Looking To Upgrade Your IVR System in 2011 and Beyond!

Providing advanced and comprehensive hosted IVR in the cloud allows you to complete more calls in the IVR and free your agents up for quicker call resolution. If you are paying more than $0.059 cents per minute to handle calls in your current IVR, then contact us today for a quote and to learn about how easy it is to setup and take advantage of a custom solution built for you.

Need Speech Recognition or Data Posting?

Setting up is easily done with our guidance whether you require speech recognition, text-to-speech or real-time data posting between your databases and the IVR. We will design and deliver a cost effective solution that will delight you and your customers.

Sometimes You Just Need Extra Support To Make It All Happen.

Route2Cloud delivers you the support you need. Our philosophy carries a simple goal in mind – to make you successful – and we’ll align solutions, resources and staff to get you running smoothly again. Don’t just take our word on it, read our satisfied client testimonials for yourself.

Regardless of whether you want to build an IVR to expedite the highest paying leads, manage telephone customer service concerns, or create an intricate phone directory for a large (or small) company. Here are ten essential tips that will ensure IVR success.

10. A solid IVR is “short and sweet”– no unnecessary prompts or questions. First brainstorm and then outline the most important pieces of information you want to provide directly to the customers. The same process applies to pieces of information you wish to extract from the customer.

9. Streamline the initial process by starting with just the top five prompts you want to play or ask your customers. Start there and with time continue to observe, analyze, and adapt your IVR. You can remove or add prompts to enhance the overall quality of the IVR. Just remember in this case less is always more.

8. An opening prompt should be polite, exact, and short.– When creating a successful opening prompt try to integrate politeness by displaying your gratitude to the customer that is calling in and reaching your IVR. Keep in mind the opening prompt should be short in nature (less than 30 seconds) and concise.

7. Provide the caller the option of whether they want to use the IVR or not. Create a message that empowers the customer to gain instant navigation through the IVR or inform them that a human representative, or voice mail box is still an option

6. First Person IVR– Create the IVR script in the first person. Customers prefer to hear an IVR refer to itself as “I” rather than an non-specific “system”.

5. Provide the customer with response options.– Inform customers with the option to navigate the IVR either using touch tone buttons or by speaking their answers. Make sure the customer understands that speech is an option.

4. If speech answers are enabled be specific.– Be concise regarding what the answer needs to be. Stick with two or three syllable responses so as not to confuse the customer, or the system.

3. Break down the processes in the IVR script to ensure consistent language throughout.– Break down the various actions (something you request the customer to do) and names (what you call something) of each process you have scripted into your IVR. If you tell a customer to “press one” and then later tell them to ” enter two” you do not have consistent language.

2. Consider Touch Tone Only.– A touch tone only IVR will not allow voice responses but is ideal for situations where the customer has significant background noise. A touch tone only IVR is also a great way to simplify an IVR.

1. Always provide an option to access human assistance if needed.– Customers can become frustrated or agitated in an IVR situation and having an option for human assistance will minimize customers hanging up and not calling back.

While every IVR campaign is unique in nature, Route2Cloud can assist you every step of the way. Our extensive experience will help to guide you in creating either a sophisticated IVR (with an advanced database look up and real time http posting), or even the most basic IVR configurations. Don’t hesitate to contact us today for a personalized IVR consultation.

NO SET UP FEES

NO TRAINING COSTS

NO AGENT FEES

You only pay the minutes incurred inbound/outbound during the test drive period. Say goodbye to your problematic vendor and call us at 800-240-7170 or contact us today for more information on how you can jump start your future with Route2Cloud.

Route2Cloud, the leader in cloud based contact centers, announced today a new incentive program called “Cloud Switch”, to motivate potential clients to switch from the Five 9^® platform they are currently using over to our Call Center Service.

Incentives Never Looked Better

 1. Software “trade-in” pricing: For a limited time, Route2Cloud is offering qualified existing users of the Five9^®service.

The one-time ability to switch to one of our service providers and pay half of the monthly Five9^® software fees they currently pay. 

For a 50 seat call center this could easily result in a savings of $32,500 in software fees on an annual basis.

