Creating call centres
Almost every company has a call centre - but most simply don't realise it's there. It may be referred to as the sales desk, accounts team or service desk - but all businesses with around three or more people that regularly deal with external calls are, in reality, operating a call centre.
These 'informal' call centres are a way of organising the way calls are handled so that they can be dealt with faster and more effectively. This is a sector currently attracting enormous interest, as answering calls as quickly as possible or dealing with a high volume of calls can be paramount in maintaining a company's image.

A call centre usually makes use of automatic call distribution (ACD) technology, particularly where high levels of call traffic are involved. An ACD system queues incoming phone calls and routes them to the first available extension. It also gives data on queue sizes, average call duration and can offer a number of other specialist options and features.
Many phone systems require an external module or PC to route calls as an ACD would - which has fostered the perception of call centres being a luxury that only major corporates can afford. However, the good news is that by choosing the right phone system, many of the features you need to run an informal call centre come as part of the package.

This is the case with Samsung systems, which are supplied complete with call routing functionality built in as standard. Samsung's call distribution facilities help to optimise service to callers and enable call-centre working for almost any department within a company.

The numbers game
With call distribution facilities of this kind, incoming calls can be routed to the most appropriate, available call taker, so customers spend less time on hold. In addition, supervisors can monitor call statistics, and the status of all current calls and can bring staff in or out of service as necessary to help cope with busy periods. Historic analysis of calls can also help you decide if you need to deploy more or less staff to handle the prevailing level of calls.

Of course, to further boost efficiency in informal call centres, you can also deploy further advanced technologies so that your staff can be more effective in what they do. These include computer telephony integration (CTI) to help link incoming calls with details on the calling party from your databases; or voice processing solutions, such as automated attendant, to help take some of the pressure off call takers during busy periods.

By implementing the right technology, together with the right training for call takers, you can deploy advanced call handling technology within your company at a fraction of the cost that the big corporates pay: technology that can make a real difference to your company's communications and business.