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GITEX 2025: Trends & Conversations Shaping MEA Communications

Luke Genoyer 22nd October 2025 blog, Customer Service

Another incredible year exhibiting at GITEX has just come to a close in Dubai. As a long-time attendee, it was clear this year’s event marked a significant acceleration in the …Read More »

How to Choose the Best Phone Integration for Zoho CRM

Gulme Pal 30th September 2025 blog, Featured, Integration

how to choose best phone integration for Zoho CRM

You rely on calls as a salesperson to communicate with potential clients. But without proper tracking, digilent follow-ups and successful outcomes can be tedious. Disorganized call logs might result in …Read More »

Global Call Forwarding Returns to GITEX to Showcase Smarter Global Voice Solutions for Tech Teams

Luke Genoyer 16th September 2025 Business Insights, Press

DELRAY BEACH, FL, Sept 2025 – Global Call Forwarding, a leading global provider of enterprise-grade virtual phone numbers and cloud communication solutions, will return to GITEX Global 2025 to exhibit …Read More »

Why Cloud Telephony is Essential for Scaling Tech Startups

Gulme Pal 9th September 2025 blog, Cloud Telephony

Cloud Telephony for Scaling Tech Startups

Over 150 million startups operate globally, with approximately 50 million new businesses entering the market each year, highlighting the exceptional growth of the global tech startup ecosystem. For tech startups, …Read More »

What to Look for in a Helpdesk Software (Guide)?

Vasudha 15th August 2025 blog, Call Center

Imagine a customer reaching out with an issue—and without any manual intervention, your helpdesk software assigns the ticket to the right agent, sends an acknowledgment, and arms your support team …Read More »

6 Ways to Use the GCF Softphone in the HubSpot CRM

Gulme Pal 11th August 2025 blog, Integration

How to use the GCF Softphone with our Hubspot Calling Integration

The Global Call Forwarding HubSpot integration gives your sales and support teams the tools they need to communicate effectively — right from within your CRM. With features like click-to-call, automatic …Read More »

What to Look for in a Helpdesk Software (Guide)?

Vasudha 15th August 2025 blog, Call Center

What started as basic ticketing systems has evolved into sophisticated, multi-channel platforms that integrate with other business tools like CRMs, phone systems, and analytics dashboards. Helpdesk software is now the backbone of customer support operations, helping businesses streamline communication, deliver timely support, and improve customer satisfaction.

In this guide, we’ll dive into:

What is a helpdesk software and its importance
Essential features
How to choose the right helpdesk software & integrations

What is Helpdesk Software?

Helpdesk software is a centralized system used to manage, track, and resolve customer service inquiries.

It allows support teams to handle tickets across multiple communication channels, prioritize requests, automate workflows, and maintain a high level of service consistency.

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, the right helpdesk software can simplify support operations, help scale customer service, and improve resolution times.

Importance of Helpdesk Software in Customer Service

From small startups to large enterprises, the right helpdesk software can truly transform how businesses handle global customer support. Businesses can handle complex or heavy workloads without missing a beat, keeping customers satisfied and engaged.

Helpdesk software plays a critical role in helping businesses:

Handle high ticket volumes without delays, especially during peak seasons
Assign and prioritize tickets using automation so critical issues are addressed promptly
Maintain responsive service levels even during demand surges
Ensure 24/7 availability with cloud-based support and routing
Manage communication from multiple channels in one interface with multichannel support and integrations

This unified approach provides your support team with a complete view of customer interactions, regardless of where the request came from. For global companies, this feature is particularly valuable as it enables 24/7 customer support across different time zones through cloud-based systems, ensuring that help is always available when needed.

Essential Features of Helpdesk Software

When selecting helpdesk software, businesses should prioritize features that enhance both efficiency and effectiveness in customer service. Look for tools that can handle multiple communication channels, automate workflows, and analyze performance metrics. These capabilities can significantly improve overall service delivery and boost customer satisfaction.

Here are the most important helpdesk capabilities to consider:

Multichannel Support
Consolidate email, phone calls, live chat, and social media into a unified ticketing system. This gives agents a complete view of all customer interactions and helps ensure no message falls through the cracks.

Automation Tools
Automatically assign tickets to departments, escalate issues based on urgency, and trigger follow-up messages using predefined workflows. AI tools and automation save time, reduce manual errors, and ensure faster resolution.

Ticket Management System
Track the entire lifecycle of a support request—from the first interaction to resolution. Look for features like tagging, status tracking, deadlines, and SLAs that keep teams accountable and organized.

Self-Service Abilities
Empower customers to help themselves with knowledge bases, FAQs, and community forums. This reduces ticket volume and gives users quick access to common answers.

Reports and Analytics
Track agent performance, ticket resolution times, customer satisfaction scores, and communication trends. Reporting tools provide insights to help you improve support operations and customer experience over time.

Integration Capabilities
Your helpdesk should work with the tools you already use. That includes CRM systems, project management tools, and phone systems. VoIP integrations or softphone integrations are especially useful for customer support teams who rely on voice calls—either inbound or outbound—to resolve issues quickly.

Example: Global Call Forwarding integrates with leading helpdesk platforms like Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Intercom, etc., enabling seamless voice calling within support tickets and workflows.

How to Choose a Helpdesk Software for Customer Support?

Choosing the right helpdesk software can be a daunting task. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help navigate this decision:

1. Assess Business Needs

Consider the size of your team, support hours, customer expectations, and volume of inquiries. Are you looking for a simple ticketing tool or an omnichannel platform with global voice support, automation, and analytics? What features and capabilities do you need?

For instance, a small team might only need basic ticket management, while a larger team dealing with high volumes may require multichannel support and customer service automation tools.

2. Look for Customization and Scalability

Choose software that allows for customization and scalability to suit your unique processes. Customizable ticket flows, templates, and permissions allow you to tailor the experience to your team’s needs. Scalable platforms let you add users or features as your support team expands.

3. Consider Integration Capabilities

The best helpdesk tools integrate with your CRM, email, VoIP, and collaboration tools. Look for platforms that offer:

Click-to-call and call logging from within tickets
Call recordings and transcriptions accessible to agents via email
Screen pop-ups and CRM data during incoming calls
Support for international virtual numbers and local caller IDs

Global Call Forwarding offers softphone integrations to enhance your helpdesk by embedding international voice capabilities directly into your support system—without the need for new hardware or multiple providers. Whether you work with Zendesk, Zoho Desk, Intercom, or other helpdesk software, we can get you set up with global coverage and advanced features.

4. Review Security and Customer Support

Security should be a top priority, especially when handling sensitive customer data. Make sure the helpdesk software has strong encryption, secure access controls, and complies with data protection regulations. Additionally, check the quality of the provider’s customer support. Whether it’s setting up or troubleshooting the system, timely assistance is crucial to avoid downtime that can affect customer service.

5. Test and Decide

Before fully committing to any platform, take advantage of free trials or demos to see how well the software works in real-world scenarios. Evaluate the UI, agent experience, reporting functionality, and how well it integrates with your existing stack. Involve both agents and admins to assess usability and configuration flexibility.

How Can Global Call Forwarding Help?

Besides helping manage customer interactions efficiently, help desk software streamlines internal communication, automates workflows, and ensures queries are addressed properly.

Support teams today need more than just ticketing—they need reliable global communication tools and phone systems designed for customer service. Integrating with VoIP services further enhances the software’s capabilities. That’s where Global Call Forwarding comes in.

We offer:

Helpdesk integrations with platforms like Zoho Desk, Intercom, and others
International virtual phone numbers in 160+ countries to create local support lines
Advanced call routing, IVR menus, and time-based rules to direct inquiries to the right agents
Cloud-based softphones for handling calls anywhere
Click-to-call, call history, and data sync inside your support platform

Whether you’re scaling support internationally or optimizing internal workflows, GCF helps your helpdesk system do more with integrated telephony.

Learn more about our helpdesk integrations or speak with our experts to see how we can support your team.

Call Center Best Practices: 20 Proven Tips for 2025

Virendra Singh Jaitawat 3rd June 2023 blog, Call Center

Call centers are everywhere and if you want to up your game and become a reliable call center, then you need to make some changes. Here we outline 20 proven tips and call center best practices to help you grow positively.

Call Center Best Practices: Proven Tips for 2025

The following list of best practices for call centers is meant to help you enhance the way agents interact with customers as well as improve overall call center productivity.

1. Focus on Customer Experience

Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance when considering call center best practices. This includes good product development, offering satisfactory customer service, and improving customer experience. Customers interact with your business through different mediums: website, chat, phone, email, etc. Ensure that their experience on all these channels is acceptable and excellent. Some ways to do so include:

Reducing wait times
Solving issues quickly
Offering multi-channel support
Responding quickly and effectively

2. Track Call Center KPIs

In order to make sure that your call center is performing as per your standards, it is important to track progress through metrics or call center KPIs such as:

Average Time in the Queue
Average Handle Time
First Call Resolution
Average Response Time
Customer Satisfaction
Average Number of Calls
Abandonment Rates
Occupancy Rates

Watching these metrics can help you identify areas of strengths and weaknesses within your call center. Then based on this information, you can train employees to better meet the company’s standards and mission.

3. Train Agents Effectively

This one goes without saying. Training agents is a must. Do not just assume that newcomers who have worked in other call centers will do their jobs as you desire. Train them for your company’s specific needs and goals. Furthermore, they may not be familiar with your management systems, technology, or software. Use webinars, guides, workshops, etc., to help employees understand how processes work and how to achieve goals set by the company.

4. Reduce Agent Turnover Rates

Agent turnover rate refers to the percent of agents quitting a call center. This is an important KPI to track because it is better to retain your agents than constantly hire new agents. Understand that working in a call center can be monotonous with little to no reward. At times, agents may even feel overburdened or unable to achieve goals set for them. Taking care of your employees is extremely crucial to reducing agent turnover rates and increasing the chances of good customer satisfaction rates. After all, happy employees lead to happy customers.

5. Consider Work-from-Home

Work-from-home as an employment option is growing more popular. And with advancements in VoIP technology, it is now possible to work from a call center from the comfort of one’s home. Being able to offer this option can help employees save on commuting costs while providing them with flexibility. This in turn helps reduce agent turnover rates. Plus, it helps your call center offer jobs beyond your immediate location. This way, you can hire agents in different states and even different countries, making your call center more geographically accessible.

6. Invest in the Right Virtual Call Center Software

Virtual call center software supports on-premise as well as virtual call centers. It comes with a variety of features that help your employees manage calls better and produce desirable results. Common virtual call center software features include:

Call forwarding and routing options based on location, time, skills, agent history, customer history, etc.
Inbound/outbound call recording
Interactive voice response
Extensions and call transfer abilities
Access to virtual phone numbers (toll free, local, international, universal toll free numbers)
Outbound calling with web dialers and dynamic caller IDs
Black and white lists
SIP trunking to enable voice and video transmission over the internet
Simultaneous ringing, and much more

7. Consider Workforce Optimization Solutions

Workforce optimization (WFO) software can ensure workforce satisfaction and productivity. With workforce optimization solutions, you can track quality and performance. All of this helps you manage your workforce better in ways that are beneficial to you as well as your employees.

8. Record Business Calls

Recording and reviewing business calls can assist managers in studying how their agents are performing. You may choose to review failed calls to see what went wrong or successful calls to see what went right. Managers can even review early recordings of a newly hired employee to help them with ways to improve their interactions. Recording VoIP calls also gives agents an incentive to do well as they know they are being recorded.

9. Use an Outbound Calling Service

An outbound calling service supports your outbound call strategies by making it inexpensive and easy to connect with local, long-distance, and international customers. Such a virtual communication service comes with a customizable caller ID. With this feature, you can choose which of your purchased numbers to display as the outgoing caller ID. Display toll free or local numbers when calling different states or countries and present your company as a local one.

10. Regularly Check in with Agents

One of the top and most commonly practiced call center best practices is to regularly monitor the performance of your agents. How are they performing? Are they overburdened or taking on too many or too few calls? How long are they taking to complete post-call activities? Are they struggling with the software or technology used? And so on. Checking in with them will help you get a better idea of how your call center is running and what, if any, changes need to be made.

