Blog - wide range of features

7 Key Features to Get the Most Out of Your Dialler

With a wide range of features, it’s easy for call centre managers to overlook functionalities that could have a significant impact on efficiency and conversions.

It could be because the user feels they have no need for it, that it’s too complex to set up or they just don’t understand how to use it. Below I’ve highlighted seven key features that’ll make a visible difference to any dialler that I strongly encourage every user to explore.

API Posts – What are they? Are you using them? Should you be using them?

An API (Application Programming Interface) allows different software to communicate with one another.

An API post (in the context of a dialler) is a request made to send data from one software to another. For example, during a call you may wish to update information across both platforms, to save time information can be updated on one and the API takes care of the other. This could be to either update a lead (e.g maybe update the phone number, current address, etc) or to add a new lead.

Example of a NEW post is

Let’s say you run a marketing campaign on social media to capture lead information via way of a form. By using an API, the information can travel from the website and be automatically added to your CRM or dialler.

Example of an UPDATE post

If the record already exists, and you are just altering it or adding notes, this is classed as an UPDATE post. So, an example of this would be if a lead asks to change their address, you can edit the information on say your dialler and have it automatically updated on the CRM.

Should I be using this?

If you have the same data available in two different locations, there should be communication between these systems. The perks of the integration is less manual work needed from agents and managers, a clear view of customer journey (how many times they’ve been called, emailed etc) and most importantly; total synchronisation between your platforms.

Recycle Rules

The maximise return on investment you will need to get the most out of your data without overstepping boundaries. To do this you will need to recycle data. You can manage this more efficiently by using recycle rules.

These golden rules set some structure to your calling, to how many times a lead should be tried and after how long. It also has the potential to mark when a lead is “completed” and should not be tried again.

Should I be using this?

The importance they have is unrivalled–they tell the dialler the difference between a lead that has been called five times and gone to answer machine and a new lead that has just entered your system.

Setting them up is remarkably easy, assign how many times you want a number to be called along with how many times, your dialler will do the rest. Primo Dialler also offers a unique advanced set-up which gives you a lot more control on specific statuses and call times.

Connectivity Report

One of Primo Diallers unique features, this report gives you not only a lead breakdown of the last 24 hours to real time but also the connectivity you’re getting on your caller IDs. Is one number performing better than another? Is it time to change your caller ID? This report will have all the answers.

Scripting

By drafting a script your agents will always have direction during calls.

Your agent script doesn’t need to have an A-Z transcript of what to say and when to say, you could give your agents a bit of creative freedom and have all sorts of messages and lines added in. From statistical lines to conversational pick-me-ups.

If you need to collect certain lead information while on call. You can add in a webform that handles all of that, so there’s no need to be flicking between tabs. Once you fill out all the information, press “Submit” and this form will be posted wherever you like!

Reading and understanding your data + testing your vendors

The one consistency in every call centre is data. You insert the lead, you call it, repeat. Sound familiar? Questions that managers should be asking is what’s the performance on this data-set? How does it compare to the others? How many numbers are valid and how many are not?

The best way to check this, is by putting each vendors dataset in an individual list (named appropriately) and run them either side by side or individually. It’ll give you a comparative view on how many leads went to a human answer or not and other information such as talk-time.

An outbound calling report will give you all the information you need.

Wait time and talk-time + Data

“Why am I getting high wait-time?”–Something all call-centre managers ask themselves at some point. There’s no quick answer or easy diagnostic tool, so let me take you through some common causes.

• The leads you’re calling have already been called before, with a high call count.

Response: You can always check which list you have active or leads inside your campaign for an answer to this question.

• Your dial level is not high enough.

Response: You use a dialler to maximise your connectivity, 1:1 dialling is probably not what you’re after. Ensure that this is on an appropriate (but safe) level. A good rule of thumb is to slowly increase until you find a speed you’re comfortable with.

• Do you still have leads available to call?

Response: Sometimes you’ve called all the leads you had available in that campaign. Ensure you still have numbers available.

Still not making any sense? Use your connectivity report; it’s what it is there for. It’ll show you the latest calls made on your campaign and what their outcome was. Whether it be all your calls going to an answering machine, timeout duration set too short or a caller ID problem –it’ll show you your problem.

Support Team

The biggest resource at your disposal. Each engineer is adept and ready to answer any questions you may have. If you need ideas, suggestions or tips on how to run a campaign, our support team will do their best to assist. It is what they are there for.

Have further questions?

Email in at support@primodialler.com