points to further optimise.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management, commonly abbreviated to CRM, refers to the practices, strategies, and technologies used by companies to manage and analyse interactions with customers and potential customers.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

CSAT stands for Customer Satisfaction Score, which is a measure of how satisfied customers are with the products or services they have received. Many companies ask for customer satisfaction after contact eg. when a webchat or phone call ends, a survey is sent to the customer.

CX Employee Experience (CXEE)

CXEE is a B2B term referring to the level of satisfaction and engagement of employees of a customer. This affects their performance and the overall customer experience.

Data Access Form (DAF)

A Data Access Form is a document used in call centres that allows customers to request access to specific data or information that you hold on them under the Data Protection Act.

DNC List

DNC stands for Do Not Call list, which is a list of telephone numbers that organisations are not allowed to call for sales or telemarketing purposes.

Email Management

Email management refers to the process of managing and responding to customer emails efficiently. Email templates can be pre-written and be used for post-call follow ups or quick responses to inbound enquiries. Effective email management can reduce your average handling time for customer enquiries.

Emotional Index (EI)

Emotional Indexes are used to measure emotions expressed in customer interactions such as voice recordings and messaging which is then used to improve customer experience.

Facebook Messenger

A messaging service that enables customers to communicate with a contact centre agent via the Facebook Messenger app. Facebook Messenger can be used in your call centre to provide quick and convenient support to customers.

First Call Resolution (FCR)

FCR is an acronym used for First Call Resolution which is a metric used to determine if a customer enquiry or request is dealt with on the first contact or call.

Follow-up

The process of re-contacting customers to ensure their issues have been resolved satisfactorily, to give further updates or gather feedback on the service provided.

Forecasting

The process of predicting the future workload or contact volume within a contact centre using historical data and statistical analysis. Forecasting is commonly used to allocate the necessary resource and staff accordingly.

Free of Charge (FOC)

FOC is an acronym that means Free of Charge and often refers to a service or item that are provided at no cost to the customer.

Gamification

Gamification is the practice of using game-like elements such as badges, points or leaderboards to motivate and engage contact centre employees to improve their performance

Ghost Calls

Ghost calls refer to calls that are automatically disconnected before reaching a contact centre team member, usually caused by a technical issue or system glitch.

Grade of Service (GoS)

Grade of Service (GoS) is the probability that a call will not be connected.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

GUI is an interface taking advantage of a computer’s graphic capabilities to help programs run smoother.

Handling Time

Handling Time is normally defined as the amount of time a contact centre employee spends conversing with a customer. This can be from the moment the interaction begins, until the moment the team member moves onto the next interaction. Handling Time also includes Wrap-up time.

Hold Time

The amount of time that customers are placed on a virtual hold, while waiting for a contact centre employee to become available. It’s usually measured in seconds or minutes.

Hot Transfer

The process of transferring a call or interaction to another team member or department immediately, without placing the customer on hold, to ensure a seamless and efficient resolution of their issue or enquiry.

Inbound call centre

A contact centre primarily designed to handle incoming calls e.g. customer service, helpdesk, orders and complaints. (In contrast with an outbound call centre where sales, marketing and customer service calls are dialled by the call centre.)

Inbound Dialling

Inbound dialling is the process of receiving calls from customers, typically for support or customer service purposes. Call centres utilising inbound customer engagement software like MaxContact, can ensure customers are reaching the right people, the first time around – as well as utilise an array of call centre specific features to help manage inbound communications as effectively as possible.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) lets customers interact with your contact centre without waiting for an agent. Instead, they respond to digital voice messages and commands. IVRs makes it easy to route customers to the right team, person or option, or it can entirely automate routine tasks like taking payments. More advanced tools are crucial to getting customer contact right the first time. It’s crucial to get customer contact right first time. IVRs successfully deliver the best customer experience through:

Out-of-hours talking voice messages
APIs to trigger auto-responses
Text-to-speech to notify customers of account specifics or delivery.

Job Aid

A reference tool or document that provides step-by-step guidance and instructions to representatives on how to handle specific types of inquiries or issues. At MaxContact we encourage our customers to utilise dynamic scripts, which will input customer information into a pre-configured talk-track.

Job Shadowing

The process of allowing contact centre employees to observe and learn from more experienced or senior representatives to improve their skills and knowledge. Job shadowing is particularly useful for new employees or employees going into more complex roles.

Journey Mapping

The process of creating a visual representation of a customer journey, showing all touchpoints and interactions between the customer and contact centre – highlighting opportunities for improvement.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that indicates how well a company is achieving its business objectives. Contact centres should review past interactions and monitor overall performance to ensure they’re on target to hit their KPIs.

Key Results Indicator (KRI)

Key Results Indicator, or KRI, is a metric used to track and measure the progress of a specific business goal or objective.

Knowledge Base

A repository of information and resources that contact centre employees can access to answer customer inquiries or resolve issues, including FAQs, scripts and training materials.

License

A license is essentially a ‘ticket’ or ‘pass’ to use a product. Licenses can be individual, by team or by company, and can be temporary or permanent.

Live Web Chat

This is a messaging service that enables customers to communicate with a contact centre agent in real-time through a website. Live web chat is used to provide quick and convenient support to customers.

Longest Wait Time (LWT)

As the name suggests, LWT is the amount of time that the longest-waiting customer has been on hold or in a queue. This metric can be used to measure the contact centre’s efficiency and customer service level.