11. Choose Easy-to-Use Software

Agents and employees at a call center will find themselves using a variety of software to track and store information and more. For this reason, ensure that the software you’ve selected is easy to use and learn. Agents should not have to spend days and weeks learning how to use these systems.

Best practices for virtual call center agents. — Source: DepositPhotos.com – Lic#75940443 ID#27446420

12. Use Automation Appropriately

Consider using automated IVR systems to appropriately distribute incoming calls. This ensures callers receive help from the right department or agent. It can also be used to equally distribute calls among agents so that no one employee is over- or under-burdened. Calls can be routed under different rules such as:

Location-based routing — based on where the call is coming from
Time-based routing — based on the time of day of the call
Skill-based routing — based on agent skills needed
Least occupied routing — routes calls to agents who have answered the least amount of calls
Regular routing — routes calls down a predetermined list of agents
Simultaneous routing — ring multiple phones with one number

13. Get the Right Project Management & CRM Systems

Project management and CRMs are necessary to store, track, and share important customer information in any call center. Find systems that work well for your needs. You may even consider free trials at the beginning to see which ones are most suited and easy to use.

14. Offer Real-Time and Multi-Channel Support

More recently, call centers are offering real-time support through multiple channels such as phone, email, live chat, support tickets, and more. In order to step up your customer service game, it is highly recommended to offer more channels of communication. You may even consider chatbots, online knowledge bases with guides to common issues, an IVR system, and more to offer callers and users quicker ways to resolve their queries.

15. Provide 24/7 Customer Service

Most customers also expect 24/7 customer service from a company they are doing business with. Being able to offer customer service whenever a customer needs it can greatly impact customer satisfaction and retention. Here is where multi-channel support comes into play. Chatbots and IVR systems can provide solutions to common issues or FAQs. Guides or knowledge bases only can help users resolve their queries on their own; it is best to offer a range of options to fulfill as many needs as possible. This way, even if an agent is not immediately available, they can get help another way.

16. Improve First Call Resolution Rates

First call resolution rate refers to the percent of calls resolved on the first try. As a call center manager, this is an important KPI to track and maintain. A good FCR rate implies quick and effective customer service. And this can directly impact customer satisfaction rates. To resolve calls on the first try, agents need to be well-versed in their knowledge of the product or service and possible issues that come up. Provide agents with easy access to necessary information so they can offer help quickly.

17. Use VoIP to Expand Your Team

A VoIP phone system or cloud phone system can revolutionize your call center’s communication. Such a system enables agents to work and stay connected from any location. It also gives you access to virtual communication features and software as well as access to a multitude of virtual phone numbers. All of this is possible while keeping your monthly bill low.

18. Collect Customer Feedback and Conduct Satisfaction Surveys

One of the most important call center best practices includes collecting customer feedback to improve your service. You can gather feedback through surveys via email, phone, IVR systems, SMS, chat, etc. Customer feedback is essential to understanding the customer experience. Oftentimes, even if you think your call center is doing well, there may be certain aspects you are overlooking and surveys can help highlight these areas. Develop your surveys based on specific areas you want to get feedback on and then use the feedback to make necessary changes.

19. Prepare Guides and Knowledge Bases

Create easy-to-understand guides and knowledge bases that can be used by agents as well as customers. You may choose to create two versions; one for agents and one for customers. The point of such guides or content that provides quick solutions and support is so that when the need arises, agents can help customers and at times, customers can help themselves. Being able to resolve concerns quickly is instrumental in retaining valuable customers.

20. Stay Open to Change

Finally, be open to change. Any call center manager worth their salt is open to feedback, criticism, and change. Change implies growth and you should always look for ways to grow and expand your business.

Put These Call Center Best Practices to Use

Now it’s time to apply these call center best practices and give your agents the support they need. While these tips may not prove useful to your specific business, choose the ones that are most applicable. For information about virtual phone systems and call center software, contact us at 1 (888) 908 6171 today!

7 Best Practices for Call Center Scripts that Convert

Miguel Isabal 23rd December 2020 blog, Call Center, Call Management

How your agents communicate over the phone can make a huge impact on the success of your call center strategy. Convert more callers into returning customers and reel in the sales with effective call center scripts. We even include a downloadable template below!

How Does Using Call Scripts for Customer Service Improve Communication?

Call center scripts can make or break the way your business interacts with its customers. These scripts carry information about your products and services intending to convert callers into recurring clients and, ultimately, generate sales.

However, if agents and reps are not trained to understand the flow of different conversations, they may end up offering poor service. Call center and customer service scripts can be used in these instances to train agents and provide easy-to-apply guidelines to follow. This way, your sales and support teams will be able to respond to and resolve customer queries more quickly and accurately, improving overall customer service.

What are Call Center Scripts Used for?

Call center scripts and customer service scripts are guidelines agents use to communicate with customers and users. These templates are ready-to-use based on different customer interactions and scenarios. Agents can use these to respond to queries and complaints or help customers find better products and services. Some customer scripts can be used to collect customer feedback or product reviews.

How to Create Effective Call Center Scripts: 7 Best Practices

When creating your call center script, focus on developing scripts for both inbound (incoming) and outbound (outgoing) calls. This way, your customer support teams are prepared for callers seeking customer support and product inquiries and your sales teams are prepared for sales pitches and lead calls. Additionally, call center scripts can help reduce training time and agent turnover. Businesses that don’t have time to offer rigorous training and provide in-depth knowledge can use scripts to get the job done quickly.

Here are 7 call center script best practices to consider when developing your business’ scripts. We also include tips for effective scripts and how to train your employees to meet your standards.

1. Hire Excellent Customer Service & Sales Reps

First, hire quality customer service and sales talent. Use business networking sites to find agents and reps that have experience, training, and certification. This will ensure you have a robust team ready to tackle whatever issue comes their way. Plus, they will have developed the right personality needed for delivering scripts naturally and effectively.

