Customer support conversations are rarely linear, and customer expectations are constantly changing. Manual call routing just doesn’t cut it anymore. When customers call, they expect to immediately reach the agent who is best suited to resolve their issue. As a result, seamless handoffs and intelligent call routing need to be the standard.

Let’s say you’re trying to manually route each incoming call. First, your frontline agents answer the inbound call. Then they gather customer information. And finally, they transfer the customer to the best person to help them. This process leaves your team burnt out and burdened, while also leading to many grumpy customers who are irritated that they waited for so long to get a little help.

Improving your call center operations should be a top priority this year. In fact, according to Gartner, improving operational efficiency is top of mind for 70% of customer service leaders in 2024. So, how are you going to get on board?

Let me suggest a starting point: invest in intelligent call routing.

Why Call Routing is Important

Call routing is key to delivering a smooth and effective customer experience. With it, you can:

• Efficiently allocate resources. Routing your calls ensures customers reach the most qualified agent, helps agents use their unique skills, and improves first call resolution.
• Reduce wait times. By streamlining the call process, customers spend less time on hold, which enhances their overall experience.
• Optimize agent productivity. Call routing helps evenly distribute workloads among agents, maximizing productivity, and preventing burnout.

Learn more about how our AI feature can improve your day-to-day workflows here.

What is Intelligent Call Routing?

Call routing impacts your workflows and operations. But what is intelligent call routing?

Simply put, it’s an advanced form of call routing that directs each call to the most appropriate department or individual based on the information gathered, like the caller’s needs, agent skills, and availability.

Here’s how it works in a call center:

1. A customer calls.
2. And then, The intelligent call routing system gathers basic information about the call — caller ID, location of the call, time of day, and the primary reason for calling. Usually, this info is gathered from an IVR or IVA system using natural language processing or keypad inputs from the caller.
3. Then, it analyzes the data against your set routing rules, current workloads, and agent skills.
4. The caller is then sent to the most appropriate agent to handle the call.

The result? Customers reach the correct department and interact with the person who is best suited to help them — all within a few moments and without human intervention.

Believe me, this does wonders for your operations. Here are seven ways it helps your operational efficiency.

Our guide to call center management has tons of tips for boosting efficiency in your call center. Check it out!

7 Ways Call Routing Can Boost Your Operations

Intelligent call routing can transform your call center operations. Here’s how.

1. Boost Your Metrics and KPIs

With intelligent call routing, you can give your performance metrics a little love. Here are a few ways enhanced call routing improves your KPIs.

• Improves first call resolution (FCR). By directing customers to the right department and the most qualified agent, they are more likely to have their questions or issues resolved on the first call.
• Reduces call waiting time. Intelligent routing takes into account current workloads and service levels and then automatically prioritizes incoming calls to reduce wait times.
• Decreases call abandonment rate. Routing moves customers through the call queue faster, decreasing their hold time (and their frustrations). The result? Fewer abandoned calls.

2. Improve Agent Efficiency

Call routing ensures agents resolve customer issues that are best suited to their expertise and skills. This empowers agents, making them more efficient and reducing the need for transfers and escalations.

3. Boost Customer Satisfaction

With intelligent call routing, customers spend less time on hold and have their issues resolved faster. Within moments, they speak with someone who can help them, enhancing their satisfaction and trust in reliable service.

4. Enhance Productivity

Call routing boosts productivity so you can serve more customers in a day. By streamlining your call handling processes, agents can manage more calls effectively.

5. Optimize Resources

With intelligent routing, you can balance your agents’ workload. No single person or team is burdened by too many calls while others sit and twiddle their thumbs. Intelligent routing ensures resources are optimized across your operations.

6. Personalize Customer Interactions

In CX Expert Shep Hyken’s recent State of Customer Service and CX Study found that 81% of customers look for companies that offer personalized experiences.

The data gathered by intelligent call routing provides more direct support and faster resolutions and can also personalize and improve interactions. Personalization helps customers feel valued and understood. Plus, it gives agents complete insight into the customer’s journey with the company, empowering them to provide better service.

7. Elevate the Customer Experience (CX)

By improving the customer experience, you can increase sales revenues by 2–7% and profitability by 1–2%. Providing a seamless and efficient customer journey allows customers to be helped faster because they are connected to the right resources. Over time, this elevates the customer experience, which can do wonders for your bottom line.

Ready to boost your ops with intelligent call routing? Chat with one of our consultants.