All you need to know about Call Flow

Making a positive first impression is crucial for a business to build trust and credibility. The first step customers take to contact your business is a phone call. So, how can you avoid a bad customer experience? A well-designed and practical call flow in a VoIP phone system can help you make a great impression on your company, as it's not just about providing customer services but creating a satisfactory calling experience. 

A smooth, well-structured call flow guides customers through their queries quickly and effectively. From the moment they dial your number to the answer to their issue, every step is thoughtfully created to leave them feeling valued and satisfied. We will provide you with all the details of call flow that you need to understand how it works and how it can benefit your business. So, let's dive in.

What is Call Flow?

Basically, the call flow is a roadmap for calls in customer service that determines how incoming calls are managed and distributed. It's all about how customers go through steps when they call your business phone number, from greeting messages to ending the call. Every step is designed to create a positive customer experience by increasing the resolution process time and efficiently transferring the service call to the right agent.

How a call flow works? Call flow has several steps that take place to resolve customers' issues. Some of the common steps that happen in call flow are;

Step-1. Incoming call from the caller

Once the customer dials the business phone number, the phone system automatically activates the call flow. It is not bound to a specific number; the business phone system can stimulate call flow on your local, out of city/state, or vanity numbers. After that, the phone system executes the predetermined configured sequence of calls. This sequence could directly connect to a team or present the caller with additional menu options for further navigation.

Step-2. IVR activates

Your primary business phone number is typically designated as your Interactive Voice Response (IVR)number. Whenever the customers call this number, the IVR greets them and provides options to pick from. For instance, when a customer calls a real estate business then they likely select from options like

• "Press 1, for assistance with buying a property.” 
• "Press 2, for inquiries about selling a property.” 
• "Press 3, To speak to a live agent.”
• "Press *, For repeat menu options.”
• “For other inquiries, please stay on the line.”

Step-3. Caller inputs

Once your IVR menu presents the guide to the customer, the caller chooses the desired option by pressing a key or voice input. Sometimes, you need to add a sub-menu with more options to make sure your call route to the right place.

For example, if a real estate customer calls about buying a house, they first choose "1" for support. You can add more specific options to help direct your call to the best agent, like

• "To get assistance with buying in Southern California, press 1."
• "For assistance related to purchasing property in Northern California, press 2."

Step-2. Call routes

After a customer picks up their desired option, your phone system setup instantly identifies the key presses and routes the call to a preconfigured stop. That can be an agent, department, call queue, or custom group.

When a call routes to a queue, then the customer has multiple options.

• Call queue: If no one is available to connect with the call at the moment, then callers are directed to a queue. The VoIP business system here offers on-hold music for a smooth caller experience while waiting in a queue. Or you can use an alternate message like "Please wait for a minute. Our representative will be with you soon. The music or message stops when an agent connects to a customer. Moreover, you can provide a customer text back option or send the customer a voicemail to respond sooner.
• Connect to an agent: In the end, the customer gets an answer from the agent, and then the agent responds to the caller. Agents can access all the caller information on their screen using enterprise VoIP phone systems. Calls are recorded right from the start and stop at the end of the call. At this point, your right agent assists the caller and resolves their concerns. 

Why is a Call Flow Important in a phone system?

An effective and well-designed call flow manages a high volume of calls, reduces the hold time, and properly transfers calls to the best available agent. It boosts customer experience and agent performance, resolves the customer's problems early, and reduces business costs. If you don't have a proper call flow set up, it will lead to abandoned calls and customer dissatisfaction. Besides that, it also burnout your business agent, causes revenue loss and even costs for a high level of communication. Let's explore these benefits in detail.

Boost Customer Experience

An efficient call flow eliminates the need to wait in a longer call queue. Callers can instantly access basic information, like their account setup, balance, and appointment. Moreover, calls are efficiently directed to the right agent to help the customers and experience a smooth interaction. This way, businesses can satisfy customers and boost positive experiences with them.

Reduce Mistakes

Call flow acts as a safe place for agents to avoid mistakes that can happen when they're trying to remember everything on their own. By providing a clear roadmap, call flows ensure that agents don't miss any essential steps. It's like having all the answers right in front of them, making it easier to handle calls smoothly and without mistakes.

Triage Problems Early

From a highly developed call flow, your customers can easily reach the right person for their needs. Callers can smoothly come in and out with their issues resolved early by an appropriate agent. It speeds up first-call resolution and builds customer trust and loyalty towards a business as they know after the call that their issue gets resolved rapidly.

Improve Employee Retention

Through self-service and intelligent call flow, agents only take calls that are most relevant to them. It saves agents time as the caller gets basic information from the auto attendant. The calls are forwarded to the correct agent, so they don't have to do it manually.

Meanwhile, agents spend time on essential and relevant calls, increasing their efficiency and job satisfaction as they don't burn out with a high volume of wrong calls. 

Why choose Transparent VoIP?

Transparent VoIP provides customer service like no one ever delivers. As compared to other VoIP services, we set up and designed call flow in your business phone system so you don't have to work on it. We handle all the complex and technical tasks of business phone systems and address business communication needs with our reliable support. We install and maintain business phone systems so you can effectively communicate and retain your clients. Don't settle for less—upgrade your business phone system and experience the difference.