An automatic call distribution system or ACD is a stalwart technology in most inbound contact center operations.
The facilitating technology for call routing, an ACD connects customers with agents in accordance with business rules.
However, since it was first deployed in contact centers in the 1970s, the technology has evolved dramatically.
What is a Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)? Definition
An ACD system is a telephony device that distributes inbound contact center calls to specific agents or teams based on the parameters that the operation configures.
Sometimes these parameters dictate that the call passes through to the next available agent. However, they are often much more intelligent, routing contacts based on customer value, sentiment, or agent skills.
Typically, the ACD integrates with the IVR, CRM, and WFM systems to unlock these capabilities and bring routing strategies to life that result in superior CX.
In addition, today’s ACD systems allow contact centers to think beyond the voice channel. A multichannel ACD engine can converge calls, emails, chats, and social media contacts into one central location, routing interactions as per business rules.
If the solution is based in the cloud, it can also distribute contacts across remote locations – connected via various home and VoIP networks – with ease.
Finally, ACD systems can validate and block callers as well as route them through to automated solutions, such as voicebots.
Insights Available Through ACD
One ACD functionality not highlighted above is its faculty to collect useful data for inbound operations. Such data reveals trends in agent performance, such as:
- Who has the longest idle time?
- What is the longest period a customer has had to wait?
- How many times have callers been abandoned?
However, it is not only historical trends that many modern ACD systems pinpoint. At any given moment, ACDs can surface information regarding how the contact center is performing in real-time. In doing so, they present insights such as the:
- Number of calls in queue
- Longest wait time for any customer
- Number of active agents (agent states)
- Longest available time, when an agent is sitting idle
- The average speed of answer per agent
Using this information, contact center leaders can improve intraday management processes.
What Advanced Routing Strategies do ACDs Enable?
In many ACDs, the default setting is to route the next customer in the queue to the agent sitting idle for the longest time. But, as previously highlighted, contact centers can alter this.
With a CRM integration, there are many skill-based routing strategies that contact centers can employ. Examples include routing:
- Customers to an agent who speaks the same first language
- Customers to the agent who they previously spoke with
- Vulnerable customers to specialist agents
These work by classifying customers as per their requirements and placing them in separate queues that align with agent skills.
Yet, contact centers can employ an ACD system that enables predictive routing to go even further. Such a system assesses data to match customer and agent attributes. The ACD then predicts which agent is best suited to answer the call based on many factors, including the likelihood of rapport.
Eager to discover how ACD systems may function in the future contact center? Then, check out our article: Does AI Mean the End of ACD?