• Cloud Routing HTTP Polling Module – The cloud routing system now has an integrated HTTP module which allows the system to query a destination via HTTP prior to initiating a voice call.  The destination webserver can either return TRUE of FALSE depending on whether or not they want the system to connect the caller with their destination.  This module is self-documented under the Configure Cloud Routing Cloud Destinations Pre-Routing HTTP tab.
• New Real Time Dial Group Telemetry – There is a new tab on the “Outbound Telemetry” screen that will aggregate all the campaign data by the dial group.  This will give administrative users a more concise and clear picture as to the performance of a dial group on the whole.
• Move Agents To Dial Group –The real time telemetry module has been upgraded to include the ability for administrators using the AdminUI (/manage) to drag and drop agents into dial groups/campaigns.  Simply click on the agent in the Agent Telemetry screen and drag them to the Campaign or Dial Group and release.  You will get an instant confirmation that the agent has been moved, and the real time telemetry will reflect the change within a couple of seconds.  The agent will get a screen pop on their Agent UI which notifies them that they have been moved by an administrator.
• Block Survey Save Based on Disposition –Agent dispositions for ACD queues and VPD campaigns now have the ability to prevent saving of survey results when a particular disposition is selected.  This can be helpful in a scenario where survey data is only required on a “Sale” disposition and there is no reason to persist the results for Do Not Call, Not Interested, Etc.
• Cloud Routing Delayed Destination Inclusion –The cloud routing system has a new feature which gives the administrator the ability to add more destinations to the routing scheme as we loop over the destinations.  For example, on the first iteration of the destinations, we only want to try “Destination A”.  The second iteration we now want to try “Destination A” and “Destination B”.  The third iteration we now want to try “Destination A”, “Destination B”, and “Destination C”.  The end result is that we have attempted “Destination A” a total of 3 times, “Destination B” a total of 2 times, and “Destination C” a total of 1 time.  This feature can be controlled using a combination of the “Repeat Count” setting on the main Cloud Profile form and the new “Activate On Iteration” setting on the destination assignment screen.

 
Fixes/Improvements

• Real Time Telemetry Optimizations – All modules of real time telemetry have been improved to make processing and display less CPU intensive and more efficient when having multiple telemetry views running simultaneously.  We have found in testing that the random ‘freezing’ of the telemetry as well as the occasional duplication of rows when sorting has been resolved. 
• Track Number Call Detail Reports –In scenarios of Parallel Dialing strategies, the destination result was always showing “After Hours” regardless of which set of destinations were chosen for routing.  This has been resolved and all future calls will properly track “During” or “After”.
• Optimization of all reports which access Agent data –Many optimizations to the speed and efficiency of agent based queries.  This should result in shorter response times while waiting for reporting generation.
• Real Time Telemetry Scroll Position –The real time telemetry screens will now maintain their scroll position when receiving updated datasets from the back-end servers.  Previously the system would always reset to the top position upon each refresh.
• XML List Loader API + International –The XML based list loader now properly supports international campaigns and destinations.

Does any of this sound perfect for your unique business need? Learn more about our unique and customizable solutions here. Have questions or want a free consultation? Contact us today.

Route2Cloud takes pride in our reputation as a leading provider of contact
center solutions, and we’ve raised our level of service by now providing a
channel partner program to provide referral partners another opportunity to
generate revenue and raise their value to clients.

We offer robust contact center analytics, quality assurance monitoring, and
agent performance management. Services can be offered individually or as a
bundled integrated package allowing you to offer the right solution for every
application.

Don’t Get Left Behind Utilizing Yesterday’s Technology

To learn more about our incredibly competitive pricing packages and how our
channel partner program can benefit you call Route2Cloud at 800-240-7170 or
complete our contact us form today.

Do you have a company website or business social media site that you are looking to stand ahead of the crowd. Are you looking for that outside of the box tool that will allow you to instantly reach your social forward customers?

Route2Cloud offers a unique and fully customizable Social Media Widget that can be integrated on any site. A company can place the widget directly on their business Facebook page, on a corporate site, or social media site of your choosing. The widget allows you to gain instant access to your customers, increase their trust, and build long lasting relationships by adding voice to the selected site.

