What is Position in Queue?

Position in queue meaning:

Inbound call centers receive plenty of calls, and sometimes these calls are put on hold or in queues. When these calls from customers or prospects are put on hold, they are given specific positions, and this method of designating specific positions to calls in inbound contact centers is called position in queue. These calls from customers or prospects are synchronized in an order in queue, and are answered according to the designated positions. Position in queue helps inbound call centers in streamlining their incoming call handling functions in immaculate manner.

Why is it necessary to put a call in queue?

When all your agents are busy attending to other customers, any incoming call has to be put on wait temporarily. The client is put on hold until an agent is free to hear and resolve complaints.

The queue is necessary because at any point the number of active calls is almost always more than the number of agents. Which is to say, the customer care representative is seldom free. Besides, if there was no queue, the calls would simply get disconnected and the customer would need to dial over and over again till there is a free agent, which is rarely the case.

How are calls attended to once out of the queue?

Most customer contact centers follow FIFO – first in first out – approach while attending calls. This implies that whoever dials first is attended first. There may be some priority segments, however, that need to be heard first regardless of the position in queue. This often implies urgency where there is a significant risk of life and, in some cases, money. Requests linked to blocking lost debit/credit cards are catered under the priority segment and are often made to skip the queue since there is a potential fungible risk associated.

How to position calls in a queue?

There are plenty of software available for call center companies to position calls in queues.

Service providers must invest in those software to ensure efficient call positioning systems. This will help in monitoring the overall call handling functions, and call centers can easily get an idea regarding the number of incoming calls that are put on hold. Using these software, call centers can designate appropriate serial number to each call, and this further helps them in proficiently managing and handling all the incoming calls in appropriate manner. More importantly, these software also informs agents about the duration of time for which customers calls are put on hold. These data regarding calls position in queue are highly crucial to incorporate and implement efficient call center management strategies.

Position in queue offers plenty of advantage for call centers. Using this technique, call centers can proficiently handle emergency situations. Sometimes customers need urgent attention and they require immediate solutions for various issues. Call centers cannot afford to put the calls of these types of customers on hold for long duration of time, and therefore, it is quite necessary to designate appropriate positions to such calls. By using the techniques to position urgent calls or high priority calls appropriately, inbound call centers can ensure quick, efficient solutions to customers.