Development of CRM for automating call and contact centers

The contact center has become an indispensable tool in the modern business space, where every second is worth its weight in gold, and customer experience is the main driver of success. A call center is the heart of customer service, and every interaction matters. You can turn the flow of calls into satisfied customers if you implement CRM in the call center.

AVADA MEDIA provides services for the development of custom solutions for contact center automation, which not only relieve the load on operators, but also turn customer service into a strategic advantage of your business.

A call center is the first line of contact between the client and the company. But without automation, its operation often faces a number of difficulties.

• A heavy load on operators, who find it difficult to process dozens or hundreds of calls daily without automation.
• Manually processing requests, logging calls, and filling out forms leads to errors, delays, and customer dissatisfaction. Manually dialing cold calling numbers is tiring for agents and inefficient.
• The lack of a unified database makes it difficult to access, analyze and use customer information for personalization. Due to the lack of information, operators cannot quickly and efficiently resolve customer issues, which leads to their dissatisfaction and churn.
• Lack of tools for collecting and analyzing data, without which it is difficult to assess the work of operators and identify weaknesses in the service. The lack of a centralized reporting system makes it difficult to make informed management decisions.
• Siloed communication, where agents are forced to switch between different channels without a single platform, reduces the speed of service.
• Lack of quick access to the full history of customer interactions leads to the fact that agents can lose the context of the conversation, which forces them to ask for information and degrades the quality of service.
• The difficulty of onboarding new employees who need more time to master work processes without a centralized management system.
• Lack of integration with other systems complicates sales, marketing, logistics, and support processes.

The development and implementation of a CRM system for a call center from AVADA MEDIA helps to comprehensively solve these problems, optimize the work of the contact center and significantly improve the quality of customer service.

CRM for call centers is software that allows you to effectively manage customer interactions, automate workflows and analyze the efficiency of agents. This is  a platform for contact centers, where even basic functionality is a powerful tool. Key processes that a CRM system for a call center takes care of:

• customer database management;
• recording, processing and analysis of incoming and outgoing calls;
• Autodialer – automatic dialing of numbers for calling the call center (cold calls);
• Reporting and analytics
• task and reminder management;
• integration with other systems, telephony and call center software;
• Ticket system for support.

When do you need a call center CRM?

As the business expands, the number of customers and requests increases, and at the same time, the risk of a decrease in the quality of service increases. A CPM system for a call center is needed by enterprises with a large flow of customers, sales and support departments, as well as for those that work with cold calls. Such call center software becomes critically important when a company faces a high load on operators, a growing customer base, or the need to increase the speed of call processing.

If your business handles dozens, hundreds, or thousands of calls every day, you know exactly how easy it is to lose important information, miss a lead, or forget about a callback. That is why you need to order an individual CRM system that perfectly adapts to the real business processes of your company. The development of a CRM system for a call center is especially relevant for the following types of businesses.

Large enterprises with a branched structure

• Financial and insurance companies that need advanced customer database management, sophisticated call routing, integration with internal banking systems, escalated ticket system, detailed analytics, and reporting on financial products and customer transactions.
• Telecommunications companies with technical support, where knowledge management for technical support, integration with specific equipment and software for network monitoring, an advanced ticket system for handling technical problems, detailed analytics on the quality of service and reasons for requests.
• Energy companies where technical support teams need integrations with billing systems, specialized modules for receiving meter readings and handling emergency situations, as well as complex routing for various types of requests, analytics on line load and waiting time.

Companies with specific service processes

• Internet providers, where it is necessary to connect the call center to equipment and software for diagnostics and configuration, manage service requests, provide a knowledge base with technical instructions, and conduct analytics for the reasons for technical calls.
• Courier and logistics companies generally work by phone, so they require prompt exchange of information between operators and drivers. Integrations with GPS trackers, cargo tracking and delivery management, geolocation and maps are important for them.
• Medical centers and clinics use the call center to make appointments and manage schedules, securely store medical data, remind about visits, and integrate with medical information systems.
• Educational institutions (universities, large training centers) must process requests from applicants and students, integrate with educational platforms, and analyze the types of requests and workload.

Also, call center software is necessary for every business focused on a high level of customer service and personalization (for example, premium retail and travel agencies), companies with an omnichannel strategy and a large volume of outbound calls (sales, surveys, cold calls), as well as startups and fast-growing companies.