2. Keep Call Center Script Writing Tips in Mind

When creating your script and training your agents to make the most of the script, keep these key tips in mind:

Develop scripts that lead to action and be clear in their purpose.
Plan for multiple scenarios.
Allow for flexibility (but not too much) and more genuine interaction with customers.
Write scripts keeping common customer complaints and preferences in mind.
Emphasize the importance of understanding customer needs so they can be helped efficiently.
Include positive phrases and reword negative phrases.
Focus on personalization and train agents on proper etiquette.

3. Create an Effective Call Center Script

Your call center script should include these useful elements:

Greet the customer and say the name of the business.
Introduce yourself.
State the purpose of your call (outbound call) or find out why they are calling (inbound call)
For outbound calls: go through your script at a decent pace and pause for questions or concerns.
For inbound calls: listen carefully and attentively to the caller. Take note of key issues or questions, repeat to clarify, and offer practical solutions. Provide accurate information or offer a follow-up call, if you do not have the information on hand.
At the end of the call, ask if they need any additional assistance, thank them for calling, and add a pleasantry.
Score the call.

4. Train Agents & Employees Well

Besides merely providing your employees with quality scripts, you also need to train them in how to use the scripts well. Spend sufficient time teaching employees bad and good call center practices. Help them understand the company’s goals and standards. When training employees:

Focus on making customer service a top priority.
Keep communication two ways; adopt active listening.
Demonstrate examples of bad customer interactions and provide solutions.
Use call recording to identify positive and negative behavior.
Use call monitoring to listen in on calls with new employees so you can train them “on the job.”

5. Emphasize the Importance of Utilizing Customer Data When Using the Script

Part of executing a call center script well is personalizing it for each individual customer. This means using customer data alongside your script. Businesses with a customer-first strategy or those that are customer-focused need to use customer data to offer better, more customized service.

Before your agent or rep answers the call or calls a customer, they must pull up the customer’s data, history, purchases, and so on. This ensures your agent is prepared for the conversation and has all the context needed. Additionally, the customer won’t have to repeat their query again and again or bring the rep up to speed. You can save time for both your agent and customer. And move towards resolution faster.

6. Use Call Recording to Analyze the Effectiveness of Scripts

Recording business calls can help you and your teams listen in to calls from the past. This is a good way to identify what is working and what isn’t and how to improve your phone interactions. Pay attention to your best-performing agents. How are they effectively bringing new clients on board? What techniques and strategies are working? Then integrate their practices into your call center script so others may attempt them as well.

7. Provide Agents with Knowledge Bases and Support

Finally, make sure your reps can provide accurate responses to customer questions quickly. And to do this, they will need access to knowledge bases or support resources that outline common customer questions, product descriptions, company policies, and so on. This way, they can consult accurate resources if they are hit with a question or query they do not have an answer for.

Improve Sales with Call Center Scripts

Call center scripts have a great impact on whether a customer continues to do business with your company. Ensure your scripts are customer-centric as well as informative and helpful. Train employees to have an upbeat attitude and treat each call as a new slate. And before you know it, your scripts will be an effective aspect of your strategy that brings more and more customers to your business!

Downloadable Call Center Scripts Templates

Ready to get started? Then, grab these call center scripts and share them with your teams. Here are scripts to help you handle different situations and phases during customer calls.

Download Your Free Call Center Scripts Here

CC Scripts download

7 Useful Tips for Creating a Call Center Scorecard

Nadine Sampson 21st December 2020 blog, Call Center

Call center scorecards are quality monitoring tools that help you test and analyze call center and agent performance. By doing so, managers can identify areas for improvement and success. Here we look at 7 useful tips for creating a call center scorecard and what you need to focus on. We even include a downloadable evaluation form below!

How to Create a Call Center Scorecard: 7 Tips + Evaluation Form

First, what is a call center scorecard? And why do you need one? Call center scorecards are a great tool used by many call centers when conducting performance analysis. You can track and measure call center metrics, agent responses, and phone interactions, as well as conversions. Here are 7 tips to help you create an ideal scorecard:

1. Define the Purpose of the Scorecard and How it will be Used

First, you must decide and be clear on the purpose of your scorecard. What elements do you want to include? How often will you utilize the scorecards? How will you collect information about agent performance? What parameters and metrics will agents be scored on? Additionally, is every parameter equally important? Defining the purpose and the various elements that the agents will be tested on can help aid in quick and accurate analysis.

2. List Down Parameters that will be Assessed

Part of using a call center scorecard is testing your agents on various parameters that help you and them understand what they are doing well and where they can improve. Some parameters to consider include:

Greetings: Agent greeted customers politely and with a clear introduction of the company and themselves.
Script adherence: With outbound sales calls, agent followed the script naturally and paused for customer questions or concerns.
Account and identity verification: With inbound calls, agent verified the caller’s information and identity to find their account and gather information about the customer’s past interactions.
Customer service quality: Ability to clearly determine the caller’s needs, provide accurate and useful assistance
End-of-call protocol: After resolving the issue, agent must ask if there is anything else they can assist the caller with.

3. Define and Note Different Call Center Metrics

Next, you might consider including certain call center metrics that apply to your particular business. Call center metrics or KPIs assess how a call center is performing. They also help managers understand how individual agents are performing. For example, which agents resolve calls quickly and accurately or which spend too long on calls, and so on. Most call centers use call center software and call analytics to track and measure relevant metrics. You may want to consider including the following on your scorecard:

Average time in queue
Response time
Average speed of answer
Average handle time
First call resolution rate
Customer satisfaction rate
Occupancy rate
Agent absenteeism

4. Include Different Types of Customer Interaction

Often, phone conversations might be the most common communication method for your call center. However, more recently, call centers have been striving to offer multi-channel or omnichannel customer support. If your call center offers more than one channel of customer interaction, then you should measure performance on each different channel. As such, try to include different types of customer interaction (live chat, email, video, etc.) used often in your call center in your scorecard.

5. Focus on Various Skills

Depending on the type of center you run, your agents may need to multitask using multiple skills. For example, you may have agents on both phone and live chat duty simultaneously. Or, agents may need to research solutions while managing the conversation and documenting each part of the conversation.

