Telephony Software for Businesses: What to Consider When Choosing Auto-Dialing Software

Modern business does not tolerate waiting, and this applies not only to the fight for customers and making important business decisions. Customer expectations regarding customer service are also becoming higher! Today, it is difficult to consider a successful business in which customers are forced to call the company for a long time, wait for an answer from employees, or get nervous because their issue takes too long to resolve. If this happens, the chances are much higher that the client will simply go to a faster competitor than show loyalty and obediently wait to be served.

The times of manual calls, requests to call back later, or dial the number of another employee have irrevocably sunk into oblivion. And thanks to digital telephony, you can forget about losing customers due to poor-quality telephone service. You just need to choose the right technology and its suppliers to get a reliable digital telephony tool for your needs. But let's take a closer look at how to do this in our article.

Tools and Technologies: What IP Telephony Offers to Businesses Today

Let's start with which technologies today help businesses maintain a high level of customer service in the telephony sector.

• Auto-dialing is a function provided by special equipment or software for automatically dialling customer numbers from a database. If you have a database with customer/lead phone numbers, you can automate the calling process with this technology. The tool dials the client and, at the moment of connection, transfers the call either to a free operator from among the employees, or to an IVR - an interactive voice response tool. Using the auto-dialing function, you can evenly distribute the load on operators, and increase the speed of dialing and the number of calls to customers. In this case, the auto-dialing tool can use different algorithms, i.e., predictive, progressive, or previewing client data before connecting.
• IVR or Interactive Voice Response is a tool for automating the delivery of information to clients. The voice assistant either responds to tone dialling according to a given algorithm or recognizes speech and reacts accordingly: transfers the call to the desired department, plays an information message, etc.

At the same time, auto-dialing and IVR tools can be provided in several form factors. For example, in the format of software that works using VoIP.

There is also a more convenient way to ensure the operation of auto-dialing by using not a software product installed on the company's computers, but SaaS solutions which provide software as a service remotely with access from any device.

Benefits of Using Auto-Dialing for Businesses

What makes an auto-dialing tool truly effective for running any business?

• Increasing the efficiency of the call center or sales department. Automating customer dialling reduces dialling and answering time, and you can reach many more customers in a given time frame compared to manual calling.
• Strengthening customer loyalty. The operator has the opportunity to learn more about the client even before starting a conversation with him, and this improves interaction and helps build strong connections between the client and the company, strengthening the client's loyalty, because he feels that the company is interested in him.
• Increased sales. Call automation frees up your time to work more effectively with each client. You can concentrate on improving the quality of service and with this, sales increase comes.
• Reduced downtime. Your call center operates without downtime, and there are no periods of excessive load, too. Auto-dialing allows you to effectively distribute time and calls between operators, and it calculates intervals to forward the call to a free employee.

What to Consider: What Auto-Dialing Functions Do Businesses Need?

Of course, the auto-dialing tool from different service providers may differ in its functionality. To get the most effective software for your purposes, please pay attention to the availability of the following useful functions in the selected software:

• Integration with your CRM. CRM as a system for managing relationships with clients is a must for business. If you use a specific CRM, it's worth paying attention to how telephony integration is implemented with your tool. By the way, at IPTel, we offer a ready-to-use CRM with built-in telephony, including auto-dialing. This is a convenient solution for business, especially if you just want to start using CRM and are looking for a suitable option.
• Answering machine detector. Why should you waste the operator's time on a call that was answered by an answering machine? The answering machine detection function will help to filter out such calls and not forward them to the operator. Similar functions can be used to filter calls to busy numbers and numbers that automatically turn on fax or voice mail.
• Call forwarding is a function that allows the client to either leave a message to the company after the signal or select the desired department and contact its employees.
• Remote access is an important function, especially if part of your team works remotely, and it is crucial for you that calls are forwarded on time and accurately not only within the office but also to remote operators.
• Do-not-call-me lists. If you have clients who do not want to receive calls from you, all you need to do is use this feature to have the auto-dialer skip numbers from such a list.
• Tools for collecting statistics and analytics. Built-in analytics tools allow you to quickly receive information about the work of the call center, call statistics and results in the form of clear reports.
• Voice messages are another feature worth adding to your must-have list. Most auto-dialing tools provide the ability to include various voice messages to inform customers without involving operators.
• Tools for managing your contact database. This is a function with which operators and responsible employees will be able to upload and download contact lists and change customer information to update it.

Of course, your business may not need all of these features. But the more of them are included in the capabilities of the selected auto-dialing tool, the better.

Tips for Choosing: What to Consider When Selecting Auto-Dialing Software from a Business Point of View

Firstly, the search for suitable software and a digital telephony auto-dialing service provider should begin with an audit of your business and setting goals. What should you take into account in this aspect?

• Business size directly affects digital telephony needs. When selecting software, it is worth considering the size of the company, the number of operators who will work with calling customers, and their tasks. It-s one thing to look for a solution for a large call center that must handle hundreds of calls a day, and another thing is a small company that wants to improve and personalize customer service using digital telephony.
• Type of dialing algorithms. As we mentioned above, auto-dialling can use different algorithms. And the choice of software depends, among other things, on which algorithm will be effective specifically for your business.
• The specifics of your business and the purpose of using auto-dialer. This is a specification of what was discussed in the first paragraph. Do you want to increase the customer-oriented essence of the service using auto-dialing tools, or do you need to streamline the flow of calls, or, maybe, you are interested in both of them?

Evaluation of Digital Telephony and Auto-Dialing Service Providers

We have already mentioned what functions may be included in the auto-dialling service from a particular software provider. But they are not the only ones that play a role when you need to choose a tool to implement in your company.

What else is worth considering?

• The price of the service. This is the cornerstone because no one wants to overpay! In this regard, it is worth considering the option of auto-dialer in the SaaS format. Then you will get the functions you need without additional costs for software maintenance, installation, and integration, and you will receive all the functionality based on a subscription according to a specific tariff plan.
• Key functions and their usability. A good option will work flawlessly, and at the same time, its use will be intuitive for your employees.
• Additional functions and the ability to enable/disable them. Time does not stand still, and you may need something more than the basic functionality of auto-dialing. It's better to anticipate this in advance and choose a service provider that can quickly add additional features and tools to scale your business.
• Reviews from other clients. This is generally the most important criterion for evaluation. The experiences of other users will tell you much more than all the advertisements. A good rating and positive reviews from other companies are a sign that the service can be trusted.

Let's summarize. Auto-dialer is one of the most convenient and effective functions of modern digital telephony today. With its help, you can solve several problems at once, and optimize the work of your call center or departments responsible for communication with the client. Call automation is an opportunity to implement algorithms to work efficiently and improve customer service.

At the same time, auto-dialling tools can be different both from a technical point of view and from the point of view of the set of functions available in them. To make the right choice, it is worth considering both the internal needs and capabilities of your company, as well as external factors like the availability of basic and additional functions, the software, or service delivery model, the supplier's pricing policy, and reviews of its work from other clients. It is this kind of multifactor analysis that allows you to make the right choice and get a truly productive, reliable, and, at the same time, profitable tool for working with customer calls for your business.

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