Contact centers are a key element in communication with customers, as they take care of the processing of incoming calls, consultations, sales and support. Without effective organization of these processes, delays, errors in information processing and deterioration of the quality of service often occur. Call center CRM helps solve these problems, opening up numerous opportunities for effective business management.

Workflow automation

Automatic call logging, creation of customer records, request management, automatic call distribution (intelligent routing), monitoring of agent working hours – such functions optimize workflows and reduce the human factor in the occurrence of errors. CRM for cold calling automates dialing, which greatly facilitates the work of operators.

Improve communication through omnichannel and personalization

With integrations with communication channels such as telephony, email, chat, and social media, you can provide a single point of entry for all requests. Storing the history of interactions, personalizing communications through automatic customer identification, an individual approach, taking into account the needs and history of each customer – all this improves the customer experience.

Analytics and reporting

With integrated analytics, modern call center software allows you to track KPIs, assess customer experience, analyze trends, predict outcomes, identify bottlenecks, and make adjustments quickly.

Integration with third-party systems

Call center software is easily combined with other software – ERP, accounting systems and marketing tools.

Increased operator productivity

CRM for a customer service center is the automation of routine tasks, a user-friendly interface, instant access to the knowledge base, interaction history, etc. The program allows you to quickly find the necessary information and make informed decisions.

Ready-made call center programs may seem cheaper and more convenient at first glance – you don’t need to wait for development, basic functionality is immediately available, you can quickly get started. But they do not always correspond to the specifics of your business. Therefore, as soon as a company faces non-standard tasks or scaling, restrictions are felt. An individual program for a call center is:

Adaptation to business processes

Each contact center has its own specifics: complex service scripts, multi-level call routing, unique scenarios for working with customers. Individual call center software allows you to implement any logic that is impossible or very expensive to set up in the finished product.

Integration with internal systems

Usually, a call center is part of a single company mechanism that already has other tools. We will help you create a CRM for a contact center that integrates with these systems, without constant add-ons and crutches.

Security and privacy

Ready-made CRM systems for a call center often store information in the owners’ cloud storages. With custom development, you choose where and how your data is stored: on-premises, in a private cloud, or in a hybrid environment – with full access control.

Scale without limits

Ready-made CRM for contact center automation have a fixed architecture. When the number of operators grows or new destinations are added, you either run into the limits of the tariff plan or are forced to change the platform altogether. A custom call center solution is designed with potential growth in mind and is easily scalable.

Full customization of the interface

The interface of the program for the call center is configured for different roles – operators, supervisors, administrators. We create a workspace where everyone sees only the functions they need, without overload and unnecessary tabs.

Product ownership

By ordering an individual development of a CRM system for a call center, you become the owner of the software. So this is not a lease, but an investment in an asset that can be developed and scaled in any direction.

A CRM system for a call center is not just a database of contacts. It’s a complete customer communication management tool that automates routines and helps your team work faster, more cohesively, and more efficiently. Let’s demonstrate several scenarios in which such a system shows maximum efficiency.

Processing of incoming calls and requests

When a customer calls or texts, CRM automatically creates a request card, attaches it to the corresponding contact, and immediately displays the entire history of interaction. That is, operators receive:

• automatic identification of the client by phone number;
• instant access to the history of previous requests, purchases, comments of colleagues;
• a card that pops up during the call, which contains all the necessary data about the client;
• quickly create notes and capture the results of the conversation;
• transferring the call to the responsible employee with full context.

Automated dialing and repeat calls

If you are planning a campaign for a repeat contact or survey, CRM allows you to set up an auto-dialer and a few more options ideal for telemarketing, support, and service support:

• automatic dialing of numbers (autodialer);
• formation of a contact list according to specified filters;
• recording the status of each call attempt (answered/did not answer/call back, etc.);
• transfer of the task to the responsible manager, if the call is successful;
• Use templates and scripts to standardize communication.
• analysis of the effectiveness of various outbound campaigns;

Distribution of calls and requests between operators

Intelligent algorithms of the CRM system for the contact center distribute requests according to the load, operator competence or priority, for example:

• VIP clients are immediately received by experienced operators;
• new requests automatically go to a free specialist;
• complex cases are redirected to technical support.

Ticketing and SLA control

Call center CRM can automatically create tickets across all communication channels (calls, emails, chats), with clear deadlines, assignees, and fulfillment milestones, as well as automatically inform customers about the status of their requests. This is especially important for B2B companies and technical support services. All requests are recorded in the system, receive a unique ID, are tracked at each stage of implementation and are controlled in terms of deadlines (SLA).