Different departments require different skills. Customer service will need to look at knowledge bases or support documents to provide help. Reception will need to ensure the customer arrives at the right department quickly. Sales needs to make pitches using customer data and personalization.

6. Monitor, Collect Data, & Refine

Since the purpose of a call center scorecard is to collect data and measure how your business and agents are performing, these scorecards need to be monitored regularly. By monitoring on a regular basis, you will not only gain insight into how well or badly your agents are doing, but also what elements or parameters are worth measuring and which ones are not useful.

Then, you can make the necessary adjustments and refine your scorecard for functionality and accuracy. Additionally, you can make necessary changes to improve agent and call center performance.

7. Treat Your Agents as Humans, Not Robots

Finally, remember that your agents are humans and not customer service robots. As such, set realistic goals and expectations when creating and monitoring your call center scorecard. Be flexible and leave room for error. Provide sufficient training materials so agents can continue to do better.

Evaluate Performance with an Effective Call Center Scorecard

Designing a call center scorecard takes time and refinement. Get started now by developing your own scorecard or using online templates and tailoring them to your needs. There are many resources available for tracking, measuring, and improving productivity. Take steps in the right direction and watch the efficiency grow in your call center.

Downloadable Call Center Scorecard Templates

Ready to get started? Then, grab our call center scorecard templates below, share them with your managers, and start evaluating your call center’s performance! We have scorecard templates for Outbound Sales calls, Inbound Sales calls, Customer and Technical Support calls, and Chat support.

Download Your Free Call Center Scorecard Templates

CC Scorecard download

16 Tips to Ensure Outstanding Call Center Etiquette

Nadine Sampson 18th December 2020 blog, Call Center

Effective and excellent call center etiquette can go a long way in securing valuable customers and leads. However, you may have noticed that the rules are constantly changing. In this post, we detail the dos and don’ts of call center etiquette and how you can offer an outstanding call center experience. Read on to learn more!

Top Tips for Excellent Call Center Etiquette

How call center agents conduct themselves during calls can determine customer satisfaction and retention. Poor etiquette leads to bad customer service and low caller satisfaction. Call center etiquette can be divided into four different phases of the call such as:

Answering the call.
Speaking to customers and identifying issues.
Transferring customers to another agent or supervisor.
Ending the call.

In each of these phases, you must demonstrate professionalism, concern, and a desire to genuinely assist your caller. We’ll look at each of these phases individually and the different aspects to keep in mind to ensure you are providing outstanding call center etiquette. Learn more about promising customer service tips here.

When Answering the Call

The speed at which you answer the call as well as your tone can determine how the rest of the call goes. If you take too long or answer the call in a rushed manner, callers will immediately be put off. Keep these tips in mind as well:

1. Answer the Call Promptly
Customers do not like to be kept waiting when they are trying to reach customer support. Always answer the call on the second or third ring. Any longer than that, they may feel frustrated and abandon the call. Additionally, if it is too hard to reach your business time and time again, that customer will likely switch over to a competitor instead.

2. Greet with a Friendly Tone
Always greet callers with a positive attitude. Callers can sense your inflection on the phone. Smiling while you’re on a call is an old trick that conveys a friendly tone through the phone. Starting a call with a positive attitude encourages the same from the caller on the other line.

If someone is distraught about their product and in need of help, your positivity will help ease their frustrations because they will know by your tone that you are eager to help. You do not need to go overboard with this. A simple greeting like “Hello, you’ve reached (name of company) my name is ___, how can I help you today?” will suffice.

Identifying the Issue

Next up is taking the time to listen to your caller and identify the issue. This means you should key into their emotions and being empathetic while clearly understanding what the problem is. After all, if you do not know what is concerning them, you may not be able to help effectively.

3. Adopt Active Listening
Let them explain and describe the issue to you before you repeat it. Nothing frustrates a customer more than an employee that is not paying attention to them and seems in a rush to finish the call. Take time to understand where they are coming from and what the problem is. Reinforce your understanding by showing you have heard their situation and are working on a resolution.

4. Identify the Issue
Once you think you have a good handle over what the issue is, confirm it with them. Reiterate the problem as best as you understand it. Something like, “So, from what you are telling me, I understand that you are having an issue with . . .” or “. . . that you would like to . . .” This will help you ensure you have thoroughly understood the issue and will also demonstrate to the caller that you have been paying attention.

5. Be Patient and Helpful
Always be patient. Whether they are taking too long to explain the problem or are repeating themselves, your patience will determine whether this customer returns or not. When a client calls a company, it is more than likely to resolve an issue. Patiently listen to them. If you are unable to help them, transfer them to the correct department.

Transferring the Call or Placing the Caller on Hold

Most callers do not enjoy being placed on hold or transferred to another employee. Unfortunately, at times, it is necessary to transfer the call to someone who can handle it better or place them on hold so you can find the right information and help them better. Here are rules to observe when transferring a call or placing it on hold:

6. Determine Who to Transfer to
Again, listening intently to what their needs are will help you determine what department to send them to. After all, customers will only get more agitated if they need support but you sent them to sales.

7. Explain Why They Need to be Transferred
Most callers do not like to be bounced around. However, sometimes it is inevitable, especially if they reached the wrong department, to begin with. Explain to your caller why they need to be transferred to another department or employee.

8. During the Transfer
When you transfer a phone call, make sure that there is someone in that department available to take the call. Stay on the phone with your caller until someone answers and then you can introduce the caller to this new department. Do not abandon your caller till they have someone who can take care of them.

9. Ask Before Placing on Hold
Before you put someone on hold, ask them for their permission. Instead of saying “I’m going to put you on hold now” or nothing at all, say “Would it be alright if I put you on hold for a brief moment?” Then wait for an answer.

10. Use The Hold Button Appropriately
Make sure you and your teams know how to use the hold button so there is no confusion. For example, when you place someone on hold while you speak to another customer, the person on hold should not hear you speaking with the other customer or hear employees in the background. Hold music or a custom message can be played when they are on hold, instead.

11. Do Not Place Callers on Hold for Too Long
Do not leave someone on hold for a long time. If they are waiting to speak to someone in particular who is not available, inform them that they will be waiting for a certain period of time. If the wait exceeds 2-5 minutes, check in to let them know you have not forgotten about them but are taking longer to find what they need. If they do not want to stay on hold for long, encourage them to call back later or offer to call them when you have the information or person available.

call center software — Source: Stockphoto.com O#100053743383

Ending the Call

The last part of maintaining good call center etiquette focuses on how to end a call. This largely depends on how the call went. Were you able to resolve everything or is a follow-up required?

12. End The Call Politely

Always aim to end the call on a “high note.” If something needs your attention right away, offer to call the person back and let them know you will finish the conversation after you have dealt with this urgent matter.

When the conversation has come to a natural end, ask them if there is anything else you can do for them. If yes, proceed to assist. If no, thank them for their call. An example of a good way to end a phone call is, “Thank you so much for calling (company) today, I hope you enjoy your weekend.” Or, “It was a pleasure speaking with you, I’m glad that we could help you out today. Have a wonderful rest of your day.”

Additionally, if your company asks for surveys post calls, ask your caller if they would be interested in participating in a brief survey. And respect their wishes, whichever way they lean.

Do not rush them off the phone, and always wait for the customer to hang up before you hang up.

13. Offer Follow-Up Information
Alternatively, if a follow-up is required, let them know how to expect it. Will you send an email or phone call reminder? Should they call you back instead of your company contacting them? Either way, make sure that you have the information they need when the follow-up occurs.

Additional Call Center Etiquette

In addition to the above points, there are some other aspects of call center etiquette to pay attention to, such as call management and training.

14. Training Employees and Agents
So that agents know what they are supposed to do and how to best help customers, they need to be trained well. This includes:

- Training new employees, even those that come with experience
- Offering refresher courses and workshops to current employees periodically
- Using call recording to record and review interactions
- Conduct regular performance analysis
- Provide access to seminars and training programs

15. Making a Call
Employees should be trained to make calls professionally. Be sure to introduce yourself and the reason for your call right away. Provide them with all the necessary details at the beginning of the call.

Leaving a voicemail is similar to making a call. Even with the voicemail, introduce yourself and explain the reason for your call. Also include contact details such as a phone number and, if needed, a time frame for them to call you back.

16. Forward Your Phone To Voicemail
If you are out of your office, send all incoming phone calls immediately to your voicemail so that the caller knows that you are unavailable. Having a caller sit through 20 rings before realizing that you’re not going to answer is impolite and leaves the caller with a negative feeling. Your voicemail should state who you are and when you will be back. An instant and informative voicemail saves the caller time and allows them the option of leaving a message or calling back at a more convenient time.

Offer Better Customer Service with the Right Etiquette

If you don’t try to do the best you can, chances are, you will miss the buck. To gain new customers and convert them into regulars and to treat your regulars like royalty, your call center etiquette needs to be on-point. Make the necessary changes, implement a strategy for continuous education, and watch as your business grows!

How to Reduce Hold Time in a Call Center

Miguel Isabal 31st August 2020 blog, Call Center

Are customers abandoning calls because they are waiting in line for too long? This can hurt your business if not taken care of quickly. Long call waiting times lead to frustrated and dissatisfied customers. Here we will look at a few different ways you can reduce average hold times in a call center.

Call Center Hold Time Standards

No one wants to wait on hold forever. There is a growing demand for quick and responsive customer care, leading to new call center hold time standards. Customers who are left on hold or stuck in a queue for more than 15 minutes will hang up and find another business to resolve their issue. And if they are an existing customer, then you risk losing a valuable customer by making them wait long to get support.

Average Hold Time in a Call Center

So, how long is it acceptable to wait? There is general consensus on the average wait time for inbound calls coming into a call center. Call center hold time standards suggest that calls must be answered within the first 20 seconds.

When you place a customer or caller on hold, it is a good practice to let them know how long it may take. This is especially necessary if you need to place them on hold for longer than 20 seconds. And, if you take longer than the time you previously mentioned, check in with the customer and let them know you are still working on finding the solution. Don’t abandon them in the abyss. Setting the right expectations can reduce frustration.

However, a more effective solution would be to meet call center hold time standards and reduce the call waiting time in your call center.

How to Reduce Average Hold Time in a Call Center? 7 Tips

A call center is meant to handle calls made to the businesses they represent and offer quick and reliable customer service. However, if your callers are on hold or in long queues, then they will take their business elsewhere. And that is not good news for your call center. Here are 7 tips to reduce average hold time in your call center:

1. Experiment with Call Routing Strategies

The most effective way to reduce hold times is to distribute calls effectively. If all calls are going only to a handful of agents, then they will be easily overburdened. Consider implementing different call routing strategies that route calls based on:

The time of day
The location of the caller
Skills required for the call (language)
Caller history
A predetermined line or schedule of agents
Simultaneous ringing, and more

These different call routing strategies will help you effectively distribute calls, thus ensuring that callers receive service quickly.

2. Invest in Cloud IVR Tech

Cloud IVR or an interactive voice response system is an automated voice response system. This system is designed and customized by you to meet your specific needs. The IVR system answers an incoming call and provides the caller with menu options such as Press 1 for ___ and Press 2 for ____. Based on caller input, the call will then be forwarded to the next set of options or to a representative ready to help.

Having a cloud IVR system handle and distribute calls can ensure calls are sent to the right agent and not passed around. Furthermore, the IVR may even be able to assist the caller without the help of the agent.

3. Train Agents Effectively

You can reduce long waiting times by training agents effectively. Even if new agents come with some experience, it is essential to train them for your specific call center. That includes how to use software and tech involved, how to navigate to your support or knowledge base, how to resolve common issues, and what to do when they do not have an answer, etc. To learn more in this regard, check out our article about managing virtual call center agents.

4. Study Call Traffic

Another way to reduce hold time is to pay attention to the days and times when most calls come in. Identifying high call traffic periods can help you schedule more agents or route calls to remote agents as well during those times. Either way, your team can be better prepared if they know which periods will be hectic.