Examples of some of the Social Media Widget’s many applications:

• Increase the number of Likes on your business Facebook page
• Bring traffic to your company website
• Address customer concerns instantly
• Gain valuable feedback to bring in new customers
• Hold contests and increase brand awareness
• Get to know your customers preferences and build long lasting relationships
• Allow customers to reserve an Agent callback
• Create forms or surveys for gathering valuable data and insight

If the Social Media Widget sounds like a tool that could bring your company’s social media strategy one step ahead of the industry contact us today or call 1-800-240-7170 now to learn more.

International Dialing

You now have the ability to dial internationally! If you are interested in this new feature, contact us now to learn more about our special rates and terms.

Please note, if you set up an International Campaign, the Scheduling changes to a 24 hour schedule for that Campaign. You are responsible for setting a schedule that is consistent with the timezone for your leads (remember all timezones in the Admin Interface are in EST).

New Campaign Wizard

Now when you click to create a new Campaign, you will see a button to launch the New Campaign Wizard. This wizard walks you through creating a Campaign. There are tool tips added to all fields.

Outbound List Loader Wizard

We’ve changed the Outbound List Loader to a Wizard. This will walk you through the process of setting up a list, ensuring no steps are missed.

HTTP Services in Surveys

You can now integrate Surveys with your HTTP Services! You will see an option to set up Survey HTTP Services. This is done like the SOAP services. There is a new tab added to the Survey Page Configuration form called HTTP Services. After you set up your service, you can add it to a Survey page on the Page Load or Page Leave. 
 

We hope you enjoy the updates. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation or call us at directly at 1-800-240-7170.

With people blogging, Tweeting, and Facebooking just about everything about their personal and professional lives, sharing their customer experiences is no different. Sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are not to be ignored anymore and are undeniably changing the way companies position their brands and interact with their customers.

Today’s customers “will not support companies with poor customer care reputations, and they will talk about all of this openly with others via multiple online vehicles,” says Dr. Ganim Nora Barnes, senior fellow of the Society for New Communications Research.

With the call center being a cornerstone for customer interaction, call centers can truly optimize social media channels to get closer to their customers, identify trends, and create brand advocates. While most people in the call center business can’t ignore the power of social media, what does not get talked about is how to optimize it to work for you. We rounded up six simple key points to help guide your managers into creating a social media strategy.

1. Select and train your team of social media specialists.“Social media specialist” is a new and highly coveted position in the call center, and choosing the best qualified agents to manage online customer issues and complaints is critical. While some larger companies may find it necessary to create dedicated social media specialist positions, in most centers social media staff still handle contacts via the more traditional channels (i.e., phone, email, chat), as well. Even the most terrific “Tweeters” and proficient “Facebookers” among your staff will need to be trained on your corporate social media strategy as well as the call center’s specific policies and practices for social media-based customer interactions. As part of training, leading centers also review social media norms, and the specific culture and rules of each social media site in which agents will be interacting with customers. 
2. Invest in a social media monitoring/interaction application. Effective social media-based customer care – as does customer care via traditional contact channels – begins with “listening” to your customers. The difference, and the big challenge, is that there is a heck of a lot more “noise” to cut through when listening to customers in the social media realm, and those customers are not (necessarily) even “talking” to you. They are sharing their experiences, issues, complaints and, yes, sometimes praise, in a wide-open public environment with friends, family, colleagues and, really, anybody who will “listen.” Vendors that are leading the way in regard to social media applications for call centers include Salesforce.com, RightNow, Radian 6, Visible Technologies, Oracle and SAP. Salesforce.com’s “Service Cloud” customer service application is able to connect directly to Facebook and Twitter. A call center agent can monitor conversations over these sites while simultaneously viewing data in a sales app that provides in-depth product/service information to help answer questions. The agent can then post those answers to Twitter, resolving the problem not only for the customer in question, but also for customers to whom the original customer is connected who might be experiencing similar issues.
3. Create a uniform corporate presence on key social media sites. Rather than just having agents enter into discussions or respond to complaints/issues that occur on sites like Twitter and Facebook, leading organizations have created a corporate pages or groups on popular social networks where agents can interact with customers. Some centers have even created personalized profiles featuring photos and brief bios of each social media agent, helping to give the organization a friendly, more organic online presence.
4. Create your own company-hosted, customer-to-customer social networking communities.Excelling in customer support via social media requires more than just participating on popular sites. The most progressive organizations have created their own social networking communities outside the realm of Twitter, Facebook and the like. Some vendors are experimenting with applications and tools that are intended to help customers contact the call center directly via social media sites. For instance, Avaya recently announced its Facephone prototype, which enables customers to contact a call center via a Facebook page and be connected to an agent. The agent can query the Facebook page of the caller prior to taking the call to gain some insight into what the caller’s issue may be.
5. Invite social web users to email or chat — or even call — when appropriate. Not all customer issues and concerns should be handled publicly. Pioneering call centers have discovered that social media sites can supplement, but certainly not replace, more traditional contact channels — especially when a customer is “flaming” online about a problem, or when their issue is too complex to be effectively resolved via short responses from an agent on a social media site.
6. Add a Social Media Widget to your company site and social media sites. Route2Cloud is sensitive to the businesses and merchants that are looking to provide call center services but are not able to do so. We understand this unique need and can provide a new Social Media widget that will allow you to gain long lasting relationships with your customers. The Social Media widget can add voice directly to your company website or any of your social media sites like your Facebook page. By maximizing the Social Media widget you can instantly connect with your customers and excel in customer service. The widget can be strategically placed on the site, with customizable tabs that are flexible to your business needs.

Interested in learning more about how Route2Cloud can help harness in the power of social media with our experience and unique tools like the Social Media Widget? Contact us now for a free consultation.

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10. Customer Service – Can you reach the provider over the phone quickly and without hassle? Is the provider helpful? If you schedule a big broadcast will they monitor the calls? Think of your voice broadcasting provider as a partner, and demand outstanding customer service & support.

9. Accurate Reporting – Do you get instant access to reports, or will you be left to wait impatiently? Can you download them into multiple formats? Does the provider have an automated report system or are they manually crunching numbers behind the scenes. Having accurate reports is crucial to determine your ROI.

8.  Creativity For Growth - Does the provider only offer voice broadcasting, or will they provide unique solutions to foster growth for your company? Ask what else the voice broadcasting company does for companies in your industry. Seek testimonials.

7. Option To Record – When there is a transfer back to your sales agent, will you have the ability to record that conversation “for quality & training purposes”? Ask the provider up front about recording limitations if any.

6.  Transfer Routing - Ask how you can route customers or prospects when they chose to transfer back to you. For example, many voice broadcasting companies will have you record a message and then tell the caller to press 1 to be transferred back to a single number. What if you want to route the caller based on their location to the nearest store? To an available sales agent? To your office, cell, & home phone simultaneously? To your virtual receptionist, an interactive voice response dialog, or voice mail? Draft a transfer plan unique to your needs and ensure the provider can deliver.

5. Interactive Voice Response – Are you interested in an interactive voice broadcast, or simply looking to send a recorded message? If you want interactive calls, ask your vendor about their interactive voice response (IVR) capabilities.

4. Voice Mail Detection – Can your vendor detect whether a live person or voice mail answers your call? Just like you’d relay a message differently to a live person than to a voice mail, your voice broadcasting company should enable you to deliver an alternative message for voice mails.

3. Option To Pause - If your campaign becomes wildly successful and all of your phones are ringing off the hook you run the risk of having all of your agents currently busy. You will want the option to temporarily pause your campaign so potential leads won’t receive the dreaded busy signal when they transfer back. Ask the provider if they have this capability available.

2.Per Minute Rates- How much are the provider’s per minute rates? More than 10-12 cents per minute is pretty high, while 1-2 cents per minute is suspiciously low. Ask directly about any hidden fees? How is the sound & delivery quality? Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions, and ask for references.

1. Fees -While you may need to pay for extra ports if you want to send out lots of simultaneous calls, you shouldn’t have to pay for setup fees, unanswered calls, busy signals, disconnected numbers, or fees for transferred calls. Some providers advertise one per minute rate, but double bill by charging you for each person on the line. Ask if they charge additional for a transfer, or if they double bill, to make sure you’re not going to be charged twice the advertised rate.

By spending the time to do the right research and ask these tough questions you will be able to find the best Voice Broadcasting provider for your business. Read more about our unique Voice Broadcasting solutions here.

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