The contact centre environment is peppered with terminologies, abbreviations, and jargon that can sometimes leave people clueless. In some instances, people in the customer service industry who are supposed to be familiar with these terms mistake one functionality for another, while some are just left plain confused.
ringcentralTo avoid these rather awkward instances, you need to have a better understanding of call centre terms and acronyms. You need to be well-versed about the jargon whether you’re in the call centre and telecom industries or even if you’re just affiliated with a business that requires a contact centre solution.
To help you out, we’ve simplified some of the most commonly used terminology used in the industry and compiled them in this glossary. Read on to know more about these important terms.
Average Handle Time (AHT). This is a call centre metric for the length of time each transaction takes place. It is measured as soon as the agent begins interacting with the caller, including wait times, talk times, and other events that take place during the call.
Blended Agent. A contact centre agent who is assigned to handle both inbound and outbound calls during his or her shift, depending on the demand or strategy.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM). This is a technological solution that contact centres use to manage and analyse customer data or interactions. Salesforce is a popular example of such.
Document Management System (DMS). In contact centre context, such systems are used to handle a large volume of electronic documents such as emails which can’t be checked manually. When they go through the DMS, they are opened and scanned for storage or distribution.
Expected Wait Time (EWT). This is the estimated time the customers should expect to wait in the queue before an agent starts talking to them.
First Contact Resolution (FCR). The metric used to monitor the quality of service or success of each individual interaction. For instance, if the customer calls on a Monday and had to call again the following Wednesday for the exact same issue, then the FCR numbers won’t look good.
Graphical User Interface (GUI). Contact centres need good GUI in software solutions relevant to the company for general ease of use and for easier onboarding of new agents.
Hosted Contact Centre. This is another term for the virtual contact centre, which uses cloud-powered software to run the business. There’s virtually no physical equipment needed yet all of the contact centre tools essential to a customer service outfit are within reach. Popular providers include inContact and RingCentral.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Call centres use IVR systems to identify, segment, and route callers to the most appropriate agent using touch tone dialing, voice menus, and the like.
Journey Mapping. This is an important exercise in contact centres because customer journeys vary a lot. Customers and agents deal with transactions differently so identifying every possible scenario imaginable would be helpful in measuring customer experience and establishing best practices.
Keyboard Shortcuts. Agents rely heavily on their keyboards day in and day out. To make things easier, some providers of contact centre software have started offering customisation option for keyboard shortcuts that agents can use to perform certain tasks quickly.
Lifetime Value. Is a metric that predicts the net profit the business will get from a customer that converts. The measurement covers the entire duration of the relationship with the customer, i.e. the period over which the customer makes payments.
Moment of Truth. In customer service, this is a type of interaction during the customer journey wherein the customer forms or changes an opinion about the product or service being offered. Every phone call or every website visit can be classified as a moment of truth.
Natural Language Processing. Advanced contact centres rely on natural language processing technology to understand the customer’s speech or capture instructions that will help provide quick resolutions.
Outsourcing. A setup wherein an outside company is tasked to handle a business’ interactions with customers, typically via call centres.
Predictive Dialler. Software used to automate outbound calling and maximise output. Calls are distributed to agents when the called party answers.
Queue. Calls or messages that are waiting to be picked up are queued.
RespOrg. This is a contraction of the phrase, “responsible organisation.” RespOrgs are companies that have access to the SMS/800 database which holds all the available toll-free phone numbers in the United States. Toll-free numbers are popular among contact centres for both sales and customer service.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This model of software delivery is popular among modern contact centres. Stakeholders are attracted to the flexibility SaaS offers – software usage is on a subscription basis and services are made available over the internet.
Teleconferencing. It allows participants to join business meetings despite being in distributed locations, which makes it very ideal for outsourced call centres.
Upselling. Agents offering supplementary products or services to customers in hopes of generating more revenue.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). A method of transmitting telephone data over the internet instead of going through the traditional public telephone network. Popular among call centres, VoIP technology facilitates multi-device, location-agnostic communications.
Workforce Management (WFM). Workforce managers are tasked to ensure that resources are correctly allocated depending on the need; tasks typically include planning, scheduling, forecasting, and strategising to maximise efficiency in the operations floor.
Zip Tone. The tone a phone representative hears when they are about to be connected to a customer.
Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments section below.
A RingCentral guest blog by Klaris Chua
Klaris is an online content specialist who frequently participates in conversations about unified communications and collaboration. After several years in broadcast and print media, she decided to jump into the digital world because she found the unique and fast-paced environment too enticing to pass up.
