An inbound call centre software handles incoming calls from customers or businesses who need to contact you. With inbound call centre software, calls can be linked to various external channels, such as a phone number, email address, form, chat channel or your social media accounts. When a person contacts you using one of these channels, the information is sent to your customer support software in real time. Your teams have access to the requests and are able to process them more efficiently.

From their inbound call centre software, your customer relations agents can generally process requests in five steps.

- Create the ticket: when a customer submits a request via one of the channels (phone, email, form, etc.), a ticket is created automatically in the customer support software, which can then, if necessary, be filed in a specific folder according to the type of contact.

- Notify the customer service team: an agent takes the ticket or is assigned the ticket automatically by the inbound call centre software, based on the purpose of the request (claim, product information, etc.) or the type of channel used.

- Answer the request: the agent will attempt to answer the customer’s request. For that purpose, the inbound call centre software may propose a set of standard questions that the agent asks the customer in order to help solve the issue. An agent needing support with the most complicated requests can tag a colleague or transfer the request to them.

- Update customer records: the inbound call centre software can update the customer record or create a new one automatically, provided that the system offers CRM features. The agent can use this information to answer the request.

- Close the ticket: the ticket is closed once the request has been answered. However, the information about the contact is saved in the customer service software so that the history of the conversation with that person can be updated.

By centralising all requests, claims and other questions, inbound call centre software can optimise several aspects of your business.

- More efficient processing: the customer service software dispatches the requests based on their purpose and the channel used. As a result, you can assign contacts to an agent qualified to handle this type of request. As well as providing a better answer, you will reduce the risk of missing a request and the processing time.

- Better customer relations follow-up: all the information about your customers and prospects is centralised in your software. You can use it to improve the quality of your response while better-identifying callers.

- Optimisation of performance analytics: customer support software generally has performance indicators (customer satisfaction, response time, etc.) that you can use to assess how well your agents handle requests and to optimise your customer service activity.

- Valuable data: the information collected can also be used for sales purposes. In addition to the customer service department, the sales or marketing department can use this information for an advertising campaign or a promotional event.

The right inbound call centre software can provide huge benefits to your business, so you should choose it carefully. Here are three tips to follow:

• Identify your requirements: determine how you will use the software, how experienced your agents are and your budget to choose the solution that best fits your requirements.

• Assess the features: identify the features required for your business based on your expectations (customised interface, managing cascading calls, automated reporting, online knowledge platform, chatbot, etc.).

• Check compatibility: your inbound call centre software must be compatible with your other digital solutions. Tools, such as your phone service, ERP, database, e-commerce site, etc., all need to synchronise with your software to ensure that your business runs smoothly.

An inbound call is when someone contacts a company, for whatever reason: product information, a claim, a booking, etc. Your customer service software can handle your inbound calls.

The best way to improve the handling of inbound calls is to connect your customer support software to a phone service that uses VoIP technology. This technology allows you to harness the potential of broadband and benefit from many additional features.

If you choose Aircall, your calls are connected to your customer service software directly. As well as enabling you to process tickets and store customer information more efficiently, it means you can also benefit from many additional features to improve the handling of inbound calls with:

• Cascading call routing to dispatch calls between agents

• Interactive voice response to direct each call to the appropriate agent

• A hotline to establish available time-slots

• A warm transfer feature so that you can talk to a colleague before transferring a call to them.

Ask for a demo to find out how Aircall can help you to optimise the handling of inbound calls.

The main advantage of Aircall’s solution is its compatibility with most customer service and CRM software, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front and Microsoft Dynamics. While the process of integration with CTI Aircall may vary depending on the software you use, it’s very simple:

• Log in to Aircall’s dashboard

• Click on ‘Integrations‘ then ‘Add an integration‘ and select your customer-support software from the list

• Select the numbers you wish to pair

• Fill in the address of your sub-domain, if any

• Provide the information about your company and paste it in the Aircall form

• Configure the app according to your requirements

Start your free seven-day trial of Aircall and optimise the use of your customer service management software.