When your customers contact you, they expect a quick resolution or answer. They don\u2019t expect to be passed from channel to channel, agent to agent, without an end or resolution in sight. With an AI-driven automatic call distribution (ACD), you can engage with customers anytime \u2013 from any channel \u2013 using the routing method that works best for each specific customer interaction.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at ACD call centre software<\/a> \u2014 how it has evolved, how it works, and the main benefits you can expect for your customers, your teams and your business outcomes.<\/p>\n ACD is a routing system that manages incoming calls, distributing them to the appropriate call centre agent. Calls can be routed based on specific criteria, such as the call\u2019s purpose, the skills needed to address it or agent distribution.<\/p>\n At its most basic application, ACD directs customers to agents based on availability, increasing efficiency and reducing customer wait times. This traditional first-in, first-out (FIFO) approach is suitable for many small- and mid-sized businesses, since it has low complexity and provides a wide range of applications. But as business and customer expectations shift, ACD routing has evolved.<\/p>\n To meet today\u2019s customer and business needs, ACD routing in modern call centres<\/a> takes advantage of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the cloud. And it supports multiple digital channels. This has allowed contact centres to operate efficiently and cost-effectively while keeping routing and administration simple.<\/p>\n ACD and IVR (interactive voice response)<\/a> are different \u2014 but not mutually exclusive \u2014 technologies used in call centres. While ACD routes incoming calls based on predefined rules, IVR is the automated system that interacts with customers through voice or touch-tone input. IVR provides information or routing based on customer responses.<\/p>\n IVR can be used to enhance your ACD call centre by:<\/p>\n ACD uses data to organise callers in a queue, prioritise certain callers and route them to specific agents based on rules you\u2019ve defined, such as the agent\u2019s skills or availability.<\/p>\n Modern ACD systems offer multiple routing methods based on your needs. When developing your ACD routing strategy, you must ask yourself the following questions:<\/p>\n There are several popular routing methods, each offering different benefits.<\/p>\n Basic ACD routing:<\/strong> Basic ACD routing distributes incoming interactions among agents based on a predefined set of rules or a simple algorithm, such as round robin or longest-idle agent.<\/p>\n Priority-based routing:<\/strong> Interactions are routed based on a rank or priority level that\u2019s assigned to the customer or issue type. Higher-priority customers or issues are routed to available agents first.<\/p>\n Time-of-day routing:<\/strong> This method incorporates the time of day or day of the week to route interactions to different groups of agents based on their availability and working hours.<\/p>\n Percentage-based routing<\/strong>: Incoming interactions can be routed among different agent groups or departments based on a predefined percentage allocation. With percentage-based routing, each group receives a certain number of interactions.<\/p>\n Multichannel routing:<\/strong> Customers expect availability across channels; this routing method also directs email, SMS, chat and social media interactions to available agents based on specified rules.<\/p>\n Skills-based routing:<\/strong> Skills-based routing takes ACD to the next level, improving resolution rates by connecting customers with the most qualified agents and improving customer satisfaction. It optimises contact centre efficiency by ensuring agents handle interactions that best match their abilities. This can also improve employee engagement and overall job satisfaction.<\/p>\n The Genesys Cloud\u2122 platform offers several routing methods: standard, bullseye routing, predictive routing, preferred agent routing and conditional group routing. Watch the video below to learn more.<\/p>\n Standard routing is the most straightforward approach and can be based on agent skills, priority, time-of-day, percentage, or mapped across multiple channels, including email, SMS or chat.<\/p>\n Bullseye routing takes things further. It routes interactions to a targeted sub-queue of agents with specific skills, and if no agents are available, it relaxes the requested skills, based on the queue configuration, to expand the pool of agents.<\/p>\n Predictive routing<\/a> uses machine learning and historical contact centre data to match up the best available agents while optimising chosen KPIs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Preferred agent routing routes to select agents first based on characteristics you determine, such as skill level, responsibility or existing customer relationships.<\/p>\n Finally, conditional group routing allows you to share groups of agents between different queues based on a combination of KPIs and agent availability.<\/p>\nThe Evolution of ACD Technology<\/h2>\n
ACD Versus IVR<\/h2>\n
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How ACD Systems Work<\/h2>\n
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Customisable Routing Methods<\/h2>\n