5. Consider Chat & SMS as Communication Options

While phone calls are still the most preferred option for customer support, there is a whole section of the population that prefers non-phone options like SMS, live chat, email, etc. Having an SMS and live chat option can help your agents multitask and resolve queries without keeping users on hold for very long. It is therefore highly recommended that your business invests in technology that lets you send and receive text messages and also offer live chat on your website.

6. Create a Knowledge Base

A knowledge base is an online support portal with posts meant to help current users troubleshoot common issues, learn how to quickly add new services, and other useful information. Most knowledge bases will teach users about:

Billing services
Adding new services or accounts
Managing their current account
Resolving common issues

Make your knowledge base easily accessible so that users can get to it quickly and agents can share a link to callers. If most of your callers can resolve their issues on their own, then you will have fewer hold times in your call center.

7. Monitor Agent Performance

Lastly, monitor how your agents are performing. You may choose to join calls or record calls and review them. Track important call center KPIs such as:

First call resolution rates
Average hold time
Average time in the queue
Abandoned calls
Response time, and so on

These KPIs can help you understand how your agents are doing and which areas need improvement.

Get Virtual Call Center Software with Global Call Forwarding

Global Call Forwarding can offer you the tools you need to improve and reduce hold times and customer satisfaction. You can get cloud IVR, call recording, call detail records, and more with us. Call to get started today!

Work From Home Call Center: 4 Best Practices [2025]

Beny Mouen 10th August 2020 blog, Call Center

With the rise in work from home as an option, more and more employees demand flexibility in hours and location. This has given rise to the possibility of a home-based call center that does everything a regular call center does, however, running entirely from home. Here we will highlight 4 best practices that can help ensure your work from home call center runs smoothly.

How to Make a Home-Based Call Center Work Effectively?

Agents and employees prefer to be employed at a work from home call center because it offers flexibility and convenience that can directly impact the quality of their work. With remote or virtual call centers, employees do not have to worry about commuting or work their location. They can work from the comfort of their homes while still doing their job well.

But as a call center manager, virtual call centers may seem like an unproductive alternative as you are not able to keep a constant eye on your agents. So, what are some ways to improve work from home call center productivity that can keep managers and agents happy? Here’s a look.

1. Invest in Virtual Call Center Software to Improve Productivity

Unlike on-premise call centers, virtual call centers comes equipped with necessary call center tools to let your remote and work-at-home agents perform well. Here are some of the top features included:

Virtual phone numbers (toll free, local, and international numbers) — To improve local and international calling at cheaper rates.
Call forwarding and routing — Direct and route calls based on location, time, skills needed, etc.
IVR systems — An automated response that interacts with customers when agents are occupied.
Extensions for different departments and call transfer — To improve connectivity and collaboration between teams and departments.
Call recording — To record business calls for quality assurance.
Outbound calling — Includes a web dialer and customizable caller ID capabilities to make local and international calling easier.

2. Choose Useful Project Management Systems & CRMs

To ensure that employees are doing their jobs well, it is important to have reliable systems in place that track projects, progress, and more. Here is where project management and customer relationship management systems come into play. With the right systems, your teams can create and manage tasks, update customer information and interaction, and more from any location. And you can keep track of their progress, review recordings of calls, and offer ways to improve.

3. Get Outbound Calling Features

An outbound calling service can be very helpful when running a work from home call center. Outbound calling makes local and international calling from any location easy and inexpensive. You can get outbound calling through your VoIP service provider along with your selected local, toll free, and international virtual phone numbers.

With this service in place, your remote employees can call local and international customers by displaying local or toll free caller IDs instead of a random, unknown number. For example, when calling Florida, they can display a Miami local number or US toll free number. And when calling Dubai, they can display a Dubai local number or UAE toll free number. Customers are more likely to answer and even return the call of a number they recognize as local or if it is a toll free number. An international or “unknown” number is much more likely to not get answered.

Plus, the web dialer makes it quick and easy to place and answer calls on any device it is installed on; such as a computer, laptop, smartphone, etc. You can store customer contact information and interaction in the dialer, as well as check voicemails. All of this makes an outbound calling service a work from call center must-have.

4. Track Call Center KPIs

Finally, track performance through call center KPIs. Software such as your CRM or VoIP phone system will help you get call reports and analytics. Here you will find information about:

How many calls were answered
How long the agent took to answer the call
Duration of the call, and more

Common work from home call center KPIs to track include:

Average time in queue
Average response time
First call resolution
Average handle time (AHT)
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores

Increase Productivity and Accountability for Your Virtual Call Center

Feeling more confident about running a work from home call center? There are plenty of tools and practices that can make virtual call centers work effectively. The trick is to find what works best for your needs. Call us at 1 (888) 908 6171 to learn more about how our services can improve your call center.

6 Practical Tips for Managing Virtual Call Center Agents

Chase Rogers 9th June 2020 blog, Call Center

What are some ways that you, a virtual call center manager, can encourage your employees and agents to perform well? Agents who do their job well will bring more business to your remote contact center and therefore, it is important to keep them motivated and trained. Here are 6 tips to motivate your agents while executing your duties in the most effective manner.

How to Manage Remote Call Center Agents

Managing work-from-home call center agents can be tricky if you do not know where to start. A remote call center works through virtual agents and offices. And this lack of physical office location can prove difficult when it comes to monitoring agents and their interactions. However, there are tools and options available to make this process much easier for managers. Here we will look at the different methods you can try to motivate your agents, monitor their work, and train them to do better.

1. Set and Reiterate Goals

It is important to always be on the same page about the goals and standards of the company. As an agent, what is the agent’s ultimate goal and what steps do they need to take to reach these goals? Provide clear and easy-to-follow instructions and make yourself approachable for any questions or concerns that may arise. Refresh these goals in team meetings or group chats to keep it fresh.

2. Train and Retrain Your Employees

No matter how experienced an agent may be, it is always a good idea to have them go through a brief period of training. This may include refreshing the way certain things are done or running through new software together or doing some practice calls. You may even choose to listen in on a few calls to study how the agent handles themselves. On a similar note, conduct online workshops or group seminars to run through essential training as a refresher for existing agents.

