One concept causing a good deal of debate these days within various circles is Unified Communications (News – Alert). While it may seem like a new term to some, elusive to define to others, the UC approach to business has been around for years within call centers. Progressive, forward-thinking companies are implementing platforms to integrate technologies and communications that streamline — and even automate business processes to better serve the customer base.

Without question, such an approach makes perfect sense in the call center, though not all companies have taken advantage of the benefits beyond this division to provide leverage to the rest of the enterprise. One example – employees across all divisions and at all levels can benefit from the implementation of call routing software. When the call center and the rest of the organization collaborate on customer interactions, optimal management of the interaction is applied and everyone wins.

Robust call center software provides the tools necessary to schedule knowledge workers or determine the availability of support. Customer interactions can use rich presence, integrated with calendaring to improve the overall interaction. All interactions can be monitored and captured within the call center software solution for review and archiving.

One benefit to the organization by taking the call center software solution beyond the center walls is throughout customer service. If a customer calls with a specific problem that an agent cannot address, the ability to reach an engineer by checking his presence state is extremely valuable. The connection is then made according to the media type available and the engineer is invited into the call to achieve resolution.

Efficiency has been streamlined through Presence – which enable contact center and customer service reps to see if a colleague is on the phone, on a break, or available to take a call. And, this new technology provides functionality that enables agents and reps to work remotely, during inclement weather, or in case of emergencies. Another area of benefit is within the sales department. Agents rely on call center software to provide them access to real-time information they need to support customers making a purchase decision. If a customer has a question the agent cannot answer, the agent can easily determine the availability of an expert via chat and get the answer needed to resolve the issue in one call.

In fact, with Zeacom (News – Alert) call center software, Web Chat Queuing empowers agents with the tools to simply type the internal expert’s name into the Phonebook slider, where they are able to see their presence. They can even type in a department name, and view all the available members of that department. From there, they just drag the contact name into the chat.

Contact Center Agents and Customer Service Representatives must be empowered with increased visibility on call queues. These advanced call routing capabilities will usher in a new sense of teamwork, not to mention the improved service that is now given to callers.

Accounts Receivable/Collections is another department that can benefit from integrating Unified Communications functionality into their call center software. Picture this – an agent contacting the customer may be able to expedite the process until a question arises that he or she cannot answer. Once again, the proper individual is found – seamlessly – through the call center software application and the issue is quickly resolved.

Unified Communications solutions from Zeacom take advantage of such capabilities in order to allow companies to better communicate with their customers. UC solutions not only raise operational efficiency, but also increase customer satisfaction.

Interactive Voice Response capabilities, for example, provide a measure of cost control while helping callers reduce the time spent on the phone for inquiries that do not require a conversation with a representative. Automating processes through these solutions enables organizations to not only reducesOPEX ( News – Alert), but access a platform which to introduce new revenue generating services.

Zeacom offers the proven solutions that companies need to take the pain out of communications. With Zeacom, organizations gain access to real-time communication and eliminate delays for customers on hold waiting for the appropriate representative.

Source:http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/call-center-software/articles/94516-unified-communications-beyond-call-center-software.htm