Call centers are becoming increasingly efficient and working towards better performance than ever before. Agents are continuously scrutinized via customer interactions and given feedback to improve.
Looking at different call center software, one can notice that the industry benchmark is post-call agent feedback.
What about assisting agents in real-time? Wouldn’t that be a game-changer?
The answer is a straight YES. It is the ultimate solution to improved employee productivity on live calls, leading to better customer experience.
Convin’s real-time Agent Assist, in combination with Supervisor Assist allows agents to effortlessly help customers by providing a helping hand on every call.
Before we look at the benefits of real-time monitoring, let’s try to understand what real-time monitoring is.
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What is Real-Time Monitoring in a Call Center?
Real-Time Monitoring or Real-Time Agent Assistance refers to evaluating agent-customer calls and providing suggestions and feedback in real-time.
In short, it is used to display monitoring data in real-time.
This is done by upgrading currently existing algorithms to work on live interactions between agents and customers.
For example, consider a customer calling a gym about renewing their membership. Real-time monitoring can empower and assist the agent in offering the most suitable membership package and renewal discount on the live sales call. This avoids the delay of sending the details post-call and waiting for an answer from the customer.
How does Real-Time Monitoring Work?
Real-time monitoring operates by providing live guidance and support to customer service agents during their interactions. These systems collect data and employ natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to offer intelligent suggestions, prompts, and warnings while agents are on live calls.
It equips agents with real-time data, offering immediate suggestions and a guided script to ensure key aspects of customer service are addressed efficiently. Agent Assist also provides proactive alerts and suggestions to navigate different situations effectively, enhancing overall customer interaction quality.
Furthermore, it includes features like dynamic battle cards for navigating complex scenarios, an integrated knowledge base for accessing relevant and real-time information, and live call analysis for immediate performance optimization.
This robust framework ensures that agents can make informed decisions and maintain high-quality service in real-time.
Now that we’ve learned about real-time monitoring and its operation, let’s examine its advantages.
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How can Real-Time Monitoring Help Agents During a Call?
Before we examine the improvements in real-time monitoring, let’s consider a simple scenario to compare these two monitoring modes.
A customer called Netflix customer care to inquire about the new password-sharing regulations. They were interested in learning about the limitations of using a single account and then deciding to renew their subscription accordingly.
We’ll be looking at the benefits of real-time Agent Assistance by considering this scenario.
1. Help Agents Stick to the Call Script
Agents have to stick to their script while resolving all customer queries. Following the script is the first step towards keeping customers happy and solving their queries.
Real-time monitoring helps agents stick to the script with a virtual checklist.
2. Reduce Gaps in Agent Knowledge
When organizations update their offerings, not all agents are up-to-date with them. While information is relayed to them, not everyone memorizes it immediately.
Instead of putting customers on long holds, agents can search the knowledge base for all documents. This helps agents to provide customers with the right information without long wait times.
So when customers call about the household rules that Netflix has enforced, agents can easily help customers. The knowledge base is a safe haven for agents to find all unknown information.
3. Better Control Over Compliance Violations
Leaders can stop waiting for the call to be over to inform agents that they’ve committed a compliance violation. It’s time for proactive action.
With real-time monitoring, it is easier to reduce the possibility of compliance violations as agents receive a message on any violation that happens immediately.
4. Dynamic Prompt Suggestions
Real-time monitoring can help agents effortlessly navigate difficult customer situations by providing them with pointers on how to resolve them.
Agent assist triggers battle cards when a customer uses certain trigger words or phases. These battle cards have responses that the agent can use to help the customer.
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Battle cards show responses in 3 different formats:
- A step-by-step flow on how to deal with the current situation
- Hints for agents to resolve a situation
- A list of options for the agent to ask the customer
For example:
- When the customer wants to cancel their subscription, a list of steps is shown to the agent
- When a customer wants to change their subscription plan, a hint is shown on the different plans that are available currently
- When the customer is charged incorrectly, there are certain options shown to the agent
The team leaders set up the triggers for these battle cards and the responses shown to agents.
5. Live Captions
There are calls where agents find it difficult to follow a customer’s accent. With real-time Agent Assistance, this isn’t a barrier anymore.
Agents can communicate effortlessly as the software transcribes the call in real-time. They can see either the complete transcript or a line-by-line transcript.
