A blended contact center refers to a process where customer representatives may take both incoming and outgoing calls.
It is different from an inbound and outbound call center. An inbound call center is responsible for just receiving calls. Whereas the outbound call center is responsible for just making calls. But in a blended call center, customer representatives can do both in a single process.
This call center has its own advantages, many of which can boost customer satisfaction. A blended contact center may plan outbound calls to check in with consumers while incoming contact centers wait for clients to request assistance.
What is a Blended Agent?
A blended agent is a contact center professional who works with clients in a variety of ways. This initially entailed handling both inbound and outbound calls. It may also entail interacting with emails, text messages (SMS), chats, and social media in today's omnichannel world.
A blended agent may be removed from an inbound call and offered a chat engagement to respond to or an outbound call to make in practice.
The main benefit of using blended agents is their efficiency. Blended agents can respond to emails or connect with customers instead of sitting idle while the incoming call queue is empty. To achieve these efficiencies, you'll need the right software tools in place, ones that can intelligently route contacts to agents based on their skill sets, regardless of channel.
In addition, work management systems must be able to schedule blended agents, and reporting and analytics capabilities must be available.
How to Set Up a Blended Call Center?
By following the three easy steps shown here, you may set up a Blended call center. So, let’s come to the point directly.
If you don't use a CRM to collect client information, you won't get very far. The creation of a CRM strategy should result in a strong platform that serves as a key data repository. Integrating your CRM and call tools makes it easier for your agents to get the customer information they need while making outbound calls.
Natural Language Understanding (NLU) enables your IVR system to 'understand' your clients' problems. A customer may just tell the system what they want and the system will schedule events for them. Account resolution or even scheduling a later outbound contact with an agent are examples of such events.
You should train your agents to influence conversations in the way you desire. In comparison to untrained or less skilled agents, well-trained personnel can service customers in fewer phone sessions. In the long run, this results in cost reductions as well as improvements in other areas.