Many companies are making bold reforms, such as drastically revising their business flow and renovating their systems.

However, for some reason, it seems that there are many cases where no improvement has been made for a long time only in the way of telephone business.

It is precisely in the telephone work that we take for granted every day that we need to improve efficiency.

Let’s think about how to improve efficiency by removing the fixed idea that “telephone business should be like this”.

Redefine how you work on the phone

If you are doing telephone business in a company, there may be many employees who call most of the calls.

In Japan, it is a well-established method to call the main telephone number and have the person in charge take over from there.

For the customer, this method

• You can contact us even if you do not know the name of the person in charge
• Easier to call than someone you don’t know very well

It has the effect of lowering the hurdles for inquiries.

Also, for companies

• Someone will pick up the phone even if the person in charge is not available
• Give a polite impression by having a human respond

There will also be an advantage.

However, it is also true that it is difficult to maintain this method due to the shortage of human resources and the diversification of working environments .

Let’s review the way of telephone business that has been done for a long time and improve efficiency.

What are the problems of intermediation?

Since it is not possible to know who the call is for or what the purpose of the company’s fixed-line phone is, someone answers the phone once, checks the content, and then transfers the call to the person in charge.

However, now that it has become commonplace for each person to have a mobile phone, it is almost impossible to have someone take a private call from you.

Let’s think about the problem of intervening in telephone business.

Inefficient due to waiting time and duplication of effort

The procedure for making a call is

1. Answer the phone and ask for the person’s name and business
2. Check the availability and schedule of the person in charge
3. If there is a person in charge, state the matter and transfer the call.
4. If you are not available, let them know when you will be back and call you back

That’s the flow.

First, the customer has to tell the person who answered the phone what to do and wait until the person in charge takes over.

Once the call is connected, you will have to talk to the person in charge again, which can be a hassle.

In case of absence, the person answering the phone must ask for the other party’s contact information and write a message, and work will occur even after the call ends.

Compared to calling directly to the person in charge, intermediation takes time for both the customer and the person answering the phone.

It is easy to mishear or forget to communicate

It is impossible to eliminate human error as long as human beings respond.

In the case of telephone calls, it is difficult to hear sounds, so there is a possibility that you may miss the name or catch technical terms.

Hearing the same thing over and over again can be stressful for both of us.

In addition, when work is busy, it is easy to make mistakes such as forgetting the content when writing a message memo, or forgetting to make a memo because you are busy answering the next phone call.

If you say, “I should have told you, but the person in charge did not,” you will lose the trust of the customer.

Time taken by irrelevant people

When transferring calls, the first responder must stop working, answer the phone, and handle matters that are not related to their area of ​​responsibility.

The more time you spend on phone work, the less time you have for your own business.

In the case of landline phone support, people who work in the office or who have a lot of work at their desk will answer the phone, so phone work may be concentrated only on specific people .

How to streamline your phone business

The telephone is originally a communication tool that connects directly to the other party, but in the case of the representative telephone,

• have a person in between
• Timing is difficult due to absence or absence

For these reasons, the number of procedures for telephone work has increased, and the burden has been placed on employees.

In order to improve efficiency, it would be effective to take measures such as “thinking about a way to avoid intervening people as much as possible” and “using a contact method other than the phone if the timing is not right”.

Prompt to contact mobile

If the person in charge has a business cell phone, one way to eliminate the intermediary is to switch to direct contact to the cell phone.

This has the advantage of making it easier for customers to contact you, but even if you have a business card, it may be a high hurdle to suddenly call a mobile phone.

In order to establish contact with mobile phones, it will be necessary for the person in charge to make it known that “Please call the mobile phone”.

Accept by email/chat

In the case of a phone call, if you are out of the office and cannot answer the phone, the call will be returned. If the timing isn’t right, you’ll end up crossing paths again and again, and you’ll end up wasting each other’s time.

If you are unlikely to be contacted in real time, we recommend using text communication such as email or chat instead of telephone.

You can check and reply at your own timing, so even if the time doesn’t match, you can use each other’s free time to communicate.

Recently, chatbots have become popular as contact points. Frequently asked questions are automatically answered immediately, making it easy for customers to use.

Implement and automate tool systems

Telephone work has been taken for granted by humans, but routine parts can be automated with tools and systems.

Let’s take a look at the functions of IVR/Voicebots, which are often introduced for primary phone support.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

IVR is to have the number answered by pushing according to the voice guidance.

For example, announcing “Press 1 for new applications, press 2 for changes to your registration details,” and transfer 1 to the new enrollment manager and 2 to the member service manager.

You can talk to the person in charge from the beginning without having to talk to other people or wait for the confirmation of the department in charge, which leads to improved customer satisfaction.

If it is a content that can be accepted only by specifying the date and time, such as restaurant reservations, it is also possible to complete the reception with an answer from the IVR.

Voicebot (Voice AI)

Voicebot is a tool that AI automatically responds.

Voice bot’s strength is that it can respond to questions that are not multiple choice because it uses AI speech recognition technology to recognize what the customer has said.

After confirming the person’s identity by speaking, connecting to an operator, listening to the product name and delivery address at the reception of mail-order sales, converting it to text, and inserting it into the system to create an order history. It is possible to leave it to the voice bot.

Service “Canario” recommended for improving telephone business efficiency

If you can’t change the way you use your company’s main number to receive calls, why not try using a service that automates your call routing?

NEC Networks & System Integration’s “Canario” is a service that uses AI to provide primary telephone support.

“Canario” can automate

• telephone reception
• Name transfer to contact person
• Message text when you are away

Since AI takes over the entire call-handling business, there is no need to worry about employees being swayed by phone calls.

Agents can receive calls on their cell phones wherever they are. If you can’t answer the phone, you can immediately receive a message by e-mail or chat, so the distance between the customer and the person in charge is reduced.

You can use it on your smartphone and you can also make calls from your company number, so you can do telework even with telework.

There is no need to refrain from going out for telephone work.

You will no longer have to spend time answering phone calls or restricting your activities for phone work, and you will be able to use your time more effectively .

Article Summary

• The method of relaying calls is actually inefficient
• There is a risk that human error will occur if there is a person in between
• If the person in charge receives it directly on a mobile phone, etc., it will be easier to contact you
• Eliminate misunderstandings by using email and chat
• IVRs and voicebots can automate incoming calls

Although there may be resistance to stopping the “intermediation” of telephone business, customer satisfaction will increase as a result if access to the person in charge becomes smooth.

Leverage automation tools and more to successfully streamline your telephone operations.