Category: Uncategorized

by John J. Ruby

Always be on the lookout for innovations and new technology to improve your business. Discover how VOIP customer services add value to business.

Typically, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is considered an excellent way to save on call charges for contact centers. However, VoIP has more benefits than just saving money. Internet technology enhances the quality of customer service in multiple ways. Small and medium businesses can gain multifold benefits from this technology. At GCOM, we offer custom VOIP solutions that help you improve your customer service. Here’s a look at the VOIP advantages for your business:

Fewer dropped or missed calls

Dropped calls can be extremely frustrating for customers, creating a bad image for your company. When you use VoIP, the number of dropped or missed calls drop drastically because VOIP bandwidth can handle more calls simultaneously, thereby leading to a positive user experience.

Features such as call forwarding are very helpful in reducing the number of missed and dropped calls. Furthermore, this feature enables round the clock service. You can route calls to a team that is working after hours even from an offsite location.

Local number advantage

Most people prefer dialing locally, which you can use to your advantage. With voice service VoIP, you can make calls using a local phone. In fact, using the same system, you can have different local numbers for people located in different cities. At GCOM, we offer this feature at competitive rates.

Better Control

As a manager, you have better control over your call center with VoIP. You have real time access to call information such as a source of calls, duration of each call, missed calls, and other similar details. You can also obtain information about First Call Resolution rates and other advanced statistics required for managing the call center better. Some VoIP systems also enable you to listen in on the conversation between customers and agents.

We at GCOM provide a custom solution to give you complete control over your call center. With all these features, you can improve the customer experience.

Integrated solutions

With the use of VoIP, you can integrate various channels of communication with customers and consolidate customer information quickly. Conversations over the phone, social media, email and other channels can be easily monitored on an integrated platform and can be used to improve the quality of customer service.

At GCOM, with our partner voice over IP providers for business, we set up a secure VoIP system for your company to ensure you are receiving reliable technical support. To know more about how we use VOIP to drive growth to your business, you can download our whitepaper, Why VOIP Systems Increase Business Efficiency, today.

by Keith Fiveson

Slowly, companies are transitioning from the legacy voice and data systems to more modern facilities to accommodate the fast-changing pace of the industry. Sprint Corporation, one of GCOM’s most trusted telecommunications partners, is decommissioning their TDM network in June 2017.

In their pursuit to provide consumers and businesses with the freedom of mobility through high-grade communication services, Sprint is pulling out all the stops to ensure that they offer innovative and high-quality solutions.

TDM networks have been the backbone of corporate phone networks over the years, but technological breakthroughs are continuously emerging and they are taking over the contact center industry by storm. New technologies give companies access to faster and better solutions at a lower price, allowing them to provide better services to their consumers. In order to keep up with client requirements and expectations, businesses have realized the need to break away from their legacy system for a new and improved one.

Legacy wireline services scheduled for retirement this June 2017 include the following:

• Legacy business long distance voice solutions
• Legacy toll free voice solutions
• DSL (e.g. DIA over DSL; MPLS over DSL)
• Clearline private line service
• Other voice solutions (e.g. FONCARD, branded operator service)
• Sprintlink packet private line
• Virtual LAN service

The peerless IP VPN is set to retire in March 2018.

Terms and conditions of a valid contract for one of the services above will be honored by Sprint including moves, adds, changes, and support services until the Target Retirement Date. Contracts that terminate before June 2017 are renewable; however, the terms of the contract related to these legacy wireline service will not extend beyond June 2017.

The transition from TDM networks to the new system may bring about changes to the landscape of you and your customer’s businesses. These changes, however, should not cause any disruptions or problems to your day-to-day tasks. For a seamless transition for your affected customers, make sure you have a migration strategy in place.

Have a talk with your team about the new system. How will it affect the framework of your business? Take note of possible problems that may arise and plan solution ahead of time. You can never go wrong with asking telecommunication industry experts when facing problems with network transitions. Our partner voice solution provider, TouchTone Communications, offers both TDM and IP replacement solutions. They are dedicated to providing the highest quality voice and data services at the most competitive rates, while still maintaining first-class customer service.

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at GCOM to ensure you’ll have a seamless transition to the new and better system from trusted telecom solutions providers.

by Keith Fiveson

Setting up a BPO call center is no small task. Because it is such a big investment, it requires a well-thought-out plan and a lot of commitment. There are a multitude of tasks to accomplish to ensure that the call center runs smoothly. To get your business going, you have to analyze the requirements of your business, invest in the necessary infrastructure (hardware and software), and hire the right personnel.

Let’s take a look at this checklist to get you started on your business:

Goals

First, ask yourself: do you really need a call center? Before setting up any business, ensure that you have a clear idea of your main objectives. Do you want to generate sales or offer better customer service? Establishing the purpose of your business decision is essential for you to align the setup of your call center to your goals. Try dividing your objectives into primary and secondary for clarity.

Budget

A crucial thing to do is to set a budget for your upcoming call center. What is your maximum spending capacity? Take into account the number of agents you need, the type of call center you want to establish, the infrastructure, and the training costs.

While planning your budget, do not forget to allot a percentage of money as an emergency fund. You will need this for damage control due to unforeseen accidents, like a hardware or software crash, for example.

Type of Call Center

If you have the resources to invest in building a call center infrastructure, hiring in-house agents, and maintaining your staff, you can start a physical call center. However, if you are hard pressed for resources, opt for a virtual call center instead.

Both physical and virtual,  cloud-based call centers have their own benefits. Compare and decide what is best for you. We help clients do this every day.  The operational parameter and constraints of your call center depend on the behavioral attributes of your customers as well. So, make sure you understand your customers before making the final decision.

Team

Establishing a strong team, from your call center representative to your call center manager, is the most important part of setting up your business. Choose your team based on your goals and objectives. Your agents need to sound well-educated, professional, and fluent, so do not hesitate on investing in staff training.

Set up a strong assessment criteria to help you analyze the performance of individual agents as well as the call center as a whole. Constant analysis and respective change of strategies define the success of your call center.

Choose the Right Network

A very basic and crucial part of your call center is the network. A reliable and high-quality telecom network will make a huge difference. An unclear, patchy network will create a lot of interruptions during your calls, which will affect the customer experience. GCOM Worldwide is in partnership with high-quality network providers such as CenturyLink and Gryphon Network that can provide the best systems for your call center.

Before you begin the process of setting up a call center, analyze your existing telephony system to decide on the most cost-effective and efficient course of action. Would your existing system need a complete revamp or would an upgrade be adequate? What are the flaws and strengths of your existing telephony system? Can a new system be integrated with the existing one? Analyze all these factors before making the final decision.

To help you decide on what’s best for your company, don’t hesitate to contact us at GCOM Worldwide.