Work in an omnichannel interface

The operator no longer needs to switch between a dozen tabs. All communication is in one place: calls, instant messengers (Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger), email correspondence, live chats from the site. This saves a lot of time and reduces the risk of message loss.

Real-time analytics and reporting

Managers get a complete picture of the call center’s KPIs in real time in automatically generated reports:

• how many calls per day, week, month;
• what is the average duration of conversations;
• how many tickets are in progress;
• Which of the operators is the most efficient.

The system also provides trend analysis, shows problem areas, and predicts future results based on historical data. Reports are generated automatically and are sent to the email at the right time.

Personalized service

With an individual program for a call center, it is possible to segment the customer base according to various criteria (behavior, demographics, purchase history). As well as providing agents with recommendations for personalized offers – for example, automatically addressing the customer by name and taking into account individual needs and interaction history during the conversation.

Integration with other systems

The CRM system for the support center receives data thanks to the ability to connect to:

• telephony (VoIP) for call automation and call recording;
• messengers and social networks for omnichannel communication;
• ERP, CMS, email and marketing platforms to provide a holistic vision of the client;
• analytical services: Power BI, Google Data Studio;
• customer platforms or third-party services (e.g., number verification, logistics, payment gateways).

Service quality control

With CRM, call centers can easily evaluate the quality of agent work according to specified criteria, thanks to the following options:

• recording and saving of all calls with reference to the client;
• built-in module for assessing the quality of conversations (rating, comments);
• the ability to set tags: “conflict”, “successful sale”, “needs feedback”;
• Analytics on service standards: duration of conversations, compliance with scripts, customer reaction.

These scenarios demonstrate only a fraction of the possibilities that call center CRM implementation unlocks. Individual development from AVADA MEDIA allows you to take into account the specifics of your business and implement unique scenarios for using the program.

Developing an effective CRM system for a call center is a multifaceted process where every step counts.

1. Analysis and requirements

CRM development begins with studying the structure of the call center, identifying key problems and growth points. You need to analyze the needs of operators, managers, and customers. This is done with the help of surveys, interviews and data analysis, BPMN schemes for modeling business processes.

2. Terms of reference

System analysts and architects develop a technical specification that includes a detailed study of the requirements for CRM for a contact center: functionality, integrations, security, performance. At this stage, technical specifications, UML diagrams, and APIs for integrations are created.

3. Design and prototyping

At this stage, the logic of the CRM call center is formed, user roles and scenarios, accesses and call processing processes are worked out. Next, they create the first prototypes of the interface using tools such as Moqups, Figma, Adobe XD, Axure RP and test them together with the customer.

4. Design Development (UX/UI)

UI/UX designers create a convenient and modern CRM contact center interface that corresponds to the company’s brand book – has corporate colors, elements, fonts, icons, etc. The key tasks are to ensure the speed of access to data, convenient navigation and adaptability for various devices.

5. Programming

Backend and frontend developers create code to implement the interface and functionality: call processing modules, VoIP integrations, customer base, and reporting using modern frameworks and APIs for integrations. Tools for creating program code: Node.js, PHP, React, Redux, WebRTC.

6. Testing

QA engineers conduct comprehensive testing of all functions and check the stability of the call center solution during peak loads using tools: Selenium, JMeter, Postman for API testing, and OWASP ZAP for security verification.

7. Release and implementation

A ready-made CRM for a contact center is installed on servers or a cloud platform, data protection and backups are configured. Conduct training for operators and administrators of the system.

8. Support and development

After the implementation of CRM, Сall Center needs technical support and regular updating of the system. It is important to keep the program up to date: update security, optimize performance, add new modules at the request of the business.

The uniqueness of our approach is that our specialists do not just implement the system, but design it together with you, taking into account the specifics of the industry, the working scenarios of operators, your goals – from sales growth to improving the quality of service.

A CRM system for a call center is not just a customer database, but a powerful tool that combines all communication channels, automates routine processes, and provides real-time analytics. It’s your personal customer experience center that allows agents to instantly access the information they need and managers to monitor performance.

AVADA MEDIA offers a comprehensive approach to the development of CRM systems for call centers. We provide a team of experienced business analysts, developers, and designers who will create a system that fully fits your business. Extensive experience allows us to scale existing software solutions and develop new ones that meet the highest industry standards and help bring communication with customers to a new level.