Most of us have heard of the wonders that VoIP can provide to businesses, cheaper telephony, more diverse functionalities and increased mobility — but have you heard about the better access to customer data? As technology continues to connect us in new and exciting ways there is an endless supply of data to interpret. VoIP is no different, which is why we’re going to outline 5 innovative ways to make your VoIP data work for you.
Time/Date Data – One source of information that nearly any VoIP system should be able to easily access is time, date and duration of calls. As a small or medium-sized business, you probably work on a tight budget. Properly analyzing this data can be invaluable when deciding how many staff you need on the phones and on what schedule.
For example, you may notice that on Mondays you get a rush of calls in the morning, but by Tuesday afternoon the lines are dead. You may find that there is a particular combination of time and day that simply doesn’t generate a need for anyone to work the phones.
Location Data – Location data is also easy to track and a simple way to make your call strategy more agile. Understanding how purchasing or support habits differ between different locations can improve your marketing, customer service and client retention.
Ask your VoIP service provider about call-routing options so that whoever answers your phones is an expert on the area the caller is from. With the right amount of preparation you can help a client on the other side of the country as if your company was right around the corner, and there are few things as valuable as being helped by a local.
Customer Intelligence – Combining your VoIP services with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software opens up entirely new data points. How many times have you called a support line with an issue and have had to explain all of your history with the company? With proper CRM integration, your VoIP system can route callers to the same service representative every time they call and provide your staff with a detailed support history.
Customer Habits – Analyze client call habits and predict how to contact them and offer assistance before they even realize they need it. Does your data show that one of your clients generally calls once a week, but missed last week’s? Give them a call and check up on them.
You may be thinking that some of these data points were accessible with your legacy systems by simply logging the information separately. Tracking data that way is prone to user error and requires a pre-meditated plan. VoIP services track all of your data, all the time.
Bob Milliken is the TheITguy@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com specializing in helping businesses with their IT needs and is the partner your company needs to take full advantage of everything that Cloud Computing has to offer.Connect with him at 604.270.1730.