Manual Dialling

Manual dialling is the process of making calls manually, without the use of an automated system. To increase productivity, sales and effectiveness of outbound campaigns, many call centres optimise outbound customer engagement software such as MaxContact.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

NLP is a term relating to artificial intelligence that focuses on enabling computers to understand and generate human language.

Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA)

Non-disclosure agreements are often used as a contract to promote exclusivity of prohibited information. An example of this could be hiring an external analyst within a contact centre who has access to sensitive information that must not be shared with third-parties.

NPS

NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, which is a measure of customer loyalty and is used to gauge the likelihood of customers recommending a company’s products or services to others.

Omnichannel Customer Engagement

Omnichannel customer engagement helps businesses deliver personalised messaging and interactions to customers by consolidating communication channels. MaxContact’s Omnichannel solution brings together inbound and outbound calls, SMS, Web Chat, WhatsApp, Emails and Facebook Messenger and combines them with powerful features such as automated live scripts, talk-tracks, and quick-fire canned responses. By doing so, this allows contact centres across a wide range of industries to improve their customer engagement whilst maintaining a personal approach to customer service – giving customers the flexibility to communicate on the channels they prefer, whilst maintaining a consistent level of service.

Outbound Dialling

Outbound Dialling is the process of making calls to customers or contacts, typically for sales or marketing purposes. With Outbound Engagement Software like MaxContact’s, you and your teams are able to prioritise data with the highest potential ROI, make more informed decisons with call centre specific analytics and more!

PCI-Compliant Payments

PCI-compliant payments refer to payment systems that are in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is a set of security standards designed to ensure the safe handling of sensitive information.

Predictive Dialler

The fastest method of auto-dialler automatically dials enough numbers to keep your call centre agents working at full capacity, while minimising dropped, unanswered and voicemail calls. Learn more about Prective Dialling by clicking here.

Progressive Dialler

Progressive dialling is type of outbound dialling utilising an automated system to dial phone numbers from a list, connecting the call to an agent as soon as the call is answered. Learn more about progressive dialling and other dialling methods by clicking here.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality assurance (QA), also known as quality management, tracks the quality of customer interactions and drives continuous improvement. When done well, quality assurance can improve call consistency, leading to higher compliance standards and better customer experiences.

Reason Code

A reason code is a pre-determined outcome of a call or interaction that can be set within a company to make the average handling time quicker for team members. A few examples of reason codes are: No response, Too expensive, Found another provider etc. Reason codes can be great ways of ensuring consistency across teams and reporting.

Report

A report is an arranged view of data based on pre-defined data-presentation requirements. In contact centres, often reports are ran for campaign or agent performance, handling times and so on. At MaxContact, our customers receive access to over 30 pre-built reports, with the ability to create unlimited custom reports to help support their business needs.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a document used by companies to solicit bids from suppliers for products or services. RFPs are used in the contact centre industry to select vendors for outsourcing or software solutions. If you’re in the process of putting a Request for Proposal (RFP) together for a new contact centre software.

Routing

The process of directing incoming calls and interactions to the most appropriate teams or individuals.

Secure IVR Payments

Secure IVR Payments refer to secure payments that are processed through an interactive voice response system.

Secure Payment

Accept secure encrypted payment details over the phone. IVR (interactive voice response) allows customers to make payments without any human interaction, lifting any capacity limits.

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis is the process of determining the emotion or attitude expressed in written correspondence or through voice recordings.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

SLA is a type of contract between a service provider and a client that specifies the level of service the provider is expected to deliver.

SMS

A text messaging service that enables customers to communicate with a contact centre agent via text message. SMS messaging is used to provide quick and convenient support to customers where contact centre agents can send and receive SMS messages.

Speech Analytics

Proactively identify problematic calls before they become complaints. Speech analytics can flag concerning calls for investigation and can generate performance data based on non-productive call time (e.g. hold music or silence).

Target Operating Model (TOM)

TOM is a blueprint that defines the desired future state of a business and the steps to achieve it. A company’s TOM is the “golden standard” all activity should be targeted towards achieving.

Telephone Preference Service (TPS)

TPS is a registry of individuals who do not want to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls. The TPS is managed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS)

UCaaS is a cloud-based communication solution that integrates multiple channels, such as phone, email, and instant messaging. UCaaS is used to provide a seamless communication experience across multiple devices.

Upselling

A sales technique used by contact centre team members to offer customers additional or upgraded products or services during an interaction to increase revenue and customer satisfaction.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

A process of testing new software or system changes, conducted by an internal member of staff to ensure that it meets the business requirements before being rolled out to customers or a live system.

WhatsApp is a free, multi-platform messaging app that lets you make video and voice calls, send text messages, and more. Contact centre agents can communicate with customers via the Whatsapp messaging app to provide quick and convenient support to customers.

Workforce Management (WFM)

Workforce management (WFM) is a set of processes and tools used to optimise the performance of a contact centre workforce. WFM includes scheduling, forecasting, and real-time monitoring of contact centre activities.

Wrap-up Time

The time in which it takes contact centre employees to complete any extra or outstanding tasks that are directly associated with the interaction that was just completed. An example of this may be refining or typing up notes following a call, or backing up documents following an email conversation.

Glossary

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