3. Provide Helpful Training Materials

Besides workshops and training, give them access to sales webinars, software tutorials, textbooks, and classes that may help them improve their sales techniques or outbound calling strategies. Having access to these materials will help them stay in touch with the system and processes being used. It will also help them learn about new trends in sales and customer service.

H3: 4. Explain the Importance of Building Strong Customer Relationships

Since this is a virtual call center, efforts must be focused on building strong customer relationships. Therefore, it is important that your agents understand why and how they need to pursue this goal. Educate them on the value of having long-term and returning customers and how loyalty can impact customer retention rates. This information should motivate them positively and encourage them to provide stellar service. This will help improve CSAT scores.

5. Provide Agents with the Right Call Center Tools

Helping your call center agents also includes choosing the right call center software for your call center. Whether it is getting an outbound calling service with an easy-to-use dialer or an IVR system that distributes calls evenly so that no agents become overwhelmed. Having the right resources can make sure your agents are not overloaded with calls and are able to provide solid support.

6. Focus on Improving Quality Assurance

Consider using VoIP call recording to evaluate how agents interact with customers and callers. Here you can identify areas of improvement and highlight appropriate agent behavior. This can also be used for training purposes with the goal to improve virtual call center quality assurance.

Improve Your Virtual Call Center with Global Call Forwarding

Global Call Forwarding offers virtual call center tools such as IVR, outbound calling, call recording, and more. Learn more about our services by talking to an expert today!

5 Surefire Ways to Improve Call Center CSAT Scores

Meryl D'Sa-Wilson 7th May 2020 blog, Call Center

As a virtual call center manager, it is your job to ensure that your center’s CSAT scores are high and continue to remain in good standards. Here we will detail 5 useful ways you and your agents can improve call center customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores.

What are CSAT Scores?

CSAT scores are the measure of customer satisfaction your call center generates. That is, after interacting with your service, how happy are your customers and how likely are they to recommend your service to others. CSAT scores are essential for collecting customer feedback and making much-needed improvements to your product or service. Common questions you’ll see on a customer satisfaction survey include “How would you rate your experience/stay with us?” or “How likely are you to recommend our service to others?” And customers can rate the service on a scale of 1-10 or Good-Bad or Very Likely-Not Likely At All.

How to Calculate CSAT Scores?

To calculate Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), divide positive responses by the total number of responses. Then multiply that number by 100. This gives you a CSAT percent.

CSAT score formula: (#) positive responses / (#) total responses X 100 = CSAT (%)

Why are Call Center CSAT Scores Important?

Satisfied customers can easily convert into returning customers and will be the ones that bring new customers to your business. For this reason, improving and maintaining high CSAT scores becomes essential. To succeed, your cloud call center should implement the following methods.

1. Increase Personal Interaction

More recently, a lot of technology has been developed to automate cloud call center processes in an attempt to increase productivity and efficiency. While these are positive influences, it may lead to a decrease in personal interaction between your call center and its customers. Personal interaction is important in order to thoroughly resolve issues.

Many times, customers call a business or call center to get an immediate response. Being bounced around a complicated IVR system or interacting only with the automated system can increase frustration, especially if their issue is rare and complex.

Try to ensure that there is some personal interaction that takes place during a call, as often as possible. Your IVR system is built to make your virtual call center run smoothly, but it does not need to overtake all calls and interactions. Even if it is at the end of the call, have an agent connect to ask: “Is there anything else we can help you with?” Keep in mind that more positive personal interaction equates to more resolutions which, in turn, leads to higher CSAT scores.

2. Increase Quality Assurance

Maintaining quality assurance (QA) is another important factor in improving virtual call center CSAT scores. Call center QA focuses on providing high-quality customer service that matches the business’ standards. And so, QA pays attention to the customer, their issues and needs, and how to improve caller experience. All of these lead to better customer interaction and higher CSAT scores.

Some essential call center QA strategies include training your agents to understand and maintain business standards and goals. For example:

Are agents following the necessary scripts?
Do they ask questions about the customer’s needs, history, and experience to better understand the issue?
Are they following protocol?
Is there any misunderstanding or miscommunication?

Virtual call center managers can listen in on calls or review recordings of calls to study and analyze different factors or aspects of agent/customer interactions. They can then provide more training, highlight strengths and weaknesses, strategies that work or that need improvement, and so on. All with the same goal: improving caller experience and increasing customer satisfaction.

3. Pay Attention to Customer Issues

This goes in line with quality assurance. It is important to understand what issues the customer is facing in order to better help and serve them. Here, as a virtual call center manager, you may consider market research to provide data about certain products and services and their most common issues and concerns. This way, your agents are better equipped to help or resolve upcoming issues.

The aim should be to provide solutions and resolve the issue on the first call itself. This is called first call resolution. Call centers or businesses with a higher first call resolution rate have more satisfied customers and higher CSAT scores.

4. Purchase the Necessary Virtual Call Center Technology

It is imperative to invest in the right tools. As with any project, to do a good job, you need the right tools and support. The same goes for a virtual call center. Consider investing in call center software from a provider like Global Call Forwarding where you can customize your options, features, and services to create an ideal phone system.

Most virtual phone service providers offer tools that can support remote and virtual call centers. These include:

Call forwarding and routing options
Call recording to record incoming and outgoing calls
IVR system to manage and distribute incoming calls
Outbound calling to make local and international calls with customizable caller ID
Local, toll free, international, and vanity numbers that route calls via the internet, and more

5. Track Call Center KPIs

Another way to improve your CSAT scores is by tracking and monitoring important metrics such as:

Call answered
Calls abandoned
Average hold time
First call resolution rate
Number of calls answered by each agent
Time taken to answer a call, etc

These key performance indicators (KPIs) can give you insights into areas of strength and improvement. And they can help you understand your center’s customer service levels and even its current quality. This information will lead you to your next step in improving the service you provide.

Improve Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) at your Call Center

Increase your CSAT scores by improving the way your call center interacts with its callers. Provide better customer service, pay attention to your callers, and watch your customer satisfaction and retention scores increase. For more information about virtual call center software from Global Call Forwarding, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.