5 Ways Advanced Inbound Contact Center Software Reduces Call Volumes

Enghouse explores how contact centres can effectively manage the rising volume of customer interactions by leveraging five key software solutions.

According to a McKinsey study, 61% of companies have reported a significant surge in contact volumes.

Two factors drive this surge: many customers are still adjusting to new digital systems, prompting more calls to contact centres, while self-service tools are often not fully scaled, leaving customers unsatisfied and still needing to speak with an agent.

Interestingly, while Gen Z-despite being digital natives-prefers live phone support, Baby Boomers are adopting digital channels like chat. That said, customer service leaders anticipate call volumes to rise even further.

To manage this influx without overwhelming agents, it’s crucial to implement solutions that can handle increased call volumes while enhancing customer experience. So, how can companies achieve this?

5 Ways to Reduce Call Volume Using Contact Centre Software Solutions

To tackle this challenge, adopting AI-powered technologies like virtual agents, speech analytics, and other advanced solutions is crucial. Further, tools like voice-enabled IVRs play a key role in streamlining customer interactions.

Here are five such key contact centre software solutions that can help reduce inbound call volumes. These include:

• Omnichannel Support
• AI-Powered Virtual Agents
• Voice-Enabled IVR
• Proactive Customer Notifications
• Insights and Analytics

Let’s dive into each of these solutions.

1. Omnichannel Support

Reducing call volume begins with offering customers multiple ways to reach you. When calling is the only option, every query – no matter how simple – ends up on the phone.

By expanding support to channels like chat, email, and social media, you give customers the flexibility to choose what suits their needs.

This often resolves non-urgent issues without speaking to an agent. In addition, agents can typically handle interacting with multiple digital channels at the same time, but this would not be possible with voice calls.

CCaaS platforms allow customers to switch between channels (phone, email, chat, social media) without losing context. All digital interactions are routed in the same way as voice calls, and the complete interaction history for each customer is available to agents.

For example, Cyprus Airways faced increasing call volumes as they expanded. Their existing contact centre couldn’t manage the demand, so they turned to Enghouse CCaaS for its omnichannel capabilities. Initially, they launched web chat and are planning to add more channels to deliver a full omnichannel experience.

2. AI-Powered Virtual Agents

AI-powered virtual agents are a game changer for customer service, handling routine tasks like password resets, order tracking, and FAQs across multiple channels.

Thanks to Natural Language Processing (NLP), these virtual agents can instantly understand and respond to customer inquiries in a human-like way.

By resolving common issues without human intervention, virtual agents significantly decrease call volumes, freeing human agents to focus on more complex tasks.

CCaaS virtual agents integrated into the contact centre can be scheduled and evaluated just like a human agent. Equipped with AI-driven knowledge management systems (KMS), they provide quick, accurate information, ensuring customers receive prompt solutions.

Features like real-time chat translation also enhance the customer experience by offering multilingual support, improving accessibility, and boosting customer satisfaction across regions. This comprehensive functionality dramatically reduces call volumes, streamlining the entire support process.

3. Voice-Enabled IVRs

Voice-enabled IVR systems play a crucial role in reducing contact volumes by allowing customers to navigate and interact with systems using voice commands instead of manually selecting options.

For instance, instead of pressing buttons for specific options, a customer can simply say, “I need help with billing,” and the system will direct them to the right resource.

This shortens navigation times and resolves queries faster when integrated with self-service options, minimizing the need for agent assistance.

CCaaS elevates this further with conversational AI and advanced speech recognition technology. Unlike traditional, menu-driven systems, voice-enabled IVRs provide a natural conversational interface, making interactions feel more intuitive and customer-friendly.

Customers can speak naturally, and the system uses speech-enabled IVR to understand and respond, improving both efficiency and the overall experience.

For instance, when The Seattle Times faced increased customer service demands while trying to maintain costs, they turned to Enghouse.

By automating routine inquiries such as subscription management and bill payments, the system allowed agents to focus on higher-priority interactions, enhancing overall service quality without increasing operational costs.

4. Proactive Customer Notifications

Proactive notifications are a simple yet powerful way to reduce inbound call volumes. Many incoming calls originate from customers looking for updates on orders, appointments, or service issues. By sending real-time alerts through SMS, email, or push notifications, contact centers can preempt these calls.

These proactive updates become even more valuable during predictable spikes like holiday seasons, sales campaigns, or unexpected service disruptions.

By providing customers with timely information – whether about shipping delays, product availability, or service restorations – contact centres can avoid being overwhelmed by sudden call surges.

CCaaS offers inbound and outbound capabilities and can be integrated with CRM systems to automate proactive alerts.

Its robust outbound capabilities enable contact centres to minimize inbound call volumes and manage peak periods more effectively, ensuring a smooth customer experience even during high-demand situations.

5. Insights and Analytics

Advanced insights and analytics play a crucial role in understanding the root causes of high call volumes and identifying opportunities for improvement.

By analyzing customer interactions across multiple channels – such as voice, chat, and email – contact centres can detect common pain points, recurring issues, and process inefficiencies.

This data enables companies to make informed, data-driven decisions, whether improving self-service capabilities, refining agent training, or updating knowledge bases to serve customers better.

CCaaS offers a comprehensive suite of analytics tools that measure and track customer interactions, providing real-time insights that help businesses anticipate customer needs.

With AI-driven insights and Voice of the Customer (VoC) analysis, companies can better understand customer sentiment, predict future needs, and take proactive steps to enhance the overall experience.

This holistic approach to analytics not only enhances customer satisfaction but also reduces future call volumes by addressing issues at their source and refining operational processes.

Frequently Answered Questions

Is CCaaS Better at Handling Increased Call Volume Than Traditional Contact Centres?

Yes, CCaaS is superior in managing increased call volumes. Its cloud-based infrastructure allows for scalability, while dedicated features like intelligent routing and AI-driven virtual agents ensure efficient call distribution and resource optimization.

Compared to traditional contact centres, this enables businesses to maintain high service levels even during peak times, enhancing the overall customer experience.

What is Inbound Contact Centre Software?

Inbound contact centre software is designed to manage incoming customer communications across various channels, such as phone, email, chat, and social media. It streamlines operations, ensuring customer queries are addressed promptly and effectively.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Enghouse Interactive – View the Original Article

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Enghouse Interactive delivers technology and expertise to help bring your customers closer to your business through its wide range of customer contact solutions.

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Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: Enghouse Interactive
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson