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Improvements in Virtual Queuing

by Konstantin Kishinsky, CEO, BrightPattern - June 3, 2014

Author:
Konstantin Kishinsky, CEO, BrightPattern
+1 650-529-4099
Konstantin.Kishinsky@brightpattern.com

Konstantin has a strong background leading engineering and advanced application development teams. Konstantin has served in key management roles including Director of Engineering at Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories, Inc. (Alcatel since 2000), VP of Product Development at FrontRange, and Founder and CEO of Cayo Communications, Inc. Konstantin attended the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, earning a Master’s in Engineering Physics. He holds six patents and has published seven scientific articles.

Improvements in Virtual Queuing

Instead of relying on increased staffing, contact centers with inbound call volumes in excess of capacity are increasingly turning to Virtual Queuing, a simple and cost-effective solution to minimize hold times. Simply put, this feature gives consumers the option to be put in a “Virtual Queue”. Instead of waiting on hold, a virtual placeholder keeps their place in line and then automatically calls them back and routes them to a customer service representative once their turn comes up.

Acting as a release valve, the Virtual Queue patiently waits in the background and automatically kicks in once hold times exceed a certain threshold. This threshold—along with other system rules—are user-defined and can be flexibly employed by contact center managers to meet changing conditions.

For instance, let’s say you set your threshold to 5 minutes. You hit a spike in call volume, which sends your estimated hold time over the limit. Now callers on hold will be given an option by the IVR, asking them if they’d like to 1) remain on hold, or 2) be placed in the Virtual Queue for a callback. If a caller requests a callback, they enter a phone number and then hang up. A virtual placeholder marks their place in line in the ACD queue. Once their turn is almost up, the system predictively calls them and automatically routes them to a CSR, who handles the call as if it were a standard inbound call.

With Virtual Queuing, contact centers can significantly reduce average hold times, as well as abandoned calls and repeat call attempts. Further, the solution optimizes contact center efficiency—matching CSRs with calls on the fly, with minimal lag time and without involvement required from the agent.

Empowering Consumers With Greater Control

In addition to relieving the strain on overburdened contact centers, Virtual Queuing is an elegant solution to head off consumer frustration. In our increasingly busy society, simply offering this option is enough to shut down irritation for many consumers (including those worried about burning their mobile phone minutes). By offering this option, companies also send a strong signal to consumers that they respect their time.

In short, consumers are empowered with greater control over their time. With the Virtual Queue holding their place in line, they no longer have to resign themselves to listening to the “all agents are busy” message ad nauseam and can attend to other matters until they are called back.

Naturally, managing customer expectations is a critical part of the customer satisfaction equation. Callers are not only provided estimated wait times, they are also informed that the wait time will be the same regardless of which option they choose.

By better managing customer expectations and providing time saving options, Virtual Queuing is an effective tool to bolster the customer experience.

Tangible and Rapid ROI

Building the business case for investing in Virtual Queuing is relatively easy and straightforward given its strong value proposition. If you consider only the cost-savings from shrinking telecom charges, it’s evident this solution offers a rapid investment payback period.

Another important component is the reduction in labor costs, which is by far the largest contact center expense. By employing this tool, companies can increase flexibility in maintaining their service levels without relying on additional staffing.

Although more difficult to quantify, the intangible benefits can be enormous when taken together. In addition to contributing to higher employee satisfaction and retention, Virtual Queuing also offers businesses targeted protection against customer defections. According to a study by management consultancy Bain & Company, boosting customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%, depending on industry and other factors.

Bright Pattern Updates to Virtual Queuing

Bright Pattern, a leader in next-generation cloud-based contact centers, has developed an innovative Virtual Queuing technology, which was re-imagined from the ground up.

Although Virtual Queuing technology has been available in the industry for a number of years, it has traditionally been a complex, taxing process to set up and utilize the function in legacy systems. Bright Pattern has streamlined the process to seamlessly integrate out of the box. To enable our Virtual Queuing feature, you simply check a single box on your administrator interface.

As consumers increasingly rely on mobile devices, Bright Pattern designed its Virtual Queuing solution to enable companies to effortlessly embed the callback functionality into their customer-facing mobile applications (Apple iOS and Android devices). In other words, our innovation allows consumers to bypass the IVR and connect to a company’s contact center through their mobile devices at the touch of a button. The result is a more convenient and unified customer experience.

For instance, let’s say you’re an auto insurer and one of your customers wants to report an accident. Instead of calling your customer service number and waiting on hold, he can simply log into your mobile app and press a button to request a callback once the next claims agent is available.

What’s more, Bright Pattern’s callback technology is also designed to enable a more robust customer experience by integrating other interaction channels. In our example, your customer—once he’s connected to a claims agent—can text the other driver’s insurance details to the agent, or even send photos of the accident through your mobile app. With our innovative next-generation technology, the possibilities for driving the customer experience to new heights –and standing out from the competition— are endless.

Summary of Benefits: A Win-Win for Consumers and Companies

Today’s state-of-the-art Virtual Queuing solution bolsters the customer experience while reducing ongoing operating costs, enabling organizations to:

Reduce caller frustration by empowering consumers with time-saving options

Boost customer loyalty by improving the customer experience and brand perceptions

Significantly shrink toll and other telecom-related expenses

Improve operating flexibility and lower labor costs with optimized staffing

Cost-effectively boost service levels and other key contact center metrics, such as average time to answer and abandon rate

Bolster Customer Service Representative satisfaction and retention levels

Bright Pattern provides next-generation cloud contact center software, ServicePattern™, which includes native multichannel support to improve customer experience, and scales like no other offering on the market, to 5,000 agents and above.

 
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