Call handling simply is the management of telephone or mobile phone calls. Managing incoming and outgoing calls from start to end or transferring for additional needs for any organization, according to the needs of the customer or business, is call handling. A well-organized call center service can improve your business and customer satisfaction effectively. Did you know that by improving customer experience, you could potentially see a 700% return on investment over 12 years – Zendesk? It is amazing how it boosts customer loyalty and cuts down on the costs of bringing in new customers!
What are the Types of Call Handling?
Calls are normally of two types. Inbound and outbound, but by the grace of digitization, we see multiple-channel call handling as well, used by some companies. In the subtype, we see different types of call handling for inbound and outbound. Let’s break down what they actually are and how they work in a nutshell.
Inbound Call Handling
Inbound call handling refers directly to a call dialed by a customer or potential prospect to a company or organization for a query, solution, or complaint. For example, suppose you run a restaurant, and a person calls your restaurant’s business number at midnight, wanting to know if it’s possible to get a pizza now or if it’s closed. When you receive that call and it says the status of open or closed, and the customer gets information over it, it is called an inbound call for customer service.
Over 50% customers prefer call center service by dialing while they feel urgency, on the other hand, 30% of customers prefer chat or sms to connect with the retailer or company for urgent solutions or queries. So, according to the above statistic, you can easily assume the significance of inbound calls for any business.
Outbound Call Handling
Let’s start with the same example we have discussed in the section on inbound calls. You run a restaurant similar to the previous sample, and you have a lot of orders of food to deliver, but after a certain time, you find that your goods are finished, and it will take a little longer than the expected delivery time. So here comes outbound calls.
You pick up the phone and dial the customer’s number, and let them know about the delivery of the food. In this case, when you call from your company or a respective agent to a customer for a specific need to let them know or to offer something, it refers to outbound calls. Outbound calls are as important as inbound calls for any company for better customer service.
Omnichannel Call Handling
It is seen that 30% or more of business people or prospects do not respond to emails sent for lead generation or email marketing. So, calling them becomes more important and resultful. Omni-channel call handling is a process where a dialer or an agent connects with a prospect, a potential customer, or a loyal customer by inbound calling, outbound calling, voice message, social media communication, live chat, etc. There are several software programs for omnichannel call handling, such as:
- Genesys
- RingCentral
- Five9
- Bright Pattern
- Cloudcall
& more. These are the most commonly used software for omnichannel call handling. Multiple channel call handling offers inbound and outbound calls both in the interface, so it makes everything easier for reaching out to customers or getting a call from customers in one window.
Call Handling Features & Technologies
Call handling features and technologies mean the functionalities of call handling that improve call handling experience and customer experience through call routing, call recording, interactive voice response (IVR), call monitoring, and more, all designed to optimize how calls are managed and processed. According to Mordor Intelligence, the cloud-based contact center market is projected to expand to USD 222.91 billion by 2034, which is enormous. The largest market is North America.
| Report coverage | Details |
| Market Size in 2024 | USD 27.22 billion |
| Market Size in 2025 | USD 37.98 Billion |
| Market Size in 2029 | USD 87.10 billion |
| Market Size by 2034 | USD 222.91 Billion |
The above statistics are clear data that show the importance of the call handling industry and its potential. Now, let’s discuss its features and technologies below.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
IVR or Interactive Voice Response is an automated call center service or phone system technology for different kinds of solutions, queries, and complaints through pre-recorded messages and keypad or voice inputs, without needing to speak to a live agent. IVR ensures 24/7 customer service, which improves the customer journey and makes them feel satisfied, and it has a positive impact on your business in a positive way. Let’s see a few names of IVR that are being used worldwide with success:
- Aircall
- LiveAgent
- Zendesk
- Twilio
- CallHippo
The concept of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems can be traced back to the 1930s, a period during which Bell Labs pioneered the development of the Voder machine. After 1990, the use of IVR started increasing with the rapid growth of the internet. IVR helps when you get so many calls because it reduces hold time, automatically transfers to a specialized agent if needed, and provides solutions for simple queries to callers.
ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
ACD, or automatic call distributor, is a call handling feature or technology that allows calls to be distributed to the most appropriate call center agent according to predefined criteria such as skill level, agent availability, customer priority, etc. Let’s learn about how ACD works and its types:
ACD Workflow
Call Distribution: The system matches the caller with the most appropriate available agent.
Queue Management: If agents are busy, the call waits in line until a representative is free.
Call Routing Logic: Calls are directed according to factors such as agent skills, the relevant department, urgency, or caller location.
Real-Time Monitoring & Reporting: Supervisors can oversee call activity, evaluate how agents are performing, and assess the system’s effectiveness.
Call Identification: The system recognizes incoming calls and gathers information.
Types of Call Routing with ACD
- Priority Routing
- Skill-Based Routing
- Time-Based Routing
- Geographic Routing
- Round-Robin Distribution
A study says that almost 90% of customers dial the call center assuming that their problems will be solved in one call. And 64% of customers said that no matter how much they enjoy the product or service, they leave the brand due to bad customer service. So you know how important ACD is for making customers satisfied.
CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)
Computer telephony integration is a call handling technology that integrates call center telephones and their activities with a computer application software like CRM. According to a study by AT&T, 27% of customers who don’t receive an answer from a call center number decide to purchase elsewhere or abandon buying altogether. Implementing computer telephony could mitigate such issues.
When someone calls the respective number, the phone system sends the call to the computer software or CTI application. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology plays a key role in establishing the data transfer functionality by converting your computer into a virtual phone system. When an agent calls a customer, CTI automatically pops up the customer’s information to improve the greeting by name or other data.
CRM Integrations
CRM stands for customer relationship management, and it’s the most common application software used in the business industry. For a high-volume call handling company, CRM is a must-have software to improve agents’ work efficiency and bring better results. Using CRM can improve business; let’s see how it impacts.
- CRM improves customer satisfaction and provides access to customer data for 74% businesses
- 50% business improved their agent productivity by using CRM
- CRMs to reduce vendors on payroll for contact centers
- Reduce call time
- Improve customer experience
CRM is a software that shows customer data to gather knowledge, previous history, and forward data input for new acknowledgement, which is an essential tool and technology for call handling.
AI-Powered Voice Bots and Assistants
AI-powered voice bots and assistant is an upgraded or advanced technology of IVR. IVR uses pre-recorded voice and keyboard input, while AI-powered bots use artificial intelligence to generate responses according to the modality of the contact center. It uses an NLP or natural language processing system or data model to act like a human, or sometimes it’s better than a human for accuracy and efficiency.
- Increased Efficiency
- 24/7 Availability
- Conversational
- Personalized
- Intelligent
- Self-Service
- Adaptable
- Reduced Costs
Those are the benefits and characteristics of an AI-powered voicebot and assistant. The AI revolution has made a huge impact on almost every tech industry, so it has. As 75% of the customers expect to be answered within 5 minutes, AI-powered voice bots and assistants are most effective for call handling.
Best Practices for Effective Call Handling
Call handling best practices can lead to agents’ performance at the top of their careers, and they ensure customer satisfaction because of smooth customer service over the phone. So let’s take a look at the best practices of call handling in the section below.
Speed & Responsiveness
Speed and responsiveness are the key practices for effective call handling. There are three rules for agents. Answering within three calls reduces customers’ frustration, and closing within 15 seconds indicates the speed of solution providing. Waiting for a call to be answered makes the customer frustrated, and that results in dissatisfaction and makes them feel unimportant. A quick solution creates a better impression on the customer, and adhering to the three-ring rules sets a standard for your company towards customers.
Professional Etiquette
Professional etiquette is mandatory for call handling. Let’s see how you can maintain professionalism following the steps below.
- Greet a customer courteously by calling their name if you have information in the CRM.
- Brief about the service or business, and introduce yourself, taking the minimum time
- Use a polite tone of voice
- Show empathy that you feel the pain point as it happened to you, also
- Most importantly, don’t interrupt the customer while they are talking, and listen carefully without missing a single point.