6. Ask AI
Got burning questions? Just Ask AI! This nifty feature-powered generative AI, machine learning, and natural language processing taps into a treasure trove of knowledge from all corners of the digital universe.
Whether you need product information, training materials, or just some general know-how, ‘Ask AI’ has your back. It will save you time and keep those conversations flowing smoothly.
7. Increase Customer Satisfaction Levels
As shown above, with real-time Agent Assistance, agents can:
- Share extensive information without long hold times
- Resolve most queries in the first conversation
These can contribute to increasing customer satisfaction levels. And as per a study by the SQM group revealed that every 1% increase in first contact resolution leads to a 1% increase in customer satisfaction scores.
See Agent Assist in action!
Now that we’ve examined the benefits of real-time Agent Assist, let’s explore why call centers should invest in real-time monitoring.
How Can Real-Time Monitoring Help Supervisors During a Call?
Imagine a scenario where a supervisor can oversee live calls, not as an over-the-shoulder eavesdropper, but as a strategic ally armed with real-time data and insights.
With Agent Assist, supervisors can provide instant feedback or intervene only when necessary, ensuring each customer interaction is as productive and positive as possible.
Moreover, real-time analysis offers a live overview of call dynamics, enabling supervisors to identify trends, pinpoint areas for improvement, and commend agents for a job well done.
This immediate feedback loop not only boosts agent performance but also contributes significantly to customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Let's explore the features of Convin's Supervisor Assist in bullet points and then create a concise section explaining its benefits and functionality:
- Live Monitoring: Supervisors can watch and listen to live calls in real time, providing immediate insight into agent-customer interactions.
- Instant Intervention: This feature enables supervisors to barge during a call if necessary, offering real-time assistance or guidance to ensure optimal call outcomes.
- Sentiment Analytics: Real-time data and analytics allow supervisors to track customer sentiments and guide agents accordingly.
- Feedback Loop: Supervisors can offer immediate feedback post-call, which aids in rapidly developing and reinforcing best practices.
- Alert System: Custom alerts notify supervisors about specific call events, such as a compliance violation or an agent needing assistance, ensuring they can react promptly.
- Training and Coaching: Data from live interactions can be used to inform training programs and personalized coaching, enhancing agent skills and confidence.
- Collaboration Tools: Supervisors can communicate directly with agents during calls without disrupting the customer experience, fostering a team-oriented approach to problem-solving.
Read more about Convin’s Supervisor Assist here.
Why Should Call Centers Invest in Real-Time Monitoring Tools?
Every call center should invest in the correct monitoring solution for them, and it can be difficult to choose among the many features available on the market.
Here are a few reasons why call centers should invest in real-time monitoring.
1. Reduce Average Handle Time
With live access to the knowledge base, agents can resolve customer queries without making them wait for long amounts of time. When all required information is easily accessible to the agent, it reduces the time spent per customer call.
Such accessibility can reduce the average handle time of each agent.
2. Improve First Call Resolution
The pointers agents receive help them be prepared for any scenario during a customer call. Combined with the knowledge base and suggestions they receive from real-time monitoring, it becomes easier to resolve customer queries in the first call itself.
3. Faster Sales Cycle
Real-time monitoring makes it easier to reproduce revenue-driving behavior. Agents can easily leverage real-time insights and close deals faster.
4. Implement Real-time Coaching
The knowledge base acts as a live coach, allowing agents to improve their knowledge in practical customer situations.
The real-time monitoring tool helps agents to learn and improve in each conversation without being overloaded with information.
5. Prevent Security Breaches
With real-time monitoring, contact centers can ensure agents follow key metrics while adhering to compliance regulations.
Supervisors can use the Supervisor Assist Tool to monitor agents' performance in real time.
6. Increase in Customer Satisfaction
Real-time monitoring tools identify trends that help in increasing FCR. With increases in first-call resolution rates and lower average handle times, customer satisfaction is bound to increase drastically.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is an Example of Real-Time Monitoring?
In a sports game, the coaches shout out suggestions to the players. Similarly, real-time monitoring provides suggestions during a customer call so agents can deliver a positive customer experience.
2. How do You Monitor Call Center Performance?
Call center performance is monitored using performance metrics, including key performance indicators (KPI) such as average hold time, first call resolution, and abandonment rate.
3. What is the meaning of live monitoring?
Live monitoring refers to the collection of network data through real-time observation and analysis of data, events, or processes as they occur, often to ensure performance, network security, or compliance.