In addition, problem-solving skills in a timely manner with promptness add more quality to your call handling service.
Personalization
While on a call with a customer, personalizing their information makes them feel important. Like, if you greet them by name without asking and briefly about their previous record, they will definitely be pleased, and it will create a comfort zone for the customer to let you know their current pain point, interest, and desired solution in detail. This is how you can personalize a customer’s information to create a better impact on them, and it ends up bringing a more positive impression for your company.
Clarity & Accuracy
Listen to the caller actively, and if you do not understand anything told by the customer, ask again until it becomes clear, because clarity is important for the solution. Your solution will impact the customer and your company, so vague reception is dangerous for quality solutions and suggestions. Once you get the customer’s pain point, be accurate with the service of the solution, don’t make it long with unnecessary things that are not related or important. Try to answer at the accurate point to make the call duration shorter once you have provided the solution before ending the call. Summarize the call for a better understanding before ending up.
Efficient Routing & Hold Management
Routing for a call center or call answering refers to when a customer dials the number and, based on their keyboard input, the IVR routes the call to the specialized agent for the specific service. IVR plays a crucial role in accurate service and reduces costs for the company. An automatic call distributor(ACD) distributes the calls according to the skill set of the agent and the customer’s requirement. These technologies improve call handling timing, duration, and efficiency multiple times compared to using a traditional system.
First Call Resolution & FollowâUp
Over 40% of American customers expect to get a solution over the phone on their first call. So if you can provide a proper solution understanding customer pain points, interests, etc, then it will reduce the repeat calls. Having a target of 70% of the call should be solved within their first call can improve productivity, reduce costs, and let you focus on complex issues. If you can not give a solution in the first call, you need to follow up for the next call, transfer, or escalate it to the specialized or skilled team.
Training & Quality Assurance
Effective call handling is essential for providing better customer service and meeting business goals. Training often includes role-playing and scripted prompts to reproduce real scenarios, enabling agents to practice handling diverse customer inquiries, and also call center training is important in equipping agents with the skills to manage calls proficiently.
- Reviewing metrics like âFirst Call Resolutionâ (FCR) and customer satisfaction helps refine strategies.
- Ongoing feedback and regular quality checks are crucial for maintaining high standards.
- Call monitoring offers insights into agent performance, aiding in identifying improvement areas.
Together, these practices improve customer experience of call answering, enhance efficiency, promote customer satisfaction, and encourage agent development.
Why Call Handling Matters?
Effective call handling is very important and plays a crucial role in business because it impacts customer satisfaction, brand reputation, and overall business success. Let’s break down the reason in steps with details.
Customer Experience & Retention
Strong call handling boosts satisfaction and loyalty to your brand or company, while weak call handling triggers churn due to customer dissatisfaction. 89% of consumers defect after poor service, and they also spread the bad impression toward their relatives, friends, and known persons, so it harms your brand’s image. A study says that 67% of customers churn after repeated issues because once you have given the solution, the same problems should not persist with the same customers, and if it repeats with them, they will go to others.
Business & Operational Benefits
Effective call handling has some benefits. Let’s see the below.
- Converts calls into sales or booked appointments
- Improves efficiency,
- reduces costs,
- enhances brand image
- Supports KPI improvement ( average handle time, FCR (first call resolution))
Call handling skills increase brand value and bring new customers to the business. So not only do you get the above benefits, but also some indirect positive impact will make you benefit from an effective call handling service for your customers.
Measuring Call Handling Success
Measuring call handling performance is essential for your business because when ending the call, it leaves the image of your company, and that drives customers to your way or others. So, keep an eye on measuring the call handling success; following the criteria can improve overall scores.
Key Metrics
Average Handle Time (AHT): 4 to 6 minutes is the average handle time for all industries, but Banking and Telecom have 5-7 minutes, Retail and E-commerce have 2-4 minutes, and Technical Support and difficult call handling service have 7-10 minutes average handle time. You can use an AI-powered agent to reduce AHD. A stat says that T-Mobile reduced AHT by 18% by implementing AI-powered agent assistance tools.
First Call Resolution (FCR): A good first call resolution is 70-75% more than would be magic. Determining FCR. For every 1% improvement in FCR, there is a 2.5% employee satisfaction. 90% of customers keep doing business if you have good FCR. Call handling success metrics are really important for continuous improvement.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): A good CSAT score typically falls between 75% and 84%, while world-class scores are 85% or higher. If your call centers score below 75% then you need significant improvements to improve service quality, including training, using an AI-powered tool, motivational sessions, regular feedback, etc.
Monitoring Tools
With the pace of modernization, every industry has started adopting cutting-edge technologies, so as a call center agent or company, you need to use them to improve call efficiency and accuracy. Let’s discuss those modern tools and strategies of call handling for measuring success.
Speech Analytics
- You can use real-time sentiment analysis or emotion detection to detect customer frustration or satisfaction(CallMiner, Verint, TalkDesk, etc.)
- Keyword and phrase tracking for compliance monitoring
- Trend analysis across conversations to identify common issues
- Voice biometrics for security and verification
- Automated scoring of calls based on predefined criteria
Call Recording
- 100% call capture with secure storage and retrieval
- Selective recording based on specific triggers or criteria
- Integration with CRM systems for context-aware playback
- Redaction capabilities for sensitive information (PCI, PII)
- Multi-channel recording (voice, screen, chat) for comprehensive evaluation
- Long-term archival with searchable metadata
QA Assessments
- Standardized evaluation forms with weighted scoring
- Calibration sessions to ensure consistent scoring across evaluators
- Random sampling strategies to ensure representative coverage
- Targeted evaluations based on specific performance metrics
- Customer feedback integration with internal assessments
- Automated pre-screening to identify calls requiring human review
Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement for a call handling center is important, including analyzing previous mistakes, conducting training programs, refining processes, etc. Let’s discuss more about those key aspects of continuous improvement below.
Regular Evaluation
- Monthly performance reviews with trend analysis
- Comparative benchmarking against industry standards
- Root cause analysis of recurring issues
- Performance coaching plans based on individual needs
- Team performance dashboards with real-time metrics
Training Programs
- Onboarding programs for new agents
- Ongoing skill development workshops
- Compliance training updates
- Soft skills enhancement sessions
- Product knowledge refreshers
- Technology platform training
Process Refinement
- Workflow optimization based on performance data
- Script updates informed by successful interaction patterns
- Policy adjustments based on customer feedback trends
- Technology upgrades to improve efficiency
- Knowledge base updates and maintenance
- Cross-functional collaboration to address systemic issues
Conclusion
Good call handling is essential for customer satisfaction and a good brand image. Good call handling is not only about attending the calls but also about understanding why the customer is trying to call you and providing quality solutions. If you are looking for professional call center service, CallingAgency can be the best solution on the horizon.
FAQ
What is the Difference Between Inbound and Outbound Call Handling?
When a customer calls the call center for a solution, service, or any queries, it is an inbound call handling. On the other hand, when an agent calls the customer for specific reasons, it is referred to as outbound call handling.
How Quickly Should Calls Be Answered?
A call should be answered as quickly as possible, but let’s see some more specific data about the speed of answering the call, with some criteria.
- Excellent: ASA (Average Speed of Answer) below 10 seconds.
- Good: ASA between 10-20 seconds.
- Acceptable: ASA between 20-30 seconds.
- Needs Improvement: ASA over 30 seconds.
What is First Call Resolution, and Why Does It Matter?
FCR is providing the proper solution on the first call of a customer with a low duration, and it’s important because repeating problems or too many attempts can make you lose the customer.
How Does IVR Improve Call Handling?
Interactive voice response can be effective for call handling because it helps automate tasks, route calls efficiently, and provide 24/7 availability.
What Are the Best Practices for Call Handling Etiquette?
Best practice for call handling involves promptness in answering, clear communication, active listening, empathy, professionalism